Motherless

Broken Promises and Brave Choices

Flashback

"Mr. Bear, you're supposed to drink your tea like this," I say, showing him how to hold the tiny cup. Mr. Bear doesn't talk much because he's stuffed and he's not very good at tea parties. I lean over and hold his paw, tipping it to his mouth. "See? Now you're drinking tea like a prince. What's that? Oh, you need to pee? Well, I can't help with that 'cause I'm a girl. We should call Daddy."

I jump off my chair and skip down the hall to find Daddy. I hear noise from Mommy and Daddy's room, so I push open the door. Daddy is rushing around, tossing clothes into big bags.

"What are you doing, Daddy?" I ask, watching him go back and forth. He looks at me for a second, then zips up one of his bags. He kneels down and holds my shoulders.

"I'm going away for a little while," he says, "but I'll be back before you even know it."

I pout a little, because I want to go with him. "Can I come, too?" I ask, trying to look really, really cute.

He sighs and shakes his head. "No, baby, you can't come this time. But I'll bring you something back. How does that sound?"

I perk up. I love surprises! "You promise?" I ask, and he holds up his pinky.

"I pinky promise," he says, and I cross my pinky with his. He gives me a kiss on the forehead, then goes back to his bags.

Daddy writes something on a piece of paper, then hands it to me. "Give this to your mom, okay?" I nod. He grabs his bags and walks out the door. I was gonna tell him about Mr. Bear, but he's already gone.

It feels like forever and Mommy still hasn't come home. My tummy's growling like a dinosaur, and I'm getting really, really hungry. Finally, I hear the front door open, and I run as fast as I can. "Mommy! Mommy!"

She smiles when she sees me and picks me up. "Hey, princess," she says, kissing my cheek.

"I'm hungry," I tell her, rubbing my belly.

She frowns. "Your daddy didn't feed you?" I shake my head. "Where is he?"

"He left a long time ago," I say, remembering the paper Daddy gave me. "He told me to give you this." I hand her the paper.

Mommy reads it, then she looks really scared. She puts me down and runs upstairs. I follow her, but she's running so fast, I can barely keep up. She starts throwing stuff everywhere in her room. "Fuck! No!" she yells, and I jump 'cause she never uses that word.

I try to give her a hug and tell her Daddy promised to come back, but she pushes me out of her room and slams the door. I don't understand. Why is she so mad? Daddy said he was coming back. He promised. He pinky promised.

I sit down in the hallway, hugging Mr. Bear close. Maybe Daddy just forgot to come back. Maybe he's on his way. Yeah, he has to be. He promised. And pinky promises are forever. Right?

Talia

My eyes were glued to the ceiling, thoughts racing back to the day my dad left. My mom was so furious that she didn't feed me for three days.
It was the first time someone I trusted let me down, and it made me wary of promises.

I'd been awake for a while, the thought of going to the police station replaying in my mind. We had to go today, and I had no idea what to expect. My stomach felt like a tangled knot of nerves.

I rolled out of bed, my feet touching the cold floor, and I shuffled to the door, then downstairs after making my bed. When I got to the kitchen, Melody was in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. The scent of pancakes was nice, but I didn't feel like eating.