Why Try {unedited}

19

19

It was nine fifteen am when I heard knocks on the door. Apparently, door knocks were frequent these past few days.

Mom was upstairs on her own guest room, looking through magazines as her past time. She was silent the whole day, but I swore I heard her talking to dad last midnight.

I opened the door to reveal a new looking Tawni outside dad's house. "Oh my gosh! Your hair!" I squealed.

Tawni had cut her long straight blonde hair into a bob that ended at her jawline. She also had full bangs. She looked like one of those 70's Gatsby girls, and she was totally rocking it.

"New hair, new life," she smiled.

As I hugged her, I saw Cody standing shyly behind Tawni. He had his hands inside his jean pockets and he looked a little.. Embarrassed?

As soon as Tawni had let go of me, I walked towards Cody.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "Maybe a little. Only because you never told me it was him all along."

I gave him a sad smile. "Have you heard? He's the world's greatest a-hole to me."

He grabbed me and enveloped me in his warm hug, careful not to squeeze my sixth month belly.

"Don't worry, he's an a-hole ever since he got his braces and prescription glasses off," he said into my hair.

The three of us were drinking orange juice when mom came down the stairs.

"Oh, hello children," she greeted. She hugged Tawni, then Cody before proceeding to the kitchen. The three of us sat there in silence when mom came back and winked at Cody. "Maybe J is some mean guy but you, Cody Jacobs, can be Brook's hero."

She abruptly ran upstairs, leaving the three of us staring at her trail. Mom and her childish ways.

"Anyway, I know that saying Smith's name in this house is forbidden," Tawni started, leaving me and Cody snapping our heads at her direction. "But I just want you to know that Jeremiah sent me the money to give to you because he felt guilty."

"I don't care about him and his money," I spat. "There's nothing between him and me anymore. It's all done. Tom is going to be all mine and Jeremiah is never going to meet him. Let the guilt eat Smith alive."

I found myself clenching my fists tightly.

"Tom? Can you tell me his real name?" Tawni asks me. Knowing that she already knew the original name I've given my son, (Thomas Jeremiah) she was curious to know what the new one was.

"What was the original?" Cody chimed.

"Thomas Jeremiah, former. Now Thomas Zachary. Better," I answered impassively.

"Okay, with that all settled, I'm just saying that you should at least take his money because time will come when your mom is too busy with your stepfather that you won't be able to receive money to raise Tom," Tawni continued. "Don't take this the wrong way, I'm going to help you raise Tom but most of the time, I'm doing my own thing."

"I'm getting a job once I'm all slim and not maternal," I snapped. "I'm continuing high school even when I'm a year late and soon off to College."

Tawni shut her mouth at my sudden outburst.

"Mrs. Gumble-thingy told me that she retired from teaching," Cody interjected. "She said that she'll miss you but it's been six months since you're gone."

"Well, aren't the both of you hypocrites?" I asked tersely. "You and Tawni had both been gone! Not just me."

"Okay, stop. This conversation has headed into an intense direction," Tawni said, trying to calm me down. I gave her a glare. "Fine. I'm giving the stupid money back to stupid Jeremiah to get it over with," She exasperated in surrender.

Tawni stood up and called Cody to come with her. "I'm going to the bank. Surely there's a branch in this side of Florida too."

They both left, leaving me alone with my heart beating too fast.

Mom arrived downstairs, holding an empty glass. "Heard half of the conversation," she stated. "Just remember Brooklyn, everything's gonna be fine. I'm going to attend to you always, okay? Even when I'm with Bill in Minnesota."

"Why can't you just be with dad again?" I blurted. "I know that you guys separated, but come on! You guys only did what you did because you both had a who-knows-what misunderstanding and left you fighting all the time."

"Brooklyn, there is a serious reason behind the separation between me and your dad," mom said tersely. "I never want to get back with him because he made a mistake."

"What? What did he do? Why won't you tell me? How long do you both intend to keep this issue from me? I'm seventeen!" I retorted.

"I'm never coming back to him because he never loved me enough!" She screamed. She wasn't crying, but I saw that she was hurting real bad. "He made someone pregnant while the both of us were engaged! Do you now see the figures?! Do you now understand why your dad didn't hesitate to take you with him? Because he went through the same thing!"

I stared at her in horror.

"He was taking care of the girl he impregnated. Sure, we got married, and during that time, I was pregnant too," she continued. "I know he loved me, but he always made sure he took care of the other girl. That town whore!

"I told him that he could only keep one girl, and he kept insisting that he loved me, but no! I knew that he cared more for the other girl. We fought about it every time. I guess, I just, I didn't want to go on anymore. I told him to leave and go to Margo. Then that was it."

Mom started to cry, her face turning crimson. She was sobbing already.

"I loved Callan so much, but I just didn't understand why he never stopped caring for the first girl he fell for. I didn't know what to do..."

I felt my eyes water, so I stood up from the couch and hugged mom, not so tightly to avoid my stomach being squeezed.

"I didn't know why I tried to force him into me for so long. It was clear that he loved her more than me. There were so many reasons why I should've left him a long time ago but my heart is too.. Stubborn. It wanted what it wants, even when I was completely stupid to go with it."

"Mom, stop crying," I sniffed.

"I can't. It's too painful," she sobbed. "Staying with him for the whole time knowing that he liked her more than me was torture. I had so many reasons to give him up. Why didn't I just thought of it sooner?"