The room was silent for a couple of minutes. Mom still had the phone in her hands next to her ear. The person on the other end of the line was still talking, I heard that dad was declared dead on arrival. The person kept calling the attention of mom but it was no use.
She stared blankly on the floor with her face showing no sort of emotion. It was pure plain and nothing. I thought that it was too much that she couldn't process it.
Fiercey was sitting beside the left-upper foot of the kitchen table, staring at mom. The clock kept ticking, it was the only sound in the room in those moments of silent. I looked at my room door and Elliot was peeking out anymore.
I walked towards the room and dashed through the wall to see Elliot sitting on the floor, back against the wall and curled up like a barrel. I heard whimpers and sobs as I looked down on her. The feeling that I thought I had forgotten a long time ago started to come back. The feeling of Grief.
Even though I already lived through this, it still hurt like a thousand needles being punctured into your heart slowly.
Why do I have to relive this? I thought. Out of all the memories we could have gotten back to, this has to be it. What's so special here? This was all because of Fiercey, we'll see. I said in my mind while staring down at crying Elliot.
Elliot tried to stand up. She balanced herself as she almost fell to her feet again. She slowly walked towards her bed and crashed onto it when she got close enough. She grabbed her pillow and buried her face on it while continuing to let out small sobs and whimpers.
I walked towards the door and phased through it to see what had happened outside the room.
Mom already hung up the phone and was sitting on the chair in the kitchen table with both palms of her hands on her face. Fiercey was up on the table lying down in front Mom's arms. I couldn't distinguish if mom was crying or what, but I had a feeling that she was silently.
A crackle of thunder boomed outside as the rain followed and poured heavily. It was already half-past 10 in the evening. Mom took her hands off her face and sat back on the chair and let out a deep sigh while scratching her head. She stood up and poured water into a cup and drank it with long and slow gulps. She let down the cup heavily on the kitchen sink and walked towards coat hanger and took hers.
She took the keys of the apartment and went straight to Elliot's room. I followed and phased through the door. The light shone through Elliot's dark room as she laid on her bed.
"Get up. I know you're awake." Mom said to Elliot while standing in the door. "Get your jacket and get Fiercey's box. Don't forget to lock the door. Be down in 10 or I'm leaving without you. If I leave without you, you're leaving before I get back, understood?" She asked.
Elliot turned her face off the pillow. "Why do we need to take Fiercey?" She asked lazily. "I don't think she'll be let in the hosp-"
"I asked if you understood or not." Mom cut her off. "If you leave without Fiercey, the same outcome will be if I leave without you. Get your ass up." Mom ordered. She walked away, opened the front door and slammed it shut.
Elliot groaned and sighed while sitting up on the bed. She slouched as she sat and wiped her face with her blanket. She stood up slowly, keeping balance and walked towards the door. She looked at the kitchen and saw Fiercey up on the table. She gave a look of disgust and anger towards the cat, as if it would understand what it meant.
She went to the living room and grabbed Fiercey's box. With it in her hands, she walked towards the kitchen table and placed it there. She first grabbed her coat from the coat hanger and put it on.
She walked back to the kitchen table and grabbed Fiercey a bit hard, causing the cat to fight back. But Elliot quickly placed it in its box and closed the top. Fiercey didn't bother coming out after Elliot let go of the top. She carried the box and glanced at the clock; it was already 10:40 in the evening. It was almost half past the time mom gave her to get her ass down before leaving without her.
She hurried to the door, locking it while closing. She walked fast towards the stares since the elevator wasn't working. "Tch, they wouldn't even bother try fixing it at this point." She muttered.
Elliot sprinted down the stairs as I followed. Our apartment was 7 floors up, Elliot panted when she got down, but I didn't bother running since I already phased down the stairs and landed on the main floor. Mom was waiting outside the entrance while the rain poured.
Elliot walked and stood beside her, but mom just blankly stared at the street where cars drove. Elliot held Fiercey's box while they stood there by the street. Later on, mom called up a cab and pulled over in front of them. Mom said the location to the cab driver and the cab started moving back into the street.
The rain still poured through the window of the cab. It was cold, and silent inside. It was an awkward silence that fell over. Mom was staring out the window on the other side of the cab. I placed down Fiercey's box in between us.
Fiercey's head slowly emerged from the top of the box. She looked around, slowly observing the surroundings then looked up at mom. She meowed causing mom's attention to turn to Fiercey.
"Oh, hello." Mom smiled at Fiercey. "You're finally awake." Rubbing Fiercey's head and placing her on her lap.
She continued to pet Fiercey on her lap. She didn't have any attention on Elliot. As for her, she continued to stare out the window, looking at cars passing by and the tall buildings and lights that look more beautiful when at night.
She ignored Fiercey and mom's business with each other, but I knew at that moment that it really hurt, and I really hated that damn cat. A couple of more minutes of the silent drive until the driver pulled over the cab and announced that we had arrived at our destination.
Mom placed Fiercey back into her box and took her her purse. The driver said the fair amount and mom paid. The both got out of the cab and ran to the covered part of the main entrance of hospital. We stayed there for a moment before going inside. They took off their coats and walked pass the entrance and into the building.
I followed through the front desk reception. They asked where the morgue room was at but I knew where and immediately went there.
Mom and Elliot got there a couple of minutes later with a hospital attendant leading them. We could see dad's body lying on a steel table that looked cold with a sing light hanging from the ceiling beaming down. After a couple of moments, a person wearing a surgical facemask and gloves appeared inside the room where the body was.
