Suri Melrose Willoughby is a young girl with the weight of the world on her back. Being the only child and growing up in a single parent home, she was spoiled rotten by her mother. Not with materialistic things, but with honesty, time, attention, co...
"Mel, if you don't get your ass out of this car, I'll carry you to the doorstep myself." Raine threatened me for the tenth time tonight. The time had come and I got cold feet the moment we pulled into the driveway. I wasn't afraid, but more so wanting to avoid whatever mayhem Venus was about to cause.
"This was a freaking terrible idea to begin with." I said, shaking my head frantically. "I can't do it."
"You can and you will. If your relationship with your mother is meant to be mended then it will be mended. If it's not, you can walk away from here feeling better about yourself because you at least tried to find common ground with her." Raine took my hand in his, leaving small kisses on them both. It was a simple gesture, yet very calming. "You can do this Mel--I know you can. And I'll be right there next to you."
Staring at him with uncertainty, I took a deep breath and began to get out of the car. He came around to where I stood and intertwined our hands together, sending electric waves through my body. I forgot how amazing just holding hands with the one you love felt. We haven't held hands like this since college. He's really trying to show me that he wants to make it right between us and it's getting harder each day to resist him. Raine took it upon himself to ring the doorbell, snapping me out of my thoughts. Giving him the evil eye, he smiled and shrugged carelessly. Seconds later the sound of someone fumbling with the locks was heard and the door flew opened revealing Venus looking...well like Venus.
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Her head jerked back and eyes widened, but she smiled brightly once it processed in her head that I was really standing at her door. "Suri, you came. You really showed up."
"Yeah, don't get too excited. I changed my mind, but he talked me into coming." I said, pointing at Raine who never took his eyes off of her. I'm convinced her sense of style blindsided him. "Venus, this is Raine. Raine this is my mother, Venus."
Breaking out of his trance, he outstretched his hand to shake hers. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Venus. I'm loving the afro centric vibe you have going on."
"Same here Raine." She shook his hand swiftly before moving to the side to let us in. "Dinner is already done and set on the table, so remove your shoes please and meet me in the dining room."
Raine waited until she was out of hearing distance and spoke up. "Does she dress like that all the time?" He whispered loud enough for me to hear him.
I nodded. "Yup. Since the day I was born she's always been this hippie, eccentric, intertwined with the soul individual. Hence where I get my unusual sense of style from."
"Hey, I'm not judging you ladies. My mom is sort of like this too. Without the colorful beads though." He added, gaining a chuckle out of me. Once our shoes were off, we found our way into the dining room and my stomach turned at the sight of Johnathon sitting at the table. I felt my upper lip curl as I looked everywhere else but at him. Raine pulled the chair out for me, letting me sit first and he followed suit on the side across from me.
"I'm Johnathon, Venus' husband." He introduced himself to Raine with an outstretched arm.
"Raine. Pleased to meet you Johnathon." He shook his hand firmly.
Adverting his gaze towards me, he shook his head and smiled. "Suri, you can't speak now? You're in my home."
I scoffed, continuing to ignore him. I wouldn't dare waste my God given oxygen on trash. Venus came in the room, clearing up the awkwardness that had taken over.
"Let's bless the food and we can eat." She voiced, sitting on the opposite end of the table. "Raine, do you say grace before dinner?"
"Not regularly like I should, but I will sometimes." He admitted truthfully.
"We pray around here if that's alright with you."
He nodded. "It's perfectly fine Venus."
"Great. Everyone bow your heads." We did as instructed and she began to speak. Blocking out everything she was saying, I said my own prayer for Raine and myself because how can I listen to this cruel woman pray to our Father without feeling just as cruel as her? When she finished, she clasped her hands together eagerly. "Ok, let's dig in shall we."
The sounds of forks clicking the plates were the only noise being made amongst us. I looked up to see the uneasiness in Raine's body language and I felt somewhat bad for basically forcing him to come. Seeing that no one is going to spark conversation, I put my pride on the back burner for a split second.
"This is getting ridiculous." I voiced, gaining everyone attention. "You obviously wanted me here for a reason and it's not to have a family dinner, so what's the deal Venus?"
She chewed the food that was in her mouth before speaking. "Johnathon and I was hoping that we could bury the hatchet and move on. Our family has been broken for far too long over this foolery you've been keeping up."
Poking the inside of my cheek with my tongue, I nodded and pushed my chair out, so I could stand up. "I'm not going to raise my voice and I'm not going to pass snidely insults back and forth. But I am going to get out of here before I change my mind and act an ass on you. You see this isn't what I'm about to do. Let you sit here and continuously tell me to my face that I've been lying all these years. If you haven't gotten it by now, you never will."
"Suri, you are not to walk out of this house until we settle this madness this instance." She demanded through clenched teeth. "You will not keep this family torn apart because of this delusional accusation you're pinning on my husband."
Staring at the woman before me, I didn't see a once loving protecting mother. I saw a person who's been possessed by her evil husband. He's had an abundance of time to fill her head up with lies and she's clearly being controlled by them.
"Raine, let's get out here. We have a flight to board and a vacation with our name on it. There's no use in prolonging our visit. It's like talking to a brick wall." I looked between Venus and Johnathon whom sat there with no sign of remorse present. "The both of you can rot in hell with the rest of the liars, manipulators and easily influenced bastards of the world."
Grabbing Raine's hand, I basically dragged him towards the front door where we retrieved our shoes and got out of here. Once we were on the road, no words were exchanged between us. Raine gripped my hand harder as a sign of soothing me.
"You did good back there, Mel." He said, stealing a glance at me.
"Yeah, I did huh? I wanted to start a riot at the table, but then I thought about it. What will I gain from doing so? They're still going to deny the truth and I'm still going to despise them for it. I'd rather cut ties with a little bit of dignity rather than cut ties and catch a charge."
"You responded in a mature manner and walked away from the situation before it got out of hand and I applaud you for that Mel."
"I'm completely done with those two idiots. Now I'm ready to lie on the beaches of Puerto Rico and soak up the sun." I smiled, imaging myself in a cute bikini, living it up in paradise for the next two weeks. Venus is the last person on my mind and I'd be damn if I let her stupidity interfere with my well deserved vacation. Although she doesn't love me, I still love her, but it's better for myself if I love her from afar. From this moment on I'm washing my hands clean with Venus Willoughby.
