Downfall

Chapter 16 : The truth to be told

It was a summer vacation, i had to come back to my home town, i was even excited to coming home, i was so excited to be with my mom and my brother, well, my dad is still in work and can't seem to come back home that soon. So, no dad for the summer

When i got home, opened the door, silence welcomed me

a first time.

my mother usually greets me hello and welcome me with a big smile in her face and a very heart-warming hug.

no mother

i thought my brother was out too, then i went to his room and found him just playing computer games, then i asked him

"hey! where's mom?"

"i don't know"

"how come you don't know?"

"i just don't know"

i couldn't understand the way he answered me, so i got furious and told him

"how could you possibly don't know when you are just here in the house"

and then, a shocking reply came from him, a reply i didn't expect to hear from him

"because she hasn't come back home for a week now"

a week

my mother is missing

is she dead?

"what? are you kidding me? did you call the police?"

"no"

"why no? what if something bad happened to her? what if she had been kidnapped"

"because this is not the first time that it happened, usually it just takes her three days then she comes back home, this time, it took her a week and counting"

what happened when i was away? i was just gone for months and it seems that i've been gone for years now. i can't seem to fully understand everything

I was unpacking my things when the doorbell rang. i thought it was from my mom so i hurriedly open the door then i found my granny, she's at the door

no sign of mother again

"Oh, so you are here already?" my granny asked

"yes, just awhile ago"

"so, i guess you must have heard"

"heard what?"

i was completely blank.

"that your mother hasn't come back home for a week now, and she's been doing this for months"

"for months? but she's been texting me"

"that i really don't know. your mother doesn't want to talk to me, i wanted to ask her but she always avoid me"

what the hell just happened when i was gone

"a lot has happened" my brother said, appearing just out of nowhere

"what do you mean?"

then my brother was just silent. he went to the kitchen and got some water and went back to his room again.

i wanted to ask my brother but i was just too scared to know

"they said your mother has another man" my granny said

"what? who told you that?"

"people. some of her friends"

"and you believe them?" i got furious, i was mad at my granny for saying that. how can she say that my mother, my beloved mother, has another man and telling me that she's been cheating to my dad? how can she even say that

"i don't want to believe them, trust me, but this? how can she leave your brother all alone in this house?"

"maybe she has her reasons"

"no mother can leave her child alone, not unless she has another family"

"how can you say that?" this time, my tone got higher. i was totally mad

"don't shout at me, i don't mean to judge your mom." my granny said with a sad and concern look in her eyes.

i know that she's just sad for my brother but how can she even believe those people, those people who tried to discriminate my mother throughout these years. they are just jealous becase we are one heck of a happy family. 

that whole day, my granny stayed with us and i just coudn't sleep from waiting and waiting and waiting. 

Morning came and still, no sign from my mother

three days after, my mom texted me, 

"Sammy, can i meet you and your brother somewhere, let's say in Angel's Corner?"

"sure"

i was nervous, i wasn't prepared, i wasn't even ready to see her. i don't want to hear whatever reasons she have. i just wanted her to come back home. but i knew i had to see her. if i want to clear things out, i need to ask her. so we went to Angel's Corner

when we arrived, there she is, sitting in the table near the window. i can see her. wearing sunglasses. she seems nervous. then i began to start feeling nervous too

"hey mom! we're here" i said

"Sam, Max, i'm so glad you came" my mother said

"So, where have you been this past few weeks, i've heard a lot from Max" 

"well, that's why i called you today. i wanted to see you but i wasn't ready yet, i know you came home already. i recieved your text"

"but you didn't reply?"

"that's because i don't know what to say"

"why? is there a problem?"

the beating of my heart got faster and faster, i was about to vomit out of nervousness. i tried not to think the worst case scenario but i knew, deep down in my heart, i felt it, i knew it, i knew there was something going on, i knew there was something different. deep down, i knew what the answer was. but i repressed it, i don't want to get hurt. i don't want to even think about the possibility but then, it was unleashed. those six words unleashed it

"i don't love your father anymore"

----------------------------------

tears suddenly fell from my eyes, and somehow i can't stop myself from crying. all i could do after that was cry and cry. Just before i could even straighten myself up, another memory flashes back, a memory i don't want to remember, i memory i tried to forget. the continuation of my nightmare comes