Avery and I were in the car after leaving Anne's house. We managed to run into Rob as we were leaving, so we got to say hi and bye to him. In an effort to try and soothe Avery before telling her the news about Becca, I drove to an ice cream place Halley and I used to go to when we were feeling down.
"Chocolate Sundae." She orders. I smile, remembering a day I picked her up early from kindergarten and brought her here, seeing her make a mess all over herself.
When we got our ice cream, we sat in a booth in the back and started talking.
"Avery," I get her attention, "I have some bad news to tell you, sweetheart." I say, trying my best to stay calm. "Becca might go away for a while." I calmly inform her.
"What?" She asks, sounding confused rather than upset. "Where is she going?" Her eyebrows furrow.
"She might go to Oregon to live with her grandmother."
"Oh," was all Avery said. "Are her parents okay with it?" She asks.
"Um," I took a deep breath, feeling awful for telling my eleven year old child about the sadness of the world. "Her parents passed away." I say slowly.
"Oh." She breathed out. "Why would they send her to her grandmas? Isn't it unsafe?" She asks, creating confusion for me. "Her grandma has Alzheimer's. She doesn't even remember Rebecca, why would they send her to there?"
"Grandma Renee?" I ask, getting excited that my chances are getting better. Avery nods her head and takes another bite of her ice cream. "Doesn't she have another grandma?" I ask, wondering the same thing Avery was.
"She died last year, lung cancer." She shrugs.
"Why would they-" I stop myself and watch Avery, hoping somewhere on her face I'll find an answer. "Let's get home." I say, grabbing my ice cream cone and heading for the exit.
It was quiet on the drive home, I was too deep in thought and Avery was still eating her ice cream. I decided to throw mine out, too distracted to enjoy it. When we got to the house, inside Harry was nowhere to be found. I assumed he was upset when he woke up and went out to the mall or something.
"Hey, mom." Avery called for me. "I'm going to go check on Becca." She says quietly. I nod my head once and go into the kitchen. I stare at the refrigerator doors, wondering what to do. I'm not hungry enough to eat, but I know I should eat.
I decided against eating, and instead went inside Harry's office to check the surveillance footage. I vaguely remembered how Harry got to the files. After three failed attempts, I opened records from a few days ago.
I sped up the time and watched for anything that looked suspicious. When I didn't find anything, I opened up the day after that, which was yesterday. Nothing happened until 5:47 pm, before we got home.
"Oh my fucking god." I said to myself. I watched as Kate slash Emily, whoever she is, hide something in the drawer of Harry's nightstand. I quickly got out of the chair and ran down the hall to my bedroom. I looked through Harry's drawer, not finding anything I haven't seen before.
I went back to the footage and zoomed in on the angle, to see she had a paper in her hand. Then I went back to my room, looking through the drawer again.
"Babe?" I turned around to see Harry standing by the door, staring at me with a crease in between his eyebrows.
"Where is it?" I asked, my blood beginning to boil at the thought of Harry hiding things from me.
"Where's what?" He asked, moving into the room and taking off his jacket.
"Whatever that bitch put in your drawer." I hiss.
"What are you-"
"I saw the footage, Harry!" I yelled, my voice deeper than usual. "Don't fucking lie to me! What did she put in here!?" I scream, stepping closer to him.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Harry yelled in defense.
I pushed him out of my way and stomped down the hall, going back into the office. I rewound the tape and watched it a few more times, over and over, before my anger got the best of me. I stood up and walked back into my room, seeing Harry standing in his boxers by the bed.
"Don't you dare lie to me again," I warn, "what did she give to you?" I ask, quietly, my anger speaking for itself.
"Taylor, please-"
"GOD DAMNIT!" I yelled and stormed out of my room. Becca and Avery were standing at the end of the hall, wondering what was going on. "Grab some things." I demand, walking towards the front door. I shove my feet inside a pair of shoes and reach behind the door to grab a jacket.
"Taylor." Harry called. "Why are you overreacting?"
"Is she the one that's been-" I started to ask calmly, then remember the underwear on her bed. "Was that a pair of her lingerie?!" I screamed. Harry didn't answer. "You disgust me." I spat. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed my keys and wallet from the counter. Out of anger, I yelled for the girls to hurry up.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked, following behind me to the door.
"Away from you." I answered. Becca and Avery came out with their backpacks in their hands.
"Dad, what's going on?" Avery asked.
"Lets go." I said before Harry could answer.
"Taylor!" He yelled. "It was nothing! It was a stupid note that I threw away!" He yelled before I walked out the front door.
"Obviously it was something or you wouldn't have lied about it." I said back, also telling the girls to wait in the car. "Did you fuck her?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
"What? No! That's insane." He answered. "It was- it's just- she's-" Harry didnt know what to say. I scoffed and opened the front door. "Taylor!" He yelled again.
I walked towards the car, seeing the girls sitting in the backseat waiting for me. When I got inside, they asked me what was going on. I didn't answer and instead told them to buckle their seat belts.
"Mom!" Avery yelled. "We deserve to know what's going on if you're going to drag us out of the house!"
"It's not safe at the house anymore." I answered.
"Then why did we leave dad, if it's unsafe?" She asked, angrier than I expected. I didn't answer. I turned up the radio and drove around for a while until I calmed down. I saw a billboard for a Motel 6 as I drove off the freeway.
I parked in the parking lot, letting the girls get out before I do. I took a deep breath and reached into my pocket, grabbing my wallet. When we walked into the lobby, the girls sat on the sofa while I paid for a room.
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Reticent
General Fiction"I thought it was over. I figured we'd been through everything and there was nothing else that could rip us apart. I didn't know I could be so wrong." Written- Jan 2nd 2017 Completed- Nov 23rd 2017
