Storm 》Clifford A.U

002;

     MY PARENTS CAME to America before either Darya or I were born. When they were both eighteen and had already been dating for four years, they fled from Russia. My grandmother, or as she likes me to call her, Babushka, was the head of the Zolnerowich family after her husband had died in the war. She went with them, and even paid for their tickets with the rubles she had saved over the years for very important occasions only. Papa had been orphaned by that same war, and had no one to hold him back, no one to argue with about the benefits of moving to another country.

     My Babuska said that she didn't want to hold her only daughter back from living, and that she would rather her marry someone she loved despite her young age now instead of being locked into a loveless marriage later. Thus began their travel to the "land of the free and home of the brave", where they then applied for the painstakingly long process of citizenship.

     Two years later, Darya was conceived. And then she was born, and they decided to continue the child making process without any actual intention of having another child. They were in no way trying to add another member to the family with a toddler already running around, but when my mother ended up pregnant with me, they had no choice. Although Papa believed in abortions, Mama did not. I wonder if he ever thought that in the end, he would end up with one child either way.

     She was well aware of the difficulty having another child would cause, but she didn't care. She went through yet another eight months (Darya and I were both premature but grew up just fine in the long run) of pregnancy, and ended up with what she calls her two most prized possessions.

     Babuska helped them out with the two of us, especially while Papa finished law school and spent less time at home. When he won his very first case, more people began to request him. In a matter of years, Peter Veliknova became one of the most successful lawyers in the northeast. Then he started getting called in for cases all over the United States, and because he was happy, Mama was happy, too. We all were, even though Darya and I were still very young and wanted nothing more than to keep our father home all day.

     Mama started dabbling in Real Estate, until it sort of accidentally on purpose became a full time job that she fell in love with. Because she loved it so much, she rarely missed work. "I be sick here and sick there, no point in not go," That line was her mantra every time she woke up feeling under the weather. Every. Single. Time. Unless it was dire or one of us were sick, she would go. She would go until twenty nine days after her daughter went missing. Twenty nine days after we had to stop pretending like Darya's disappearance wasn't actually happening.

     She used to call at least once a week -usually every few days- and visit as often as she could. We all knew that she was busy at university, so we understood when she could only stop by every two months or so. But then the calls stopped completely, the texts too. When Wesleyan University called to tell us about their "growing concern for Ms. Veliknova's absence", we knew that something had gone horribly wrong.

     Darya wasn't one to skip school, especially university. She had wanted to go to school to study psychology more than anything, and she wouldn't give that up even if you offered her the world. Not if she had a choice.

     "Lina, why haven't you read it yet?" Luke demands, frowning down at me as he tears a page off of his order notebook and gives it to the chef's. Since he was 6'4, he looked down on just about everyone. It could have been intimidating but since he acted like he was eight instead of eighteen, it wasn't in the slightest.

     "I don't know, Luke, I'm scared." I grumble, ready to make my way to table three, where the boy with red hair from yesterday sat.

     "Scared of finding out what happened to her, maybe where she is? Or scared that you'll be getting your hopes up for nothing?" He questions. I know that he's trying to help, but badgering me with questions isn't the way to do it.