Dolls in the Walls

Mom's Drink

The ride back was dead silent. If it wasn't for the air condition blasting out to prevent me from fainting again, you could have heard a pin drop.

Dad kept glancing at me during the whole ride, I just stared daggers at him. He's scared, the panic look in his eyes prove it.

I reach over the grey interior of the car to lower the air. Dad immediately shoots his gaze to my arm.

"Can you relax?" I lay my head on the window.

"No, I can't. I have to know what you are going to do when we get home. Don't do anything you are going to regret, Marlee."

"Dad, stop. Don't worry. I won't tell your secret. Okay?"

He glances at me suspiciously, as if debating whether or not I am telling the truth. I turn my head towards him.

"If you are going to sit there and wonder if I am going to keep my promise, then I will tell Mom. I am not the one who can't be trusted, you are. I will be good, unlike you. If you can' t trust me, then Mom will know about Margret." I threaten. He is ridiculous and selfish. I can't tell Mom, not yet anyway. I have finally finished therapy and might be considered a little normal. I can't have my life break again when I have worked so hard to mend it. "I'll tell her,if this continues, though."

"Marlee," he coughs," you can't do that. Margret and I, w-we."

"You what?!" I cut him off.

"Be-Belong."

I scoff and turned my head back towards the window. I am just going to have to convince him that I will tell Mom if he doesn't end this.

I just keep staring out the window, watching the green grass zoom past us and the occasional tree. It's overcast, but humid, making me feels sticky and wanting to take a cold shower. What if I walk through the door and just blurt out "Dad is cheating on you"? What if I walk through the door, take one look at Mom and spill it? No, not yet, I have to wait and see. I know it doesn't make sense, but it does.

Dad turns into the parking lot of Best Buy. This is not home. What are we doing here?

"Dad-" I start.

"We're getting you a phone," he cuts off, while pulling out and old leather wallet.

So he is bribing me, just making sure that I will keep quiet. I unbuckle my seatbelt and slide out of the car, slamming the door hard.

"This isn't a way to keep your silence," he says, reading my mind. "It's to celebrate your last session."

"And to celebrate your's, right?"

He shakes his head disapprovingly and continues walking to the blue and yellow entrance. I slowly follow, stopping often to kick a rock. I manage to pick up the pace a bit and walk through the doors, a cool breeze greeting me.

I scan the aisles looking for Dad. After stopping to watch a kid play video games on an Xbox or play station or whatever you call it, I see his brown head in the aisle next to me. I rush over there and see he already has talked to an assistant and has a phone picked out. He takes my arm and pulls me to the cash register and pays with cash. Wow.

We were in and out of there in ten minutes. Dad was still quiet and nervous, so was I. Why did I not cry? I just found out my dad broke the the whole point of his marriage. Shouldn't that make me burst into tears? Maybe this means I am a sociopath. Great, one more thing to add to the list of the perks of being me.

We pulled into the garage and finished the longest drive home ever. I unbuckled my seatbelt and get of the car as fast as I can, slamming the car door hard. My shoes scuff the garage's concrete floor as I walk through the white door. Home sweet home. I try to run fast as I can up the stairs, but it's too late. Mom saw me.