The Cracks In Her Mirror

Chapter Nineteen

On Saturday morning, Ginger and Kimmy went downstairs to a large breakfast. That morning, her mother had been reading the paper and her father had been the one cooking.

"Good morning girls!" her mother smiled and set the paper aside.

"Morning," her father added. Ginger walked into the kitchen.

"Smells good in here," Ginger commented.

"Yeah," Kimmy agreed as she walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. Ginger joined her after pouring the two of them a cup of juice and fetching some dishes. They helped themselves to the food that was set on the table. After Ginger had shoveled her entire serving of eggs and bacon into her mouth and started on her pancakes, her parents sat across from the two of them and stared at Ginger expectantly. Ginger ignored it at first, but after a while, the staring was starting to get uncomfortable. She slowly looked up at them and waited for them to speak.

"So, Ginger," her mother began.

"Yes," Ginger said.

"The trucking company offered us a settlement," her father told her, "So that we don't have a whole trial and such."

"Okay," Ginger nodded.

"They offered a lot of money but we're going to take it to court anyway. We decided not to take their money and settle."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ginger asked, "You're going to do whatever you want anyway."

"No Ginger," her mother said, "We've been talking. And we decided that we do is completely up to you. Tell us what you want us to do in this situation." Ginger didn't say anything at first and Kimmy sat quietly as well. Ginger took another bite of food and then looked up at her parents, her face growing solemn.

"I spoke to him," she said to them.

"Him?" her father asked.

"Miles."

"Miles as in the guy that hit you two?" her father clarified.

"Yes."

"You spoke to him?" her mother chimed in, "Where? When? About what?"

"I yelled at him for ruining my life and my face. It wasn't too long ago and I was at some bar," she said. Kimmy also looked pretty surprised.

"Some bar?" her father asked disapprovingly.

"It's not important," Ginger dismissed, "The point is, I talked and he listened. I got everything out." No one said anything.

"Is the settlement enough to pay the medical bills?" Ginger asked.

"Well..." her mother began, "Yes."

"Take the settlement," Ginger said evenly.

"Ginger-" her father began.

"You said it was up to me," Ginger said, "If that's true, then take the settlement. If you were just saying that, then do whatever you need to do. You know what I want." There was another long pause and then her father bit down on his lip.

"If you want us to take the settlement, we will," her father said, "But if I may ask, why?"

"The reason you wanted to go to court was because he hurt us. He hurt me. And he put us at a disadvantage. Financially and otherwise. Anyway, if the compensation that they are offering is enough, then I don't see the point in making a big hassle. No court case is going to fix me. No court case is going to put me back the way I was. The court case isn't going to make him feel worse than he does. If we are getting the money we need, there isn't any point in dragging this along. I just want to move on," Ginger explained. Her parents seemed satisfied with the explanation.