When Our Stories Entwine

Chapter Seven - Maggie

Maggie-

"Your father is alive, you are correct." She states casually and even though I had guessed, hoped even, the wind was knocked out of me.

"Why?" I manage to speak before the walls close in around me.

"Why what?" She's acting as if this is all just some simple misunderstanding. 

"Why everything? Why lie? Why wouldn't you come clean?" I ask desperately. "Please, I need answers."

"You always were one for the dramatics. Take a seat girl, I might as well spill the beans." She sighs as if this is all a burden on her.

"William and I were always unsuited for each other.  We argued continuously but he insisted on staying together for you until it became too much of a hassle. Eventually, we could no longer hide our hatred for each other, our words we're venom in our mouths and we took advantage of every possible opportunity to hurt one another."

"Why would you want to hurt each other?" I interrupt, I know I've irritated her when her once easy look fades to a scowl.

"When I got pregnant I wanted an abortion. I knew we weren't suited for each other and he could never be a great father. He was the class clown, a troublemaker, a womanizer, and the list goes on. But he wouldn't allow it, he was so excited when he discovered I was pregnant and he insisted we go through with the pregnancy."

"So I was a mistake then." I always knew my mother had some deep-seeded issues with me, always nitpicking every flaw, but this- She never wanted me.

"Yes girl, but we owned up to our mistake. He married me when I got pregnant with you because it was the right thing to do. But soon the right decisions became hazy and unclear as he realized he might be missing out on life." She rolls her eyes as she watches me look to the floor with disappointment.

"Maggie, he wanted his freedom, he wanted to join a band, he wanted to travel, for goodness sakes, I married a child." She rubs her forehead as if the memories have caused a migraine. "I told him to leave, I gave him his ticket to freedom and he took it, so I raised you on my own. You should be happy he wasn't around, you would have ended up a very different girl. He had no sense of responsibility, no discipline, he was a wastrel."

Silence fills the air as I attempt to grasp every word she's spoken. He never seemed to be a bad person. With what little I can remember, he seemed like a good man, a good father.

"It was the oddest thing though, you never noticed our arguments and if you did notice it's as if you pretended it wasn't real."  She says as her eyes meet mine.

"When he left us, you were so young. You asked me where he was one day and I simply told you, 'He's gone and he's not coming back.'  I was glad to be rid of him." She smiles as if him abandoning us was a blessing. 

"So how did I come to think he died?" I'm flabbergasted.

"I didn't realize you thought he was dead until months later. You were telling your friends he was in heaven, saying he was your guardian angel. I was perplexed, we hadn't even been to a funeral."

"What?" I ask unconvinced.

"It's true, I wouldn't have believed it myself unless I'd heard it. So technically honey, you lied to yourself. I just never corrected you, I knew it was for the best." She insists as she waves her hands around, attempting to dig her way out of this dark deception. "Easier, less of a mess, no explaining why he left or having you run off in an attempt to find him."

"I could have had my father but you took that from me? You just let me believe he was dead because it was easier than the truth?" I ask in a mixture of shock and disbelief. Anger waves through me and my cheeks flush from heat.