Stranger

07 | Confrontation

Ryan and I were silent for most of the journey home and we walked silently up the path towards my house. What do you say after such a day? I stopped at my front door and faced Ryan.

"Well it's been an eventful day." Ryan said, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.

"Yeah... I certainly have a lot to think about", I sighed.

"At least we found out who the guy was and you won't feel scared any more. It was a positive discovery." He nudged my chin with his finger playfully and leaned in close, trying to make me smile and of course, it worked.

"Try not to worry yourself too much sweetie, get some rest." He continued. "I'll text you in the morning." 

He gently kissed my button nose - his eyes looked greener than ever. He shot me one of his devilish grins and strolled down the path, subconsciously running his fingers through his hair as he went. My life was that little bit brighter with him in it.

I prepared myself for what awaited me inside the house. A tired, agitated mother and now a woman who I felt totally distanced from. I mentally prepared myself as I opened the front door. My mother was sitting on the sofa and abruptly shot to her feet at the sight of my entrance.

"I was worried about you. You know I don't like you going out without telling me!" She spurted out.

"Well I thought you were working and you know I'm usually out with Ryan." I responded, coldly.

My mother pulled a face which showed her discontent at my tone of voice. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing." I said as I barged past her towards our dining room. I heard my mother gasp with shock and disgust at my behaviour.

"Excuse me?" she said, sarcastically, waiting for my apology but I didn't give her one. I began looking through our folders and draws, finding any evidence of the secret she had been keeping from me all of my life. I suddenly felt my mother's hand grab my shoulder and pull hard, forcing me to look at her.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Her face was no longer as soft as it always was. "Don't be so rude to your mother." I pulled my shoulder away from her grip.

"What, like you were to my father?" I spurted.

I didn't mean to let it slip but the emotions were building up in me, they had to erupt at some point. I now felt loathsome towards my own mother. She was understandably taken aback, we rarely spoke about my father.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." I scowled.

My mother's face lit up with knowing, she had put the pieces together.

"You went to see your father?"

"And he told me everything." The words sung as I produced a look reminiscent of a teenager with too much attitude.

My mother went pale and stumbled back onto a dining chair, it creaked in response to the sudden weight that bore onto it. She stared blankly at me, not knowing what to say. I diverted my attention to the folders again and soon found a pile of restraining order letters, the most recent being just a few months before. I was in awe of what was happening, my hands locked onto the pile of letters. It was confirmed. The evidence and my mother's reaction were there, just like my father predicted. 

My knees felt weak but I retained my posture. I let out a weep, dropped the letters on the table and ran upstairs, tears jolted further down my cheek with every step. In reaction to my sudden movement, my mother regained her focus and ran after me. There was nothing she could do to stop me, I couldn't live with a cruel liar any more. Grabbing a suitcase from our storage room, I threw in whatever I could. I didn't care what it was, as long as I could get out of this house quicker.

"So you're just going to leave me?!" Her voice wobbled. I ignored her. "Where are you going to go?"

I hadn't thought about that. All I knew was that I wanted to leave. I hadn't asked my father if I could live with him, but I kind of hoped that would happen. My mother's presence started to irritate me.

"That hasn't got anything to do with you any more. And if you carry on, I will get a restraining order against you."

"You'll get your father arrested if you see him."

"You'd love that wouldn't you?" I asked, sarcastically. "I'm an adult now though, I can get the restraining order removed and you best not get in the way of that."

I saw her visibly gulp. She knew she'd lost control and she knew she was wrong.

"I was going to tell you..." She took a step forward and outstretched her arm in my direction.

"It's way too late for that." I interrupted, breathing heavily as I continued filling up my suitcase. I zipped it up with haste, almost trapping my finger between the zippers. The suitcase landed hard on the floor after I dragged it from my double bed. I pushed my resistant mother out of the door way. I wasn't much bigger than her, but I had always had more muscle, whilst she was very thin. She knew I could put up a fight and there was no way she could right what she had done. 

The suitcase plodded loudly down the stairs behind me and my mother wasn't too far behind.

"Mya, please, hear me out." She pleaded. I turned around at the bottom of the stairs to face her.

"So you want me to listen to your excuses about how you denied your only daughter the right to a father, for your own selfish wants?" I exclaimed. "I'm glad that bastard cheated on you. You deserved it." I squinted my eyes at her in the most evil of looks. It must've been profound because my mother was forced speechless. The only thing that she could do was let her jaw drop open and stand frozen on the stairs.

I continued on my way out of the front door. Bobby had witnessed our dispute downstairs and it appeared he didn't seem to know how to react to the situation, so he sat patiently near the doorway for us to come downstairs. He returned to his feet and wagged his tail, assuming we were happy families again. It hurt to leave such a lovely dog behind. I wish I could've spoke to him and told him what happened, maybe he would've understood. 

She called after me whilst I walked down the pathway.

"Please don't let this be the last time I see you, Mya."

I rolled my eyes humorously at the thought that she may actually never see me again. And I was strangely okay with that. I embarked on the 10 minute walk to the nearest bus stop, to return to my true home, on Newark Road.