Her Absent Memory

Chapter Fourteen

I wake up to the sound of my dad yelling for me from the living room. I sit up and stretch for a moment. Groaning loudly, I heave myself out of bed and trudge to my door. I swing it open and shuffle toward the hallway.

"Riley!" He shouts again.

"What?"

"I'm sure you're devastated, but you're not going to school today. I'm taking you to see somebody." He explains.

I walk into the kitchen, where he smokes a cigarette and eats some burnt toast. I crinkle my nose and he raises his eyebrows. I lean against the counter and cross my arms, glaring at him in an attempt to get him to give me more information. He ignores me and continues eating his breakfast. I walk closer to him and stand by the edge of the table.

"Who?" I ask.

"I'd hate to spoil the surprise," He says dryly, standing up and putting his plate in the sink.

"What the fuck? Why? I don't want to go see somebody I don't even know." I turn around and walk out of the kitchen.

I pass the rain drop speckled windows as I round the corner to go back to my room. But I stop dead in my tracks when my dad shouts my name again.

"Riley!"

"Fucking what?" I yell back.

"Shut the hell up!" Angela shrieks from behind the closed door of her bedroom.

"Get dressed. This is important," He demands.

"Why can't you just tell me who it is?" I groan, slumping against the door frame.

"Because I know if I tell you, you won't go." Dad says in a matter-of-fact tone.

I let out an animated sigh and disappear into my room again. I brush out my hair and straighten it out before putting on a gray beanie. I change out of my pajamas and pull out a pair of jeans, a sweater, and my black Vans. I walk back into the living room and my dad grabs Angela's keys. I follow him outside and down the porch steps. I get into the passenger's seat of Angela's car and my dad gets in beside me. He starts the car and pulls out of the driveway, nearly hitting my car. I frown and sniff the musky air.

"It smells like shit in here," I mutter, looking out the window.

"You're an ungrateful little shit, Riley." He grumbles as he pulls onto the empty road and turns on the windshield wipers as we pick up speed.

The pitter patter of rain on the car calms me down and keeps me from exploding on him. I consider trying to ask him who we're seeing one more time, but I know he'll just ignore me. We get onto the busy freeway and quickly get off. He pulls into a crowded parking lot in front of a large office building. We get out of the car and he leads me through the large glass doors. We walk up a flight of stairs and he opens up a heavy wooden door. A lady sits at a desk in front of three doors. She smiles as my dad approaches her and I sit down in a chair next to a nervous looking boy. I glance at him and notice how skinny he is. His cheeks are sunken in and he has dark bags beneath his eyes. His hair is messy, short, and greasy and his eyes are shifty. His fingernails have been bitten down extremely low and he grinds his teeth. I pull my eyes off of him and look around the room.

A little boy and a girl who looks to be my age sit on the opposite side of the room. The little boy plays with a plastic truck and drives it over the girl's legs. The girl stares blankly at the wall with a blank expression, looking somewhat drained. I shiver and look down at my shoes. My dad returns to my side, taking the open seat next to me. I lean over and whisper in his ear.

"Where the hell are we?" I ask.

"You'll see," He says.

A tall, blonde woman in a nice suit opens the door to the far right. She says my dad's name and he stands up to walk toward her. I follow him and stop behind him as he turns around to face me. He tells me that he'll be right outside and I swallow hard. I step through the door and see another woman sitting in a chair in front of a desk. I knit my eyebrows and the blonde lady closes the door. As I sit down, I look over to the second woman. Her hair color is practically identical to mine and her eyes are light green. She has some light freckles on her cheeks and on the bridge of her slightly freckled nose.

"Thank you for coming, Riley, is it?" The blonde woman asks.

I nod slowly, "Great. I'm Katherine. I'm here to help you try to get acquainted with my friend here."

Katherine gestures to the woman next to me. She turns and looks at me with a weird, gushy smile. I blink hard and muster up a weak grin.

"Her name is Dana." She tells me, "Riley, this is your mother."