“Regan Marie Dalton, get down here!” my mom shouted from downstairs.
“Coming!” I ran downstairs in my pajamas. It had to be 5:30 in the morning, because the sun wasn’t up yet. Being that it was so early, it was kind of hard getting down the stairs. One yawn and I could get distracted and fall down three flights of spiral stairs. “What’s going on?” I asked as I muffled a yawn.
“I’m going to work early today, let’s just say an emergency came up.”
“You know, I’ve never questioned your work, no matter how early or late in the day you have to be there,” I managed to say in a questioning tone, “But I can’t help but wonder what exactly it is that you do…”
She took her hand, lifted my chin up and said, “It’s a secret. Now go back to bed. The only reason I woke you is so that you wouldn’t be worried later on. I might not be back till late, so you know the rules.”
“No parties, no staying up too late, and let someone know if you’re going out. Trust me I know. I’m fourteen and as far as I know, you’ve had the same job my whole life. I’ll be fine, now go, you don’t want to be late to do whatever it is that you do.” And like that she sped out the door. I dragged my feet up the stairs and climbed back in bed. I turned to my right to check my alarm clock. It was 5:40. I was only a couple of minutes off from my guess. I tried and tried to go back to sleep. First I tossed and turned. Then I tried burying my face into my ocean blue pillows. I even tried the whole “drink-warm-milk-tactic.” I don’t even like milk cold, what was I thinking trying it warm?
At 5:50am I finally decided to get up. There was no way I was going back to sleep with my mom on my mind. Usually, I didn’t care what she did. But today when she left I got this sick feeling in my stomach, and it was the first time in fourteen years. It made me worried. What could she possibly be doing that she couldn’t tell me? I could call my dad and ask him. He was once married to her, so he had to know right? But then I decided not to, because it’s early and I don’t want to bother his step children.
With my eyes half open, I pulled my laptop out from under my bed. I tucked it under my arm and went downstairs to the kitchen. As I planted the laptop on the island, I placed a barstool behind me with my other hand. While I waited for the laptop to start, I decided to turn on the T.V. Then I grabbed one of the red bowls stored in the cabinets and poured myself some Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
“ It is six o’ clock.” My Macbook belted out.
“Thank you Macbook for reminding me that I should be sleeping right now.” After my first or second bite of Cinnamon Toast Crunch I decided to ask the people of Yahoo Answers. It never fails right? I typed in the following: Hey guys, obviously I have a question. So my whole life my mom has had the weirdest job. She always gets called at the weirdest times and comes back after long periods of time. It’s pretty normal for her to go to work at 6am and come back two days later. Sometimes she even comes home with bruises on her knees. She tells me that she fell but I’m not too sure. She has never told me what her job is and whenever I ask she replies with “It’s a secret” Do any of you have an idea of what she does?
Within seconds I got idiot replies along the lines of:
“Your mom’s a stripper.”
“No bro, she’s an escort.”
“Maybe she’s batman.”
Goes to show you how helpful Yahoo Answers can be. I knew my mother wasn’t any of those things. What kind of stripper/escort/superhero works for two days straight. No one, that’s who, plus she’s my mom. That would be just gross. I quickly erased that thought from my mind. If I wanted to know what she did I would have to question it out of her when she got home.
No matter how much I tried to stop thinking of my mom, everything I did reminded me of her. I thought that going out for a walk would help, so I went up to my room to get ready. Laying my eyes on my walk in closets and all the clothes in it certainly did not help. How could we afford all of this? I decided to wear some dark wash ripped skinny jeans, black ankle boots, and a white tube top with a green plaid button up on top. I let my long black wavy hair down, and put on a little eyeliner and mascara to accentuate my bright green eyes. Before I left the loft I texted my friend Natalie to meet me in Central Park.
After ten minutes of walking on the autumn leaves that had fallen on the floor, I reached Central Park. Natalie was already there sitting on a bench and I could tell by her wind-tangled hair that she’d been waiting a while.
“Really Rey? It’s not even past eleven. You’re lucky I love you so much.”
“Sorry ‘bout that. I just couldn’t fall back asleep.”
“What’s on your mind? Is it Matt Vitali? I heard a rumor that he’s gonna ask you out,” she said nudging me with her elbow.
“No. No. No. No. No. I mean, yeah that’s good news, and he’s not lacking on the looks, but that’s not what’s keeping me awake. Plus I don’t think we’ve said two words to each other.”
“If that’s not it then why’d you drag me out to Central Park so early?” she said confused.
“It’s my mom. This morning she had to leave at like 5:30 and it got me wondering about what she does.”
“That’s it? Come on Reagan, you know your mom. For as long as I’ve known you she’s been doing the same thing. Why worry now?”
“That’s exactly it. She’s been doing the same thing. What is the thing? I asked her this morning and all she said was ‘It’s a secret.’ She leaves for long periods of times and sometimes comes back hurt. Shouldn’t I be worried?”
“I can see why you’re worried, but come on. She’s been fine for fourteen years and will be for the rest of her career. Why are you worried all of the sudden?”
“I don’t know. This morning when she left I got this weird feeling. It was almost like I shouldn’t have let her go. Or should’ve gone with her. When she gets home I’m going to question it out of her, even if it takes me two days straight. I’ll feel weird if I keep letting her go to work without me knowing where she’s actually going.”
“Whatever, I bet she’s fine.”
“You wanna come back to my place? It looks like it’s gonna rain soon. We could order take out and watch movies.”
“Rey, you know I love you, but it’s way too early. I’m gonna go back to sleep and I’ll catch up with you later.” She said smiling at me.
“Bye.” I gave her a hug and started back towards my house.
I was in the elevator going up to my loft when I realized I had ten missed calls. They were all from my dad but I couldn’t call him back because I had low battery. As soon as I got home I picked up the home phone and dialed his number.
“Hey Dad. Ten calls. Really? Come on now, was that necessary?”
“Reagan, your mom’s dead.” His voice was shaky and faint.
Only slight screeches managed to escape from my mouth.
“She…she was killed.”
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Curiosity Can Kill
Teen FictionReagan Marie Dalton is curious. Why does her mom leave at the crack of dawn and come back late at night? Where does she go? What does she do? After a very tragic event she slowly uncovers who her mom was and what she did. But is it worth risking her...
