Lena
Maria: hey sis, I'm pulling up.
I looked down at my phone reading the message before taking a sip of my water. Maria and I were meeting up again, just us two this time.
Since the lunch with our mother, we had been talking a lot. It turns out, we had a lot in common.
This time she was coming to my house to chill for a while.
Hearing the doorbell ring I stood up and went downstairs to let her in.
"Hey" I said as I opened the door.
"Hey!" She said hugging me as she walked in.
"It's cool if we just hang in my room?" I asked as she followed me up the stairs.
"Yeah of course" she replied.
We got comfortable on my bed as the tv played lowly in the back ground.
"It's really nice in here" she said admiring my room.
"Thank you, I love decorating" I replied with a smile. She nodded her head to show she was listening before turning towards me.
"So how's it going?"
"Pretty good. Graduations coming up which is exciting."
"Yeah I'm so jealous. I wish I was leaving" she replied with a saddened face. I wondered why she seemed upset when saying that. I understand school is hard, but it felt like there was more to the story.
"What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?" She said.
"You seem upset" I replied. "I mean I don't want to be in your business but you can talk to me if you want."
She paused for a moment as if she was thinking about telling me.
"I just.... has mom told you about my dad?"
"No we've never talked about him"
"Oh okay" she replied, fiddling with her thumbs.
"Maria, you don't have to talk about whatever's bothering you if you don't want to. But I'm here" I reminded her seeing as this seemed to be a big deal.
"Well my parents met after mom moved. And I think what they had was real love for a while... well anyways. Then they had me and after that things got rough. He changed." She replied before looking off.
"My dad is an alcoholic and abusive. To both of us. Growing up I would just see it happening to my mom but I guess that wasn't enough for him." She paused and wiped a stray tear that slipped from her eye.
"Maria, I'm so sorry" I said, having no idea how to respond to this.
"I just wish I could run away. I hate him. I hate that he's done this to us" she finished as she covered her face with her hands.
I pulled her into a hug and allowed her to cry on my shoulder. It was all making sense now.
My mom was coming back around because she was trying to get away. I wondered what happened to make her finally wanna leave but I guess I would just be happy that she was doing it.
