The Summer I Found You • Steven Conklin

Looks Across The Room

I didn't think it was possible for things to get worse.

I was wrong.

It's like mom was never here.

Like I never grew up here.

Millions of memory's are just gone like that.

I let go of Steven and run to the fire place and look at the bottom.

"She painted over it." I quietly say as I wipe my eyes.

My fingers touch over the freshly painted place where "S+V" was once written.

Steven looks at me knowing exactly what I'm talking about, he wrote it.

"She painted it?" He asks upset.

"Everything is different." I state standing up and walking to the Kitchen where Aunt Julia is.

"You got rid of everything?" I yell at her.

"I'm sorry. This must be such a shock. I-I spoke to your father this afternoon, and-and he and I decided that it would be best not to drag this out any longer than necessary." She says.

"I don't give a shit what the two of you decided on." Conrad says pissed as we all look at her.

"You and dad shouldn't get a say on what stays or gos, you guys were never even here! You don't even know mom! This isn't what she would have wanted!" I yell tears in my eyes.

"Everything's in storage. I made sure that everyone was very careful with every single thing. I'm just doing what I have to do to sell this house." Julia says.

"Bullshit." Conrad says pissed. "All you want to do is fight our mom, constantly."

"You're not the only one that's hurting here.
And I'm not the one you should be angry with.
Your mother could have warned you that this was gonna happen. She just wanted to make
me the bad guy, as usual." She states upset.

"I'm so sorry that she was too busy dying to make your life a little easier." I state pissed.

"You know, it sucks that our grandfather loved her more than you, but I'm not surprised." Conrad states as he walks away.

Everyone leaves as Skye and I stand there.

"This seems like a family thing you guys need to say. But you have to admit Conrad isn't wrong. She doesn't make you seem like the bad guy, maybe you just are the bad guy." I say walking out the back door to the beach. I don't know where the rest of them went.

I needed to be by myself. I sit down in the sand the ocean breeze hitting my face.

I grab my phone and call my dad. "Dad?" I say crying into the phone.

"Baby, what's wrong?" He asks.

"No, everything is gone and I blame you. Aunt Julia is just doing what you say. You never loved mom, you never loved any of us and now the house is for sale and every memory in the house is gone forever."

"There isn't anything I can do." Dad says.

"This is your fault?!" I yell into the phone. "You have no idea what any of us are going through because you aren't here! You never have been. So while your off fucking the secretary and blaming it off your sad emotions because your wife died. Your family is here trying to deal with your messes after you left all of us."

"What?" Jere says as I turn around and see all of them.

"Jere." Conrad says.

"You knew to?!" He says upset.