Dream Catcher (amnesia) - h.s.

18: Father struggles & a divorce

Gemma and I go into her bedroom. "So this is the room I've lived half my life."

It looks neat, only a couple clothing items shattered over the floor, since she's staying in this room for the weekend. The room is brown and white coloured, some modern pieces of furniture lining the walls. There are still a lot of photographs on the walls, I guess she didn't take them down when she moved out. I look at a couple of them. Gemma looks a lot younger in all the pictures. I see Harry in one of them, looking very young as well.

"Could I see Harry's room?" I ask her as I scan the wall for more pictures of Harry.

"Yeah, of course. It's right here around the corner."

We go into Harry's room. It's not too different from Gemma's, only his is black and white, but the furniture is almost the same in both rooms. The large double bed looks untouched, probably because he hasn't stayed here for a while. There are posters of bands on the walls, and also two records from The Beatles are framed and on the wall. These things make it look a little more personal, the rest looks clean and empty.

"Pretty cool, that he's basically grown up here. How long have you lived in this house?"

"Well, when my parents divorced, we lived in a small apartment for about a year, until my mom bought this house, and soon after that, Robin moved in. So I was eleven at the time, and Harry was eight. Then he lived here until he auditioned for the X-Factor, basically. He technically still lived here afterwards, but he was never home. I lived here until I went off to college, so we almost left simultaneously."

"So your mom moved on quite quickly after your dad?" I ask her as we walk back into her room. She opens her suitcase and starts rummaging through her clothes. I'm not sure whether this is a sore subject, but I'm curious.

"Yeah, I guess she did. But my mom and dad weren't getting along for a while before they finally split. So I guess she was over it before he even left. I was glad, actually, when she told me she had a new boyfriend. She looked a lot happier." She finds what she was looking for and sits next to me on the bed, so we can talk properly.

"Yeah, I can imagine. Have you never been angry with your dad when he walked out?"

"Well, they both decided it was for the best, and I think it was too. They weren't happy anymore."

"Do you remember what it was like when your parents were still together?"

"Yeah, I do. There were a lot of happy times, when it really felt like a family. But my parents fought a lot, too. I used to hide in my room, crying under the covers, when they were fighting again."

"What about Harry?"

"He was really young. I don't think he realized what was going on."

"Does he remember how things were before your parents split up?"

"I think he vaguely remembers stuff, but that will mostly be from pictures or stories that he has been told. He does remember the day our parents told us they were getting a divorce."

"Were you sad?"

"Yeah, we all cried like babies." She chuckles.

"Did you two see your dad often after the divorce?"

"I see him less than I see my mom, and I barely see my mom." She laughs. "But before I moved out, I tried to visit him once a week, sometimes more."

"Well, at least you had the chance to see him." I say.

"When was the last time you spoke to your dad?" She asks me.

"Well, I obviously don't know what happened these past years, but the last time I remember was back when I was sixteen." I sigh.