I’d like to think that our family wasn’t always as messed up as it is now. I mean, we used to be like a perfect sitcom family. My mother would push me on the swings and kiss me goodnight. My dad would kiss my mother and play catch with me in the backyard. We would bake pies and cookies, and my parents would sit on the porch swings on the chilling Autumn days, watching me play in the raked piles of leaves with my friend Kip.
But then I guess something changed. Something just died. After that, it went nowhere but south.
* * * *
My dad walked out the door and slammed it shut behind him, my mother’s screams following him into the driveway. She chased after him, calling him foul words that I’m not going to repeat.
If only he had known what was to happen within the next year, then maybe he would have treated the subject more carefully. He probably would have taken back all the things he did and said. I know I would.
My mom came back to the dining room table, her face red and heated. She slammed Dad’s plate on top of her own, and with a loud crash, tossed them into the already full sink. Then she marched over, looked me in the eyes, and said to me, “I’m sorry, baby. Go to bed soon and don’t forget to brush your teeth.” She touched my arm and walked up the stairs to her room, wiping her face and eyes.
I finished eating my dinner in silence, the low-hanging ceiling light flickering quietly. I got up and I gently balanced my plate in the sink on top of Mom and Dad’s. I walked up the stairs, and in passing Mother’s room, peeked in.
“Mom,” I began. I saw her positioned on the bed, an old red photograph book open across her legs. “Are you okay?”
“Hmm.” She answered distantly. I quietly opened the door and took a seat on the edge of her bed, which was neatly made.
I moved closer to her, causing her to sink further into her bed. This seemed to wake her from some sort of trance. “Oh, Charlotte. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to say goodnight,” I lied. I was actually checking to see if anything was wrong with her. “Did Dad go to work?”
“Yes. Goodnight Charlie.” She said and directed her attention back to the old photographs. I had no other choice but to leave, because she obviously didn’t want to talk with me about what was going on.
I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then sat down in my bed and took out my phone and sent a text to Kip, and one to my friend, Summer. We texted back and forth for a while until I fell asleep.