The person touched and held the end of the sheet. Before lifting it up, the person looked at mom as a question if she was ready. Mom nodded as a response and the sheet was lifted. My chest suddenly throbbed in pain. Seeing dad's dead body hurt me more than the 27 shattered bones.
Dad's head had a crack on his head which made me conclude that that's what killed him obviously. His body was dead pale, his large belly still was there, his gray chest hair and gray beard. It made me remember that dad was actually already old.
I glanced to my side to look at mom and younger me. Mom was staring directly through the glass with her left hand on the glass and her right holding Fiercey's box. Mom's face was devastated, tears kept rolling down her face. Younger me was dead silent, with her head down but it was obvious that she was sobbing. Fiercey's head was out of the box and was also looking into the glass. She just stared blankly.
In that moment that I looked at her, I felt anger rushing through me. I blamed Fiercey for everything that had happened. Everything started to get screwed up when she came. We were fine before her, I was good, my mother gave me attention and so did my father.
But everything just suddenly changed when she came, it was like she became their real child and not me. Even humiliated me in front of my class and got me detention.
I turned my attention back to Elliot because she suddenly moved. She looked at Fiercey. I knew in that very moment, that that was when it all really started. My seed of hatred was planted; it grew for the rest of my life.
"I think... that's enough." Mom said to the person. The person immediately covered dad's body. "Thank you." She added, the person just nodded.
Mom walked away, Elliot turned and immediately followed her. "What's going to happen now? What are we going to do?" Elliot asked mom while catching up. Mom didn't answer and ignored her. They walked to the exit and out of the building. The rain stopped pouring but the streets were still drenched and wet.
Mom stood at the sidewalk waiting for a cab to appear. She still stared blankly onto the street and sniffed. She still had Fiercey's box on her hand, held onto to it tightly. Fiercey was back in his box.
A cab appeared and mom called its attention to pull over. We got inside, the driver was told the location back home. The driver drove the car. Once again it was a very silent ride back.
The view from the cab window was much clearer now without the rain pouring. The silence inside the car was broken when the driver turned on the radio. The radio played: I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner. Elliot tried muttering the lyrics and singing along quietly to try and lighten up the atmosphere in the cab.
It was a very bad idea, but that time I didn't know that that was Mom and Dad's love song, and my idea after that turned into a much more disaster. When Elliot started to get louder in singing along, things went south.
"Would you shut up." Mom mumbled.
"Huh?" Elliot looked at mom.
"I said shut up for Christ sake. You're ruining it." She gave Elliot a look.
"I'm sorry, I just wan-"
"Of course, you just wanted to. You always do and all you can say is sorry and not shut up." Mom let out.
Elliot didn't reply and went back to looking outside the cab window. Mom did the same.
We rode back to the building apartment in silence and the streets damp. Mom went to the stairs quickly after paying the cab driver; leaving Elliot behind.
Elliot didn't really try to catch up with her as she walked slowly towards the stairs. She slowly dragged her feet up the 7th floor. When she reached the floor and walked towards the door of their apartment. Before entering inside, she overheard the conversation had with two people inside.
Elliot placed her ears on the door and listened carefully, so did I. It seemed to be two men.
"Drunk driving was the cause of the accident." The first man said.
"My husband has always been an alcoholic, I know. He was always careful no matter how drunk he was." Mom replied.
"That's what they always say, but eventually they end up differently." The second man added.
It seems like they're cops. I thought.
"Based on the street cams, he wasn't wearing any seatbelt and drove really fast while drinking." Officer 1 said.
"A red light popped but still went forward. He hit a cab and flew out of the car and splattered on the street." Officer 2 added.
That's a terrible sight to see. That's why his head was cracked open.
"I'm really sorry for your lost ma'am." Officer 2 sympathized.
"Did you have any children?" Officer 1 asked.
"1 daughter."
"Must be devastated." Mom didn't reply anymore.
They ended the conversation and got up their chairs. Elliot heard the motion and stood away from the door. Suddenly a tall man in a coat with a suit and tie inside opened the door. The two men walked out and smiled at Elliot. She gave off a fake smile and proceeded inside the house and closed the door.
"Look, I'm sorry about what I did in the cab, I didn't know. The cab driver shouldn't have put that song on the radio." Elliot apologized.
"You're always sorry about nothing and always blaming everyone for everything." Mom responded.
"Huh?" Elliot gave a confused look.
"There, you're always like "huh". You don't know anything even though it's obvious sometimes, but you're just too dumb to know and when you make a mistake you blame someone else!"
"Well that's why I'm apologizing right? Since I made a mistake?"
"Oh please. Apologize my ass Elliot. You're never sorry for shit, even when your father's dead you still won't!" Mom exclaimed.
"That's not my fault!" Elliot defended.
"Then whose is it then? Huh!? Fiercey?!"
"Exactly!"
"Oh, bullshit. You're blaming a cat!? A goddamn cat!? Jesus Elliot, grow up!"
I watched as my younger self and my mom argued and fought each other. Our voices were so loud it seemed like it echoed through the entire building.
"You just wouldn't listen to me, you're not listening!" Elliot continued.
"Oh I don't give a shit about what you're saying now. I have listened to you all the time but you, YOU never listened to us and I am fucking sick and tired of your goddamn attitude!"
"Oh no, I wonder who I got that from!" Elliot asked rhetorically.
"You shut your mouth." Mom pointed.
"You shut yours first!"
"I wish you never had a tongue!"
"Well I wish I wasn't born!" Elliot added.
"Well I wish we didn't have to make a mistake like you as a pathetic excuse, of a goddamn child!"
The room fell silent.