Two Faced Europe

Chapter 1: My "wonderful" life

A girl is riding her motorcycle, she races over the highway of Spain. She wants to get out of here. It doesn't matter where she will end up, it couldn't be any worse than stay here. The name of the girl is Amani Yandel. She is 21 years old. Currently it's 01.26 AM. The road is completely desolated. No cars, no trucks, just Amani with her thoughts.

How could he believe her, instead of me, his own daughter.

A tear rolled down her cheek. She missed the times that her mother was still alive. They always played card games together and they had some funny conversations. After her mother died seven years ago, her father turned into himself. He didn't talk to her anymore. She blamed herself for everything that happened to her father. If she just smiled to him, told him about her day, the things she did with her friends. If she just made him smile once in a while, maybe the things would have been better now.

When she was sixteen her father smiled again. He was more energetic. She embraced the happy feeling back then. It felt like they were a family again. That year she finished school. She wanted to become a social worker. Help the people who lost their spouse, or one of their parents. To make sure they get on with their lives and that they wouldn't be stuck in the past. So she applied for a school. She got in, the first year went very well. The teachers were proud of her, her classmates complimented her. Her grades were good and even her dad had his compliments ready when she told him all of her accomplishments.

A few months after the start of the school she came home. A woman, who she never met was sitting on the couch. She had sleek blond hair that reached to the middle of her back. She wore a soft pink dress, the dress had a low cut. The bottom of the dress stopped just above her knee. I was just a plain dress but the woman inside made it a piece of art. She had a faint smile on her face. Her long, pink coloured fingernails ticked against the wine glass. It produced a high sound. The red wine was swirling through the glass. Once Amani walked up to the woman, the woman looked up to her. Her blue eyes showed that she came back to reality. "You must be Amani, I heard so much about you." The woman said. Amani froze on the spot, who told that woman about her? At that moment her dad came walking in. "Ah, I see you met each other already. Mi Corazon (roughly translated: sweetheart), this is my girlfriend; Calinda." Amani was stunned, she never expected her father to get a new girlfriend. Tears welled up in her eyes. How could he betray my mother, his wife like that? What did I do wrong, that he searched for a girlfriend? Am I, his own daughter not enough for him? All these questions shot through her body. The pain of her mother's death, which she pushed to the background all these years, came back in all its intensity. She turned around and ran up the stairs, to the safety of her room. She just heard her father say; "She just needs some time, I guess it's a big shock for her. It will work out between the two of you." Amani didn't hear the answer of the female intruder. She slammed the door behind her.

Amani didn't have the typical girls room. She had no stuffed animals, no colourful sheets, no posters of pop stars or hot boys in her room. Her room was rather plain. She had an oak floor with a fake sheep's skin on top of it. The sheets on her bed displayed a black candle with the text; live, love and die written underneath it. She bought it once over the internet, that sheet was her pride and joy. For her it meant that she needs to live life to the fullest before she dies.

Amani leaned with her back against the door. Her tears flowing rapidly down her cheeks. She sees the drops splatter once they hit the wooden floor. Her legs seem to lost all their strength. She slides down against the door, her hands pressed against her face. The sobbing sound echoes through her room. The confusion in Amani is visible.

With a lot of effort from her father, Amani decided to give Calinda a chance. They went for many lunches and dinners together. Amani opened up her heart for Calinda, she honestly liked her. Calinda was nice to her, listened to her and explained to her that she didn't want to take the place of her deceased mother. She truly loved her father. She believed her, her father smiled so much more these days.