C A T C H 22 |BWWM|

Epilogue

Paislee

It was a week after Deen's departure, where I still slept until noon and woke up with tears in my eyes. Where I read his letters and wrapped myself in his white t-shirt every night while I dreamt sweet dreams. Or maybe, they were bad and I woke up hearing gunshots and checking beside me to see if Deen's corpse was there. It wasn't and that fueled me to get out of bed for the day.

Today, was not different than any other summer day. Sheila and I had gone to the pool and I had just gotten home from a cool day as my wet shoes squeaked everywhere I went. It was still bright outside, only four o'clock in the afternoon, and I longed to shower and collapse in my bed. I pushed open the door to chaos. Mama yelling and daddy right behind her tail. When I stepped foot inside the foyer, everyone paused.

"You—"

Thwack! An acute sting came upon my cheek as mama's hand pulled away from my face. I stood shocked, not even letting the pain register, and straightened up my posture.

"Mama! What—"

"Shut the hell up, Paislee Miller. I swear the last thing I want to hear is your voice," Mama seethed. "I found some interesting things today and I must say, you have lost all trust. Deceived all of us, put us in danger. What were you thinking?"

The only thing that came to mind was Deen. I put my head down and tried to calm my heartbeat. I wouldn't confess to anything until the words parted mama's lips.

"I-I don't understand," I said quietly.

"You don't—" Mama pushed my shoulder into the wall, forcing me to look up. Her nails dug into my skin. I looked up at daddy who watched behind her, his eyes shifted from mine quickly. "I'm so sick of tired of seeing you already."

"Rosie. . ." Daddy spoke up. "Let Paislee go."

Mama scoffed and removed her hands from me. "You know, I found it interesting that you were here moping around for days. Barely knew Robert for a year, so it couldn't have been him that had you down. The day at the train station, I follow you around and guess what I see? You and that white boy. He's touching you, you're giving him something, your eyes are looking at him and he's looking at you. I hear the words that both of you speak and I'm shocked to hear 'I want my best friend back' but I know there's more to that."

"Is this true, Paislee? Be honest," daddy asked me.

"T-There's two sides of a story. Let me say mine before you start to assume anything," I said, backing away from mama.

I looked behind her and saw things from my room sitting on the coffee table. Letters, notes, the preserved flowers, and the necklaces. I even spotted the printed photos that Deen took of me back in May. All from Deen.

But one envelope caught my eye. It was still sealed perfectly and the bright, red color made it contrast from anything it. The 'Forbidden letter' as Deen called it. Telling me to open this on a rainy day, where maybe everything hadn't gone right that day and I need a pick-me-up of some sort. If mama knew of anything that was in that letter, she would be devastated.

"Assume?" Mama exclaimed. "No, we know the story and we know what you have been doing for these months. All the times we trusted you to do good and you couldn't even do that. We see you. Lying to us and putting a target on our family's back. Now I see why you could never keep a friend. Hell, if I knew of all the sinful things you were doing I wouldn't have stuck around either."

Tears were falling down my face and I could barely move to wipe them. Daddy watched on, saying nothing at all.

"Deen. . . He was there for everything and he was there for me. Our relationship was dangerous but I felt safe. He was different than me but we bonded together so well. He could've been the cause of my problems but he solved them. I'm sorry that I let you guys down, but he was my friend. . . He was mine," I murmured.

"I bet he was there for you to open your legs to him too," Mama grumbled lowly. "You should be sorry alright. I will not stand for you to live under my roof like this. I want you gone."

I want you gone, rang through my head a couple of times before I started to tremble. I looked to daddy for him to say something but his lips remained sealed and his look was indescribable.

"You're putting me out? Y-You're putting me out the house?" I gulped down the lump in my throat that filled my body with shock and fear. "But—"

"I want you out. With all his stuff and everything clean from this house and our name. You can have a few days to gather your stuff and get back on your feet but this house isn't yours anymore."

And so I packed my things for that night—which wasn't much—and stuffed them into a sack that was held onto my chest. I had cried myself a river and now all I could feel was anger. At myself, my parents, but overall rage and anger. I wanted to scream and punch the walls and break open the windows. I also wanted to sob and curl up in bed and be held.

Daddy was at the door, his hands in his pocket. "Where are you gonna' go tonight, Paislee?"

"Oh, I don't know, daddy. Might sleep on the streets, go to Sheila's house, might get beaten and groped by men again, or I might just die just like the other innocent kids in this neighborhood do. Options are endless," I quipped sarcastically, more to myself than daddy.

"Paislee. . ."

"You always said you were my protector, right? So how did this happen, daddy? How? And you wonder why I ran to him, ran to Deen. . . Because he did things that nobody else did. He protected me from things that are unbeknownst to you," I said.

"I was there for you—"

"You fought for me when mama slapped me or when you stood watching us without saying a word. You fought for me then, huh? Deen fought for me when I was broken. After I was brutally raped and my parents forced me out of the house to a place where I was feet away from my abusers. He watched me, made sure no harm came for me, took beatings for me, and told me that I was worth so much more than a lost case and broken soul. But you fought for me as you told me to forget the memories and forget everything."

I stepped closer to daddy and looked him in the eyes closely. They were glossed with tears and so were mine.

"And all I wanted was my father to maybe just give me a little push. Maybe some lead way, or something as simple as hearing me out before throwing me out the house. But I guess it's too late to start wanting things now, isn't it?"

That afternoon was the last time I left as the daughter of the Millers, and the first time walking independently as Paislee.
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All birds must fly solo once in their life. Hope you enjoyed the last part of  C A T C H 22 and comment on how you feel about this epilogue and how the book is finally over. *insert sobbing*

I will be having a book and author q&a so drop any questions or comments you have. There will be some extra parts to this book so be on the lookout for announcements and behind the scene chapters.

Thank you reading loves and happy reading as always,

~A crying Rc xoxo ;(