Chapter 10
"You dragged me like a moth to a flame
Don't you realize that this is part of destiny's game? "
- Nathaniel's Lyric Journal
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"
Dad asked me the minute I entered the back door.
Though I hesitated when I opened the back door to watch Dad pick up empty plates, my pace did not falter.
"I went on a run," I explained, gesturing to the sweaty shirt. "It's hot today."
I stifled a yawn, the only evidence of the fact I stayed up all night searching for a woman that did not exist anywhere on social media. She was not on any social media. There were no pictures of her anywhere.
It was like she never existed.
She stayed in my thoughts for most of the night. That remained the case when I woke up early and went for a run. David was wrong. He must be. She couldn't be a family friend. I would've heard of a family friend who was that close. Even more strange, in the picture, I looked happy in the picture with her.
"Uh huh. Just as your family came over for lunch and you just happened to avoid them," Dad continued with an unconvinced tone. He watched me warily as I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and took a long drink.
"I guess so. I'll see them eventually," I said, sighing at the refreshing beverage.
Dad looked at me with uncertainty.
"You can't keep avoiding them. This is the third time you have bailed on them here to go for a run," he insisted, putting air quotes around the word run. He broke eye contact and started to run his fingers through his hair, a typical sign of being stressed.
Mom was usually the disciplinarian and I knew that Dad was struggling to have the talk that I was trying to avoid.
My mouth grew taut before it released a heavy sigh. Dad only had his brother here, which left Abeula and Mom's four other siblings. I saw them once to help unpack and after that...I just try not to see them. They just remind me too much of her, and when I see them, all I could feel was pain.
So instead, I run.
"I know."
Dad placed the plates in the sink. He leaned back on the counter to look at me.
"Nathaniel I know it's hard," he began, his voice etched with exhaustion. "I know she passed a little over a month ago, but if you ever want to talk about Mom-"
"It's fine. I will say hi to them next time. Don't worry," I interrupted, giving him my most convincing smile. Dad looked at me for a minute before he sighed for what it felt like the hundredth time.
"Alright. You better do that. I won't take it as an excuse. You have to start confronting this," Dad warned me with a look that matched the same level of exhaustion as mine. He glanced down at his watch and his eyes widened. "I have to do some errands for work, but we are not done talking about this yet."
He grabbed the car keys on the table, and looked at me.
"Do you want to join me?" Dad offered.
YOU ARE READING
Her Name is Memory
Teen FictionThe day tragedy struck his family was the day Nathaniel McCoy decided he was never going to sing again. Once a gifted singer, Nathaniel was now living an unwanted life. It does not help his father relocated their family to Alabama- a place Nathanie...
