A Quiet Kismet

Chapter Four

AGE 7

We only stayed at my mother's friends house for seven days. The longest seven days of my life actually. On the Friday before Easter Sunday we came back from school and found that our Mother had packed everything up for us.

"Are we leaving again?" I asked, holding the straps to my backpack tightly. Mom's eyes trailed to me and she looked down at my feet. I was wearing mismatched socks again. A purple sock with cheetah print and a yellow sock with little lemons on it.

"Please tell me you didn't wear those to school?" Mom frowned, and a part of me was satisfied she had finally noticed, and angry that it took her that long to actually look at me.

"You never said anything." I shrugged.

Mom smiled guiltily and turned to everyone else. "We're going back home today. So I need you all to load up the van, and we'll be out of here asap." Mom said clapping her hands loudly, and it felt like old times.

Of course, I didn't know jack shit then.

Mom would later sit us down and explain that Dad had to go away because he was sick. He left us the house and we needed to help out more now than ever since Mom was going to work. When I asked when he was coming back, Mom acted like she couldn't hear me and moved on to explain we would all have permanent chores.

Before, it was just the older kids doing chores with Mom. Now it was all of us. Mom laid it all out for us. Delia and Jaimie took turns cleaning either the kitchen or the living. Jorge took care of the yard and handled all of the garbage. Mom cleaned the bathroom and kept track of the chore chart. Since we were younger, Jules and I only cleaned up our room and made sure to never leave a mess in the living room. Mom tried not to rely too much on us younger kids but eventually we were thrown into the chore mix.

It was a lot, but Mom had said it was an adjustment the family would have to make. "Family is sacrifice. It's not easy but it's the only way we'll stay afloat. Everyone will have to grow up some more. I'm sorry." She had said, running her hands through my hair lovingly. I didn't know it then, but I think she felt guilty.

So that's how we went on, days turned to weeks, and weeks into months. The longer we went on the better I got at cleaning the dishes, separating laundry, sweeping floors and taking care of Jules. But I still wondered when Dad would come back. Julia did too, and she would ask all the time, so finally I sat her down after a particularly hard day. She had been sobbing about father's day coming up, and how Dad wouldn't be home for it. I didn't want to admit that I had wondered when he'd come back too, so I tried my best to shove my sadness aside.

She sat next to me in bed and sobbed against my shoulder. "I miss Daddy!" She cried, her small body shook with huge sobs, and I remember it breaking my heart. I just wanted her pain to go away. "Where is he?"

I looked at my books, and remembered a story about a time traveling dad who was lost in the space time continuum. It was better than what I actually knew about where our dad was, which was nothing. So I took her in my arms and rocked her back and forth like I had seen Mom do before. She easily melted into my embrace and I gave it a go.

"Daddy is off having a grand adventure Jules." I said softly, stroking her hair. "He's on a boat in the ocean searching for the biggest squid in the world. He's climbing mountains so high he can touch the stars. He's in the jungles swinging on vines, feeling the air rush through his hair."

Julia looked unsure. "Are you lying, Millie?"

"No! I know because he tells me all about his adventures." I said, even though I was basically ripping off every adventure book I had ever read.

"How? I want to talk to him too!" She wailed so loudly I was afraid she was going to wake baby Ruby up from his nap.

"Hush!" I hissed, "Keep it down, and I'll show you how I talk to him. Now close your eyes."

Jules closed her eyes tightly, and placed her hands over her chest. It was adorable and it took everything in me not to melt right then and there. "Okay now what?"

I laid next to her and mimicked her position, and crossed my hands on my chest too. "Now tell me what you see?"

"Nothing, it's dark."

"Good, that means the door is open." I said it easily enough.

"The door?"

"It's an imaginary door. Don't worry, I'll paint the picture for you. I see him, I see Daddy."

"Where?" She asked sitting up in bed. Without opening my eyes I pushed her back down.

"Close your eyes or it won't work." I reminded her. "Now just imagine Daddy. He's not tall but he's taller than Mama. His hair is combed back with gel and it's super thick, thicker than his mustache."

"His funny stache." She giggled. "I see him. He's wearing that shirt we got him for christmas last year, the one with snowflakes."

I could see him, or rather, imagine him as if he was really there. He saw both me and Julia, and his smile broke across his face. "He's getting ready to skydive, do you know what that is?"

"Nope."

"It's when you jump out of a plane strapped to a parachute. It's the closest humans can get to flying like birds. It's supposed to be scary but Daddy doesn't care. He's brave like that."

"Yeah..." She mumbled quietly. "Tell me more, what is he saying?"

"He's saying he loves you very much, and when he's done with his adventure he'll come back." My voice trembled, and I knew I was going to cry if I didn't stop. My chest felt like it was cracking into a million pieces and I moved my hands up and clutched at it, as if the pieces would stay together if I held them there.

"Why can't he come back now?"

"Because he's doing something important right now. Don't worry, he won't be gone forever. He'll come back someday."

I opened my eyes and saw Julia peering up at me through her long lashes. "Promise?"

"I promise."

Short and simple chapter. I personally love these flashbacks they're so fun to write.

Do y'all write in dual timelines? If so what's the easiest and hardest part of it?

Do you have a favorite book that drives into dual timelines? Comment below I really want to hear from y'all.

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