A Mess of Things

Chapter Two

     I stepped onto the front porch steps of my house and briefly observed my surroundings. My mother had just been calling me while I was at Little Bridge, I had briefly glanced at my phone on my walk home to see how many missed calls I had. She left two voicemails, nine phone calls, and fourteen text messages. All of them varied along the lines of, 'Where are you?' or 'Get yourself home right now!' or 'Desdemona Rein Blathers you'd better answer me right now dammit!'

     I glanced through all of the windows on the house to see if any lights were on, or if there were any indications that could mean my mother might still be awake. I was in no mood to deal with her at all, I knew it would just be a never-ending argument. In all honesty I already felt guilty enough, I didn't want to feel any worse.

     All of the lights were turned off and I couldn't hear any sounds emitting from the house at all, so I assumed everyone was sleeping. I very gently opened the front door and tip-toed to the stairs in the living room. I made it half-way up the stairs, when the stairway light flicked on. I stopped abruptly and looked up, to see my mother standing at the top of the steps.

     Her gimpy arms were folded across her chest, her long dark brown hair was messy and half slung-up into a ponytail, and her face was red with anger. I rested my hand on the stair railing, waiting for her to start screaming, but all that followed was an awkward silence.

     I cleared my throat, "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up." I offered.

     Mom threw her arms up in the air and shook her head at me, "Desdemona! I cannot believe you would make me so sick with worry. I told you to be home by 11:30! Do you have absolutely any idea what time it is? Do you even know how to tell time?" She yelled.

     As a matter of a fact, I didn't know what time it was. How long had I been gone? I pulled my phone out of my jeans pocket and looked at the time. I felt beads of sweat forming on my forehead. "Uh... it's... 2:18 in the morning. I honestly didn't know what time it was, mom. I was at Little Bridge skipping rocks on the river. I never even looked at my phone, I just started on home when I was ready, I didn't think it was this late. I'm sorry." I apologized, stretching the truth just a bit.

     It was completely true that I had no idea what time it was, but I wasn't skipping rocks on the river and I absolutely wasn't about to tell her that Cain had been there.

     My mother shook her head in disbelief and put the palm of her hand on her forehead. "Dez, don't ever scare me like that again. I get that you're angry with me, but you need to just get over it already. The decision has already been made and I am not changing my mind. This is already hard enough, but you going and having all of these angsty fits and trying to be rebellious is making everything worse. I won't put up with it anymore." She huffed at me, and walked groggily down the hallway and into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

     I bit down on my bottom lip in frustration. In no way did I want to make anything worse, but I had to at least inform her of my fathers move. I knew it wouldn't change anything, but I thought maybe it would give her some peace of mind.

     I went up the stairs, down the hallway, and into her bedroom.

     "Mom?" I asked. She was laying on her bed, facing away from me.

     She rolled over with an annoyed look on her tired face. "What, Dez?" She sighed.

     "I got word today that dad and Morrigan are moving away, too. I don't know where or when but I can find out for you if you need me to." I explained.

     She scowled at me, "Are you serious right now? Dez I swear, if this is another attempt to sway me, you've got another thing coming because —"