A Simple Folded Paper

37

"Mom?", she asked dumbfounded, "What are you doing here?"  

Lauren couldn't believe. Her mom was there, sitting in the kitchen. In the opposite direction of the table, there was her dad. They had a bunch of papers spread on top of the table and two glasses of wine were in the middle, using one of the papers as a coaster. They were both looking at Lauren like they didn't expect her to be home at that time, but Lauren still wanted answers. "Is somebody going to answer me, or what?", she asked as she placed the plastic bags on the counter.

"Ahm, me and your mom we-"

"Your mom and I", Lauren interrupted her dad.

"What?", her dad asked, confused.

"Your mom and I, that's how you say it, now proceed."

Her dad gave her an 'are you serious?' look, but continued. "Your mom and I were reviewing our divorce papers."

"Divorce papers?". Lauren thought to herself why was she so surprised, like she hadn't made a bet with herself with this exact situation. She looked to her mother this time, "You came here to sign papers? What about coming for your family? For your daughters?".

"Who gave you the right to talk to your mother like that?", the woman asked angrily, getting up from her chair and stepping forward to be in front of her daughter.

"You, when you left."

"I may have left but you don't know my reasons and that doesn't give you the right to speak in that tone with me!"

Lauren rolled her eyes unconsciously, "You left because you are weak and a coward!", she shouted back in her mother's face. The woman gave Lauren no time to even think and slapped her hard on the cheek. Lauren's face was red as it could be, from the slap and from the anger. She didn't even care about the pain that she felt, only that she despised the woman that she once called her mother. "Oh, a slap, really?", she huffed in annoyance, "I'm done with you, you could at least have stayed for Hannah but it looks like you just care about yourself, isn't that right?". Lauren turned around and started to leave the kitchen, leaving the two adults looking at her.

Lauren just didn't care, she grabbed her car keys and got out of the house. She decided to go to the only place that never ceased to make her smile: her grandmother's house.

~

Camila was getting out of her car after spending the afternoon with her mother, she ended up skipping all classes she had left and went to the hospital instead. It was sad to think that the only place where Camila felt good and at peace was at the hospital. That was creepy and weird, but true nonetheless. Camila just sat by her mother for hours without saying anything, she just cried and looked out the window, watching every car that passed on the street and trying to find a word that had the same letters as the ones on the registration plate of the cars.

After unlocking the front door and stepping in, she breathed in and out a couple of times and prepared herself for the night.

"Where have you been?", she heard the rough voice of her father coming from the living room.

"Hospital. I'm going to my room."

"I think I have something better planned.", the man said, getting up from the couch and heading to where Camila was standing in the hallway.

~

After picking up Hannah at school, Lauren drove to her grandmother's house who got extremely excited by their visit.

"What brought you here, ladies? Is it Christmas already?", the old woman asked.

Lauren and Hannah laughed and sat on the couch. "No grandma, we just thought we'd paid you a visit.", Lauren gave her an 'I'll explain later' look and nodded to her little sister who was too busy with the old cat that had laid down on her lap.