Missing Piece

Chapter 1

Time. Time is just a trap making us believe that life is worth spending time on. Time means nothing to me. Minutes feel like years. Seconds feel like hours. It's of no importance. I'd rather just be in my own world, just watching the clouds pass by. I don't have a care in the world.

Back to reality.

I watch my seven year old sister Melanie dribble the basketball down the court. Yes. My mom forced me into coming to her game today. She thinks I spend too much time alone, not engaging with the world around me. Whatever the heck that means, I just don't wanna be here. I just stick my face in my book. The game is boring me.

Mom nudges me. "Callie, pay attention to your sister, or, at least, get your face out of that book." I give her a stare and stick my face back into my book about medieval swords and weapons and all that crap that Mom doesn't approve of. My glasses slightly slip off of my face, but I quickly nudge them back up.

The game ends. The score was twelve to some bigger number. Melanie gets off the court and inquires of me "Hey, Cal. We won. Did you see me out there? I was cleaning up!" I look at her and say something like yeah, yeah, whatever.

Melanie gives me a distasteful look.

Don't get me wrong. I like Melanie. I mean, she's my sister. The problem is that I can't really engage with her because I feel as if I don't even know her. I don't remember even seeing her first step, and that was six years ago. I was like eight or something back then. Fifteen now. Apparently her first word was my name, but I was in my room sleeping. Her eighth birthday is this Sunday and I don't know what to get her. I might not get her anything.

We get into the car and Mom tells us that grandma isn't feeling too well lately. She has had dementia for about three years.She lives a few states over from us. It takes about three hours or so to get to her. We live in New Hampshire. She lives in New York. Anyways, mom says that she can't really understand and remember grandpa anymore. I think to myself for a minute and let that sink in.

Mom quickly interrupts my thoughts saying, "I'm going down to Cuba to see her." Cuba is the town in New York that she resides in. I've been there once, but grandma was in the hospital then with pneumonia. I just saw grandpa, but I just walked around town pretty much the whole time I was there. The town is cool, I guess.

Melanie quickly rushes in and says "Wait--who's taking care of us?" Mom says one word that rattles us. "Dad."

Dad and Mom have been divorced ever since I was ten. She doesn't usually bring us to him, as he pretty much dislikes us and pays no attention to us. He barely knew Melanie, but his best nickname for me "little rat". I thought it was nice at first, but he called me that because he believed that I was a misfit and had to be thrown in the city dumpster, literally, That's where rats are, in case you didn't know. He thought Melanie would be better, but barely got the chance to know her. He thought I could just rummage for my own food and life, even when I was young.

I just dreaded going to dad's. He has some pretty trophy wife now or something, whatever that means. Her name is like Elissia. She must have been a freaking fool to fall for him. Let's just address the age difference here. She's twenty one. He's forty six. Okay, and they got married two years ago. When she was nineteen. How crazy is that? I haven't been there since I was thirteen, when they were married. He lives in Vermont. So, its on mom's way down. She probably won't go in. Seriously, dad is disgusting and annoying-minded and I really don't want to spend my valuable cloud watching time spending time with him and his new wife. 

Mom knows my thoughts and she gives me a glance from the mirror.