Silent Rain

Chapter Five - Tessa's Life Story Part Two

Unfortunately for Tessa, her father was not a kind man but a selfish one. He was married to a woman Tessa had never met, and had two children, one was his and the other was his wife's from a previous marriage. They lived in a two bedroom apartment four hours away from Tessa's mother. Tessa's father's name was Rick, his new wife was Brenda, and Molly (her little girl) was seven. Rick's son was one and his name was Chase. Tessa had never had siblings before, she was alone her whole life. She could tell her stepmom wasn't much of a mom either. The kids were always dirty and the apartment was a mess. She couldn't cook and was always high. Her dad was never home to help because he was still taking classes. Tessa shared a room with Molly, which only had room for two twin mattresses and nothing else. Chase never stopped crying and the walls were too thin, so Tessa never got sleep. She was expected to clean and cook and watch the kids after school every day so Brenda could go "work".

A week after Tessa had settled in, Rick asked her to go to dinner with him and catch up. He asked about her mother and her old school. She asked about his school and his new wife and his other children. He asked why her hair was black and white and why she only owned black clothing and makeup. She asked why he never called. He let her appearance go and changed the subject quickly to the most recent Giants game.

Tessa still smoked weed when she could and strayed away from anyone she could possibly become close to. She went to school and tried to look as uninviting as possible, then after class she met her dealer and went home to chaos. For the rest of 8th grade it went along like that. Then her father got a divorce and moved away from that tiny apartment, dragging Tessa and Chase with him. But Brenda followed pursuit. She couldn't lose a man about to become a doctor, she needed someone to keep her off the streets and a warm place to sleep.

Rick rented a house in the same city as The Group, unknowingly, six and a half months later. Three months before Tessa's freshman year of high school. One day Brenda appeared in the garage when Tessa went to start the laundry, making Tessa scream loud enough to knock Brenda back a few steps.

"What the fuck are you doing here!?" She yelled at the crazy lady.

"It wasn't that hard to find where you moved to, trust me. Is your dad here? We need to talk." She was straight faced and holding her stomach. With all the adrenaline pumping through Tessa's veins, she didn't even realize Brenda was pregnant.

"Uh. Ya. He is." Tessa had a few theories as to why she was here and prayed she wasn't correct. Molly trailed behind her mother but stopped to hug Tessa who pushed her away, disgusted. Tessa led Brenda to her father who looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Well thank you Tessa, that will be all." Brenda expected Tessa to leave them alone. She looked at her dad and closed the door behind her. Two hours later, after listening to yelling, crying, and something smash and break, the two came out of Rick's office. Brenda grabbed Molly and left immediately, without bothering to even say hello to her son.

"Dad, what the hell happened, what does she want?"

"Tessa, she's pregnant and says the baby is mine." Her dad sighed and sat down on the couch, rubbing his eyes.

"She wants to get together again because she could have the baby any day and needs somewhere safe to stay and someone to help take care of her and the baby. She knew she was pregnant before the divorce but decided not to tell me because she wanted to keep me around. I think she got pregnant on purpose because she thought I wouldn't leave her if we had another baby."

"Well you told her to fuck off right? She's crazy dad, she's not good for Chase to be around and she hates me as I do her."

"Not exactly, I told her I want to see my baby on weekdays while I'm still in school and she tried everything to get back under my roof but I just don't love her anymore. And she doesn't hate you either."