Memory After Memory

Chapter 5

After a few minutes of being in my room, I started to pace a little bit. It was just me wondering why I have to be in my room and all that jazz. Eventually, Julian came back in my room.

"Hey, sorry to have kept you in here but you really need to see this."

I didn't say anything for a minute, given how random this was. "Uh...Is it worth the time I spent in my room?"

"Maybe, if you see it that way."

I didn't want to leave at that point if it wasn't gonna be worth it, but I went anyway because...why not?

I went to the living room and as soon as I got out there, I was hugged by a young girl that looked no older than 12. "Amy!"

I froze in place for a moment until recognition hit me: my family. My mom, my sister Jeanette, and my aunt were here. I hugged Jeanette back. I only remembered her being 4 years old. Now she had to be 12.

My mom and my aunt came over and turned it into a group hug. It was kind of a great feeling. The only person missing was my dad.

"Where's dad?"

Jeanette seemed to have froze in place and mom didn't meet my eyes. Something must have happened.

My aunt spoke for them after an awkward silence. "He bailed on you guys."

That hit me in the gut. My dad and I were probably the closest out of the whole family and he just bailed? "You're joking right? Dad and I were close. There's no way he would just leave like that."

My aunt's eyes said it all, that she wasn't lying. There was nothing about her that gave off that this was just some joke, although I wish it was. I grasped the concept that he left and wasn't coming back.

I guess Julian couldn't stand the awkwardness of it all and thought of something to take our minds off of it.

"So uh, anything interesting happen recently?"

My aunt nodded. "Jeanette is actually into sports now. She just got offered to go to a national game to compete with the other more professional ladies."

I nodded, impressed. "Wow. For someone so young, you're doing better than I did when I was 12."

Jeanette nodded. "I'm also going to be starting Dance next week."

"Dance and sports? Girl, you're making yourself quite busy."

Jeanette and I laughed as my mother looked at my shortness. I never grew taller than 5'1 after middle school. I guess she found that funny and laughed a little about it. When she was done with that, she piped in.

"How about we all go out some time to celebrate Amy's miraculous return?"

We all agreed to that: some time. I guess my mom had the idea that I wanted more time to get used to not almost dying for a little while longer before going out with a crowd of familiar faces. That's nice of her.

I looked at Julian. At least someone thought about giving me some time. Julian just chuckled, knowing the look on my face and knowing exactly what went through my head from the way I looked at him.

My aunt looked at the time. "Well, it was lovely to see you again, but we gotta get going we've got a busy day tomorrow."

I nodded. "Alright. Don't get in too much trouble." I looked at Jeanette specifically as I said that. She only laughed as she walked out the door, which put a smile to my face.

When they left, Viney seemed relieved which was very peculiar. Last time I checked, she loved my parents. I needed to talk to her about how she is tonight, but how on earth do I bring up such a topic without her flipping out.