_______
Emily
2 years and 6 months prior…
“Have you heard from your Mom today?”
I closed the fridge and looked over at Dad as he stepped into the kitchen.
I shook my head. “No.” I thought about his question. She hadn’t been home much, which wasn’t unusual, but I tried to remember if she came home last night. “Is something wrong?”
I caught him off guard with my question because he seemed to think about it. “Nah, nothing’s wrong.” He shook his head. “Can you hand me a beer out of there?”
“Are you sure you want one first thing in the morning? Want me to make you some breakfast before I go to class?”
He frowned. “Why are you offering to cook breakfast? You never cook breakfast.”
“Because you’re getting older, and what if all that drinking catches up with you?”
Because I’m scared. Because I don’t know what’s going on between you and Mom. Because I don’t know what’s going to become of this house next.
“I’m sure it will eventually, if not already,” was all he had to say. “Be careful on your way to classes and call your mom and see where she’s at.”
“Okay.”
______
“I think Mom’s cheating on Dad,” I said to Benjamin a few weeks later over the phone.
He paused. “Are you sure?”
I sighed. “She’s not been coming home…even nights sometimes, and Dad doesn’t even confront her about it. Somehow, I feel like that’s worse.”
“Have you asked her about it?” Benjamin asked.
“I’m too chicken,” I admitted, chewing on my bottom lip. “I know he’s a couch potato and doesn’t do anything but drink… But I look at him and feel sad. Mom and everyone used to talk about how much of a hard worker he was before he hurt his back and turned to drinking.”
“I know it’s not what you want to hear, Emily, but your dad and mom don’t have much of a relationship. It’d make sense if one of them was cheating; they don’t do anything but live together.”
“Cheating’s still cheating though!”
“I know. I never said it wasn’t.” Benjamin rustled something around while on the phone. “Ask her. Don’t sit and worry about it.”
“Anyway, still got that hot date tonight?” I asked him.
“I see that you’re wanting to change the subject, and I’ll let you. For now. And yeah, I do. Gonna pick her up at six.”
I exhaled in envy. “You’re making me want to try dating again.” Then I started thinking about it for a second and muttered, “But then I remember my mom and dad and change my mind.”
“Dating is full of ups and downs, but I have a feeling you’re not looking for casual.”
“I’ll just live with you and your wife when you get married,” I told him.
He sputtered. “What?”
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. We can make it a trio. She can do all the wifely duties in and out of the bedroom, and I’ll get to keep my best friend.”
“You’re insane.” He sounded horrified.
Just to aggravate him, I added, “I hope she’s cool with it. Never know, your wife could end up being Katie.”
“Hell no.” He hung up on me.
After he so rudely hung up on me, I opened the laptop he got me and willed my brain to think of words. I wished for an adventure. I wished for horror. I wished for something epic, but nothing.
An hour later, I sat staring at the screen that peacefully slept in sleep mode. I didn’t have anything at all to write. I wasn’t the girl I used to be. I couldn’t remember how I conjured up stories and played make-believe. Life got a little too real growing up, and maybe it took the fun out of me.
Still, even though creating stories might not be my calling like Benjamin thought, that didn’t mean I couldn’t make a career out of writing. Maybe I could look into freelance writing…
I sighed. The need not to disappoint him was real.