The Bet (Just The Way You Are)

The Bet *Hand Me Down

I have to change the topic, and the first thought that comes to my mind is what our current situation is.

“You said. .  .You said that Dad was sick,” I say to my mom. “It was in the past, right? Now he’s okay.” I look at my dad; to my disbelief, stupid tears are blurring my vision. Still, I do everything I can to hold them back. “You’re okay, right?”

Waiting for my dad’s response is one of the most painful moments of my life. I can’t take it if he says he’s going to leave me. I don’t even want to think of a life without my dad. I love him with all my heart. Just the thought of him being gone sends arrows of pain in my heart. I clutch my stomach to lessen the pain but it does no good.

Finally, finally, my dad nods once. That’s when I exhale the breath I didn’t know I was holding. Relief washes through me. My dad doesn’t like lying so I can breathe now, knowing he’s fine. Thank God he’s okay.

When I find my voice, I ask, “What happened?”

My mom looks at me with a concerned expression on her face. Before she can say something, Draky beats her.

“I’m sorry, uh, do you want me to go now?” he asks awkwardly. “Or maybe I can go to the living room and come back later.”

I almost forget that he’s here with us. How unfortunate for him to witness something like this. Is his conscience burning him, now that he knows I’m suffering even without knowing the bet? Is he planning to cancel it?

“It’s okay,” my mom says. “You can stay. It’s better if you know too. You’re Sophia’s friend. She might want to talk this with her friend after she learned what happened. And I know you care for her.”

Thanks for talking about me as if I’m not sitting in front of you.

My mom is assuming. If she knows what Draky’s real motives are, she’ll do the opposite of what she’s doing now. I have a feeling she’s going to strangle him.

“Sophia,” says my mom, snapping me out of my reverie. “You thought your dad and I were fighting because of a broken marriage.”

“Yes,” I admit. What’s the point of lying? It’s better if they know what I think.

“Truth is, we were fighting because your dad didn’t want to go to the hospital.”

“What?” I ask. “What hospital?”

“Your dad had an internal brain damage. It wasn’t really the same with Matt. It wasn’t strong, so he survived. But to live, he had to go to the hospital thrice a month for the therapy and diagnosis,” she continues.

It’s hard to process this information. My own brain is slowly grasping what my mom is talking about.

“We were doing this for the past four years. The reason we were fighting was that your dad was hard headed. I had to fight with him first, or well, reasoned with him before he agreed to come.”

“For the past four years?” I ask numbly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because we didn’t want you to be worried about me,” answers my dad. “And we know you don’t like going to hospitals. So we decided it’s best if you don’t know.”

It’s like my spirit gets our of my body. I watch myself staring at my parents without blinking my eyes. Draky gets my hand and squeeze it. But I don’t feel it because as I mentioned a while ago, my spirit left my body.

Everything I thought about my parents was a lie. I feel stupid, guilty, mean, for having bad thoughts about them. I didn’t know what was really happening so I assumed they were fighting for no apparent reason at all. I should have asked them. I should have probed for information. Instead, I just went with the flow, not a least bit caring about what’s really happening. I’m a horrible child. I’m a horrible daughter.