The One I Love

July 3rd

I found out my mother works at a coyote ugly type of bar, she's one of the bartenders. And her son, my brother, was the bouncer. He's like 16? I went in there on a night she was working and had my brother throwing me out before I could sit. She knew who I was but he didn't. I began pacing the sidewalk thinking of another way to get into the bar.

"Amelia?" It was my mother. She had an apron around her waist and a rag in her hand. "Amelia you can't just show up here. There's people looking for me, your father should have scheduled a meeting for us."

"Whose looking for you? I can help you now mom, I'm here to help you."

"We can't talk here." She hands me a piece of flimsy paper and ran back into the building. It began to rain so I ducked into the diner across from the bar. Once I was sitting in a booth I opened the paper. Blank. It's blank? What the hell am I supposed to do with a blank piece of receipt paper?

"Can I get you anything miss?" A waitress with a tired smile approached me with her pen scribbling on her notepad.

"Uh, sure. I'll get a hot chocolate with whip cream?"

"Anything else darlin?"

"A side of fries?"

"Coming right up honey."

"Thank you." The waitress walks off and hands her paper to the cook so he can put it with the line. He spins the ticket holder making the light shine through them all. I take out the paper my mom handed me and hold it up to my phones flashlight.

Meet me at 10 p.m. at 1134 SE Pineland St. -Make sure you're not followed my dearest Amelia.

As time goes by slowly I order more and more hot chocolates and sides of fries. At 9:15 I decide it's time to start heading towards the address, google maps said it was a half hour drive, might as well get a head start so I can take detours to avoid being followed. The rain poured heavily on the windshield of my little Ford Escort as I drove down the gravel roads of this small town. I've taken extra turns and have gotten onto the highway before getting off and taking the back roads back from the next town over. I don't believe I'm being followed, as I pull up to the trailer I see my brothers head poke through the curtains. I cut the engine and get out of the car. My brother opens the door and looks down at me, "You her?"

"If her is your sister, than yes I am her." He moved so I could walk through the door, he was about a foot taller than me and I'm 5'3", so when I passed him all I could see was his shoulders. My brother was a very handsome kid, he looked a lot like Ashton with my eyes and ears. Weird..

"So kid, got a name?"

"Nick, Nick Cassidy Sharp."

"Sharp? You took his last name?"

"He's the only dad I know. Your name?"

"Surprised she didn't tell you, it's Amelia."

"Huh..should have guessed really.."

"So did you know about me or what happened this whole time or..?" I walk into their living room, it was very...small. It had an old box tv with antennas on top of it and a couch that looked like she got it at a flea market. The windows were covered with wooden panels and could only be opened from the inside.

"Well growing up mom wore this lockett and never let me see what was in it, so one day when she was showering I took it to see what the picture was, I thought it was going to be my dad. I opened it to see you, the picture was you when you were maybe 5? So I asked who you were and she told me everything, I was maybe 12?"

"And she didn't tell you my name? She said for your protection I couldn't know because their was still people after you and I didn't press because..well I may have never met you but your my sister, I don't wish you harm."

"Your sweet kid."

"Kid? Aren't you like not even a year older than me?"

"I just turned 20 in May."

"Oh I'm 16. Mom left when you were 4?"

"Yeah she didn't tell you that part?"

"She made you seem like an infant when she left."

"I was too pained by the memories of her taking her first steps and calling me mom that I blocked those ages out. I missed my daughter too much.." My mother turned the corner to appear in front of us. It was as if she came out of some hidden hallway.

"......Mom" She gave me a tight hug before staring at me for a long moment.

"Why are you here Amelia?" I was taken aback by her question. What? Why is she being rude? Why isn't she happy to see me? I don't understand this whole situation the last thing I need is for her to treat me like shit.

"Because for the past 16 years I thought you were dead? Then dad calls and suddenly my family is still a family just without me. Is there a reason I shouldn't have come? I mean Eltons dead so why t-"

"AMELIA!" My mother screamed at me her face dark red.

"How did my dad die?"

"You didn't know...?"

"No Amelia, he didn't know. I was hoping to have a calm conversation with him tonight."

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT! HE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU" Nick ran at me grabbing my throat and slammed me against the wall while my mother stood there. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DAD! DID YOU HURT MY DAD I'LL KILL YOU!"

I was struggling to get air as I felt my hands and feet start to go numb. "He.........had........cancer. It was in his blood, and he deserved it." I said it through my teeth, making my disgust with him obvious. Nick slammed my head against the wall behind me harder than before making it harder to get air. "He was a horrible human being. He beat his children and used unruly punishments. He truly deserved to die the most painful death." Nick slammed me against the wall making my vision blurry then dropped me to the floor. I started coughing and nearly fainted. My eyes started to twitch as I lost feeling in my body. My whole body was moving without me telling it to. I start screaming for my body to stop but no words come out, my mother tells my brother to put me in my car, as he carries me out she throws him the key and tells him she will follow him to the hospital so he can just drop me off there and leave. When we pull up to the hospital he leaves his hand on the horn for a full minute before leaving with my mother. As soon as I could fester up enough energy I crawled out of the car onto the sidewalk to see nurses rushing to me with a gurney in tow before losing consciousness.