Two Worlds Collide

Can't Handle the Truth

Reba's heart rate quickened and she swallowed hard.

"Baby, what are you talking about?" she asked cautiously.

"You know what I mean. Dad told me everything." he snarled through the phone.

Damn him. She knew she should've answered his threatening texts and phone calls. He was continuing to make her life a living nightmare.

"What exactly did he tell you?" she asked him calmly, though her heart felt like it had dropped to her stomach.

"Which part? How that girl you have living with you is part of our family? How she's my sister and you just gave her up? How could you not tell me?!" he exclaimed, all rational thoughts out of the window.

"Now you listen here...I will not have you talkin' to me that way. I am your mama." Reba said sternly.

"Some mama you are if you gave up your own kid." Shelby sassed back.

"Shelby..." Reba breathed out, shocked at her son's behavior. This wasn't like him. It was like someone had-

"I'm coming!" Reba heard Shelby call out on the other side of the phone before he spoke to her again. "Look, just don't bother talking to me until you can gather up the truth. Thanks for being so honest with me all of these years."

She heard the click and felt her heart break.

No.

Shatter.

She shakily sat her mug down on the coffee table and then pulled her knees to her chest, burying her head in her lap.

It was then that she let go.

All of the hurt and pain that had been bottled up for so long finally burst. She was done. She'd lost him, she'd lost her son, and now she would probably lose her daughter too.

Victoria awoke to the sound of sobs coming from downstairs. She quickly got out of bed, taking two stairs at a time when she reached them. What she saw when she reached the living room surprised her.

There she saw Reba. She looked so hurt. So broken.

Victoria surveyed the living room before her eyes landed on Reba's phone. Furrowing her brows together, she picked up the phone and saw a new message on the screen. The phone had been turned to silent so Reba hadn't heard her message tone.

Your secret is still safe with me and our boy. I told you the truth would come out to someone if you didn't answer my calls. Now look what you've done. No turning back now. Just wait and see.

The message was from a number that wasn't added as a contact in Reba's phone so Victoria couldn't tell who it was.

"Reba...?" Victoria called softly.

Reba jumped at the sound of her voice and looked up. Her eyes were red and quite swollen, the tip of her nose a faint shade of red.

"Victoria..." she replied, her voice cracking as she made a poor attempt to wipe her eyes. "...I didn't hear you get up."

"Who is this? Who is threatening you...?" Victoria questioned, holding out Reba's phone to her.

She took the phone and read the message, sighing as she tossed it on the couch next to her.

"It's nothing. Don't worry." Reba replied in an attempt to shut it down, but Victoria wouldn't hear it.

"You're sitting here crying your eyes out and you're receiving threats. I'm not gonna stop questioning you until you tell me what's going on."

Then Reba's phone lit up although no sound came from the phone. Another message.

Can't handle the truth.

"The truth...?" Victoria repeated aloud, confused. She turned her attention back to Reba. "What is 'the truth'? What does it mean?"

"What does any of it mean?" Reba asked herself aloud. "I can't tell where my truth starts and his lies end."

"His lies?" Victoria questioned, her brows furrowing even more as she sat next to Reba.

"Your father's lies." she replied softly.

"What...?" Victoria breathed out in a bit of shock.

"He has lied and manipulated me Victoria. So much that I don't know what's real and what isn't. It feels like I can't escape." she admitted, covering her face with her hands and sighing.

"How-...how log has this gone on?" Victoria asked cautiously, afraid of the answer.

"It could've been when we first started seeing each other seriously. I just...I didn't want to believe it. I didn't see the signs until it was too late." she replied, her voice muffled as her hands still covered her face.

"Hey..." Victoria said softly, taking her hands to gingerly remove Reba's so that she could see her face. "You're not alone anymore. I-...I know how it feels to be lied to. My adoptive parents did to me a lot. Lie, that is."

Reba's head tilted a bit at Victoria's confession, seeing that she was opening up to make her feel better. "Really...?" she asked.

"Mhmm. About all sorts of things. Big or small, there weren't any boundaries on lies." Victoria sighed in reply, different memories flashing through her mind all at once.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." Reba said as she laid her hand atop Victoria's, her voice cracking.

To Reba's surprise, Victoria lay her other hand atop her own and gave it a few small pats. "I know..." was her only reply. Soft, yet sincere.

They both sat in silence for a moment or two before Reba moved closer to Victoria, wrapping her arms around her to hug her tight.

Victoria was taken aback at the sudden gesture, but returned the hug. She'd never had this before. Things had never been so transparent in her life. Part of her believed it was all just a ruse, yet the slightly larger part inside of her said that this was all sincere. You couldn't fake any of this. Could you...?

Not long after, she felt Reba go a bit limp. That's when she realized she had fallen asleep, dried tear tracks starting from her eyes and leading down to her chin. Her nose was only a bit pink on the end now that she was calm.

Victoria shook her head a bit and a tiny smile made its way to her face. Reba had worn herself out.

She carefully shifted to pick Reba up and lay her down on the couch. She found a blanket that lay on a chair and covered her with it to make sure she stayed warm.

"What on earth and I going to do?" Victoria said to herself quietly.

What would she do? Honestly, she wanted to give her father a piece of her mind. No one talks to her mama like that. Well...rather, no one should talk to anyone like that.

She couldn't grow attached to her. She promised herself that she wouldn't do that with anyone ever again. Yet here she was. Wondering if that door had just been left cracked or rather that Reba had picked the lock and was trying to sneak her way in.

There wasn't anything she could do right now but wait for Reba to wake up and open up about her past. Until then, she knew one thing she wanted to do first.

Taking her phone out of her pocket, she composed a message to a new number.

Leave her be, or you'll be in more trouble than what you think.

She hit send and got a reply quicker than she was expecting.

I was wondering when you'd call out to me. Hello Victoria.

Her heart dropped to her stomach in fear.

How do you know me?

Send.

Another reply.

I know more about you than you think dear. Just wait and see what unfolds for Ms. Reba next.