Catherine

7. Persistent Mother/Stubborn Daughter

Carine got home an hour ago. She was just finishing hanging the laundry on the backyard, and after that, she would make some snacks for her girls and her husband, once they get home. After some time, she heard her phone ringing in the kitchen, she went inside to get the call but it turned off. She had six missed calls and Four messages, all of them from her husband. She expected more. Her husband usually sends her love messages at the end of the day, and she sometimes tries to guess how many of them has she got. But, this time, she opened the messages only to realize that they were not the typical lovely ones she would normally expect to read.

" CARINE! WHY WON'T YOU PICK UP THE PHONE??!! CALL ME ASAP!! THIS IS URGENT!! " said the message from her husband, written in Caps Lock.

She got worried and immediately called her husband. She suddenly felt like the world had slowed down. The phone ringed a few times until her husband finally picked up.

" Carine! " Gordon said.

" What's going one? " Carine asked.

" I- I don't know what... I don't know HOW! But... " Gordon stopped talking for awhile. The words could hardly come out of his mouth. " Ellen... disappeared. "

" WHAT!!??... " Carine yelled. She suddenly felt her heart fall to her feet, the sunlight reflecting on her eyes suddenly seemed to fade away. She was shocked.

" She was in the car and... some crazy gu- "

Gordon hung up " Gordon?! GORDON!!!! " she shouted.

" I can't believe this! " She called him back, multiple times, but he wouldn't answer. " WHAT THE FUCK!! " Carine ran outside of the house,not quite sure about what to do. She just felt this sudden weight on her chest. The sudden sound of a high frequency static noise in her head, messing with her mind. She wanted to run, but she suddenly didn't know which way was Ellen's school, she didn't know where to look for her daughter, she was desperate and didn't know what to do. She wanted to cry.

 She kept calling her husband, but he wouldn't answer. She started to think something had happened to him too. " PICK UP THE FUCKING PHONE!!! " she yelled. She kept walking around, her mind completely blank, out of control, overthinking, in panic, trying to calm down on her own. All she had in mind, was her daughter. A few minutes later, she called Gordon again, but he didn't answered. Carine thought about calling the police, but then, Gordon called her back.

" WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?! " she yelled to the phone.

" I was driving, and- "

" To Ellen?! What happened to Ellen?!! "

" Honey, I-I don't know. " Gordon replied.

" What do you mean you DON'T KNOW Gordon? WHERE were you? " Carine said.

" I was... honey, just calm down. It'll... it'll be okay."

" But how... how did you..."

" I promise you. I won't get back home without her. " Gordon said.

" I REALLY HOPE YOU DON'T!!! " Carine rubbed her hands on her head and got her eyes in tears, heavy breathing. " How Gordon... Oh my God, how... " Gordon sighed, she turned off the phone and went back home.

As she went back, she saw Catherine in front of the house, sit on the floor, waiting. Her mother rushed to hug her daughter.

" Where have you been? " She asked, trying to hide her alarmed expression.

" Mom? " Catherine said. She immediately realized that something was wrong. " Are you okay mom? "

" Have you been crying dear? What happened? Your eyes look tired. " Carine asked, instinctively ignoring her daughter's question as they got inside.

Catherine stared at her, without answering, she could see that something really bad had happened to her mother. She had never seen her like this before.

" Mom. What happened? " she insisted.

Carine didn't say anything. She just stared at her daughter's eyes, wondering if she should tell the truth, even thought she might get scared. Her hands were shaking, she was nervous and didn't know what to say. Her daughter grabbed her hands and hugged her.

" I'm sorry mom... " Catherine said.

" Why honey? " Carine said, bursting out a laugh, her eyes filling up with tears, almost crying. " I'm happy you're here. "

" Even so, you don't look okay. Tell me, what happened? " Catherine asked.

Carine looked away. Her daughter stared at her, waiting for an answer. " Look- " Just when she was about to tell her, she heard someone on the door.

" CARINE! CARINE, OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW! " shouted a female voice from outside, knocking on the door, loudly. Carine recognized the voice. She headed to the door and opened.

There was Ellen. She had scratches on her left arm and her clothes were dirty. She was sad, trying to keep her tears from falling, sobbing, scared. There was a middle-aged woman next to her, holding her hand, glaring at Carine, very upset.

" Ellen! " Carine exclaimed, hugging her. " What in the World happened? " she asked.

" What's going on here, Carine?! " the lady said. Carine looked up at her, demoted.

" What kind of sick man leaves his daughter ALONE, walking around in a city of this kind? " said the lady.

" It's alright moth- "

" No Carine! It's not alright! This man is a disgrace! "

" But mother! "

" Can't you see, Carine? Did you really become this blind? I'm gonna talk to him. " Carine's mother went in the house, the girls followed her, and their mother took them to their room, asking them to stay inside " We will talk, later. " she told them. She went downstairs, and there was her mother, on the couch, waiting.

" Mother... you don't need to do this. He- "

" He is a disgrace, Carine! This man sucks! I always knew! Call him immediately and tell him to come home. " the lady said.

" Mother I don't wan-"

" I'M GONNA TALK TO HIM! " she yelled. " I'm doing this for your OWN GOOD, Carine. That man is WORTHLESS! "

" MOTHER, THIS IS MY FAMILY AND MY HOUSE! You don't get to say anything about the man I love! And if anybody is going to talk to him, it's gonna be ME! NOT YOU!"

Carine's mother stared at her, amazed. " So that's it huh?  Your daughter could've gotten killed in this city! She could've been kidnapped by one of those fuckers selling organs in the black market, or even WORSE. But right now, protecting your husband is what matters. "

" Mother, stop it..." Carine said.

" She was terrified Carine. She was running blindly! LOST... and your husband wouldn't even be able to protect her?! You're lucky to have a mother like me, but it's a shame you can't even give some value to what I say. "

" Mother... please. "

" If your father was still here he- "

" Mother! STOP! GET OUT!! "

" I see... " Carine's mother stood up " Don't come crying on mama's lap when he ruins your life. " then left the house and slammed the door behind her.