The Letter

The Letter |Ch. 2

I ran to my room and shut the door. I didn't want to see nor talk to anyone. I jumped onto my bed and buried myself within my blankets.

What was going to happen to me? Would I still go to school? I mean, I couldn't stay home forever. Although I wish I could.

And mother. What would happen to her? Would she be sad for the rest of her life? How long could this go on? Would Auntie Suzan give up on helping her?

No. She wouldn't. She couldn't. Auntie wasn't that kind of person. She really cared about us. And she'd help mom through this.

Oh god. Oh god. Would we ever be a happy family again? Was that even possible if there wasn't a daddy in the picture anymore?

I felt sick as a tormenting thought came to my mind. What if mother replaced daddy with someone else? And he'd try to take daddy's place. He'd try to be a second father to me.

No. She couldn't do that. I wouldn't let her.

I heard a faint knock on my door, and someone entering a few seconds later.

"Katherine," Auntie Suzan said with a deep voice. She sat down on my bed and slowly lowered the blankets, revealing my head.

"Go away," I said firmly. I really wanted to be left alone. But I knew she meant well, and only wanted to comfort me.

She brushed my hair out of my face and gave me a weak smile. "You look so much like him," she paused. "He really loved you. He was a very good father."

"I know that," I said, trying to avoid this conversation. I really wanted her to leave me alone!

She sighed, unsure what to say next.

"Look, I have something I really need to tell you. To get off my chest, you know? So you'll be prepared for what comes your way, and you'll know the situation you'll be in," she said without taking her eyes off me.

I stared at her blankly, waiting for her to continue. "Your mother is not aware of what I'm going to tell you. I'll tell her sooner or later, but you need to know I'm the one announcing it, and-"

"Oh what is it already!" I cut her off rudely.

What was so god damn important? She didn't even have a reaction to my disrespectful tone towards her, which surprised me. Auntie wasn't one to let it pass, usually, but she pretended she didn't notice this time.

"I'm going back to Scotland," she said all at once, like it was difficult to get the words out.

What the actual hell? No way. She couldn't just go back at a time like this! And leave us? No! She wasn't done talking. There was more to this... maybe we'd be going with her?

I waited for her to keep going. To tell me we'd be coming too. But she just stared at me. And as the seconds slowly passed, the hope she would take us with her, faded away.

"Why?" I managed to ask. I wanted to scream at her, punch a wall, kick my bed, break something!

I did none of those things. Instead, I lay there, confused and abandoned.

"I can't stay here. Your daddy was the only blood related family I cared for, over here. And I have to go back to the rest of them now. I miss them. He's the reason I even came here in the first place. Now I have no reason to stay."

I felt a stinging pain in my chest as her words sunk in, revealing her honest thoughts about us. She never loved me. She never cared for me. She was here with dad, and ready to leave as soon as he did.

She noticed the flash of recognition in my eyes. Now I knew who she really was, and I couldn't believe I thought she was my family, let alone my friend.