I walked inside to find my mother in the kitchen fumbling with dishes, she was still unpacking most of the house. I tried to slip past without her noticing but she stopped me, "Anna?"
"Yes?" I answered rolling my eyes, I knew she was going to bombard me with questions that I would have absolutely no answer to.
"Did you have a good time?" She asked innocently enough. I walked on into the kitchen and sat down at the table. I had not been myself since the divorce and the move really just made me want to stay locked away in my room. Now that I had an interest here, I was breaking out of my shell again and opening back up to my mother.
"It was alright, we just sat and talked and then one of his buddies came and they talked and he had to go." She sat down and put a drink in front of me and her own drink in her hand, we used to sit and talk all the time until her and my father started their bickering.
"Have you talked to Chloe? She called a little while ago and it sounded important..." My mother's voice trailed off. She tried to make ends meet for us, even through the fights with my dad. She never really gave up or broke down, she was a strong woman so I knew from her voice that something wasn't right.
"Well, no, I have been busy getting settled in... But I will call her in a few, is everything ok, mom?" I asked with a strong scent of concern in my voice. Chloe was as close to a friend that i had ever really had besides my cousins, she was enthusiastic and very friendly where I was just there. We evened each other out.
"Yeah, hunnie, everything is fine. You know, your father called to... He asked how you were doing and told me to tell you, if you need anything don't shy from calling.." She said getting up. She never used me as a pawn to get back at him, though that would have been fine with me. He was a great father but after watching how he treated my mom and the pain I watched her suffer night after night, I couldn't forgive him. When they broke the news to me about the divorce I asked what finally pushed them to that step but they said it would just be a better environment if I wasn't caught in a house with fighting all the time.
I talked to my mother a little longer about my father and she assured me it didn't bother her for him to call, that she would always love him but she couldn't be with him and had wanted nothing more than to move on for a very long time. After that I decided to go call Chloe, I could only wonder what she would have to talk about.
The phone rung and rung and finally she answered, but my mother was right, Chloe had news that she couldn't decide if she wanted to break or hide.
"Chloe, what is it?" I asked for the fourth time, I was no longer interested in the news but had to pretend.
"I don't know if I should tell you, I don't want you to hate me Anna!" She stressed the fact that I was her best friend and she wasn't sure it was her place to tell me, then I threatened to hang up and she caved, "No! Don't do that! Look, people here are starting to talk. Rumors at school say you got pregnant so you moved, of course I always bring justice to the rumors at school since I am your friend but then my mom told me that your parents split because your dad was having an affair and he had another child on the way and that your mother found out and it was a crisis! Is all of that true?"
At her words I dropped the phone and I didn't know whether it was true or not, it was odd, after all of those years just finally deciding it was over and I had known there was more to the story that they didn't want to tell me but, an affair? Finally I gained my composure and picked my phone up, I told Chloe it wasn't true and that I had to go.
I found my mother in the kitchen again, "Mom, is it true?"
She had already known what I was talking about much like she had known the reason behind Chloe's call and that it was a matter of time before she had to sit me down. A tear rolled down her cheek and I took her into a hug. Nothing else was said, I just stood and held my mother at her weakest moment. She finally let herself breathe and barely got out the haze of words, "I'm going to bed, goodnight hun." She kissed me lightly on top of the head and left the room. I sat down, lost in my thoughts.
