Oh My Virginia

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C h a p t e r S e v e n

I waited for my mother to appear anytime as I paced around the house, wondering how I could possibly approach the situation.

I had always been curious about the whole situation with my dad, but never had the courage or time to ask my mom. How was I even supposed to suddenly start a conversation with my mother in a topic which I had never showed any interest in?

Mom, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me.

No, that sounds too much like something a mom would say.

Hey mom! Here, have some tea. By the way, why did my dad leave us? It's because you're a stripper right?

Absolutely not, It would probably end up in my mom spitting out her tea at my face.

I heard the familiar sound of the door clicking open, and for God knows what reason, I suddenly felt the need to hide. I ducked behind the couch, silently hoping that my mom would walk right past me without noticing.

Damn it, Virginia. What are you doing? You're supposed to finally ask her, not be scared!

What was I even scared of? I didn't understand.

Maybe I was just scared of finding out the real reason my father left me, and that it wasn't because of my mom. It was simply because he didn't love me and felt no need to stay.

Where the hell did that come from? My internal war was finally interrupted when my mother poked my shoulder.

Unsure of what to do, I just stayed there, my face leaning against the back of the couch.

Great, how was I supposed to explain this situation to my mom?

"Virginia?" Poke.

"Virginia?" Another poke. This time, it was harder.

"Hey, are you okay?" She poked again.

I shut my eyes tight, and without turning to look at her, my mouth suddenly formed words and sounds that I hadn't planned on saying. "Mom. What was the real reason that my dad left me?"

I felt the fingers of my mother slowly move away from my shoulder, the pressure that was there quickly disappearing. I turned around, my legs still in a position where I was squatting down, and faced my mother. My dark brown eyes met her beautiful green ones, her eyes had a swirl of emotions in them. I slowly stood up, reaching my full height, and my mother got out of her bending-down position, towering over me.

"Sweetie, I-" She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Where did this come from?"

Deciding that if I wanted to find out the truth, I had to tell the truth too.

I sighed, knowing this would have a lot of complications.

"My friend in school has been tutoring me lately, and when I went over to his house, I met a guy named Christian. He says he knows you and your dad and attended the same year as you until you dropped out. I didn't know why, but I asked him for the reason that Dad left us. I guess that I thought if I asked you, I wouldn't have gotten an honest answer and that Christian would have given me the answer that I was hoping to be true. Instead, he asked me to ask you, so that's what I'm doing," I rambled, not stopping once to take a breath of air. I watched my mothers eyes turned from concern, to shock, and then to confusion.

She scrunched up her perfectly arched brows, looking at me with a confused expression, her head tilted to the side and her lips slightly pouted. "What was the answer that you're hoping to be true?"