It's 9pm, and mom isn't back. She usually leaves the office by 5pm and gets home by 6pm. She's been getting home later than usual since the divorce, and I don't know what has been keeping her so long.
Where the heck did that noise come fr... Before completing the statement in my head, I heard another loud crash. I slept off while waiting for mom to come home, and a loud noise from the living room woke me up. I really have to check this out. Is the house being burgled? Oh no. Oh my God. At the thought of the house being burgled, my body froze. This couldn't be happening. I don't know what I'd do if the house really got burgled at 1am, when I'm alone at home. The thought of this has my heart racing. After thinking for about 3 minutes, I decided to check out what was happening downstairs. The moment I opened my room door, I heard another loud crash, and I wondered if this was really a good idea. I mean, who decides to face a burglar without a weapon? Obviously, me. I stepped out of my room, silently praying that whatever was in my head stayed in my head, and that real burglars weren't in the house. I moved toward the stairs slowly, thinking of what to use for defence, when I heard voices. Whose voice could that be. I moved closer when I realized it wasn't really voices I heard. Someone was moaning. I had to check who it was. I rushed down the stairs quietly and moved to the kitchen, where the moan was coming from. When I got to the kitchen, I saw mom sitting on the kitchen Island with a man in front of her. What in the world is happening?! Is this reality or just another bad dream? That's definitely not my dad. I pinched myself, to make sure it wasn't a dream. After several painful pinches, they were still there. Could this really be true? Is mom really making out on the counter top with another man right now? I blinked severally to make sure I wasn't sleep walking, and and that I wasn't in someone else's house. I've been standing there for almost 5 minutes, and they didn't even know I was there. I wanted it to stay that way, because it would be all shades of awkward if they found out I was there. I silently walked back to my room with tear filled eyes and locked my door. I felt like screaming my lungs out till the world came to my aid. It hasn't even been up to a month since mom and dad got divorced. Heck, its not even been 3 weeks yet, and mom is already seeing another man. To top that, she had the guts to bring him to home. Does dad know about this? Could this be the awful past they talked about? How could mom stoop so low? I can't take this anymore. I picked up my phone to call my dad. It's so late. I just hope I don't get his voicemail. I called his number and he picked it on the second ring. Thank God.
"Abbie?" His voice sounded like he was asleep.
"Dad" I broke into silent sobs. "Did I wake you?"
"No. It's okay. Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"Dad I'm sorry"
"What's wrong Abbie? Why are you sorry?"
"It's mom"
"Talk to me Abbie. What's wrong with your mom?"
"Dad she brought a man home" at this point, I couldn't hold the tears in anymore, so I let it all out.
"What?! Hold on Abbie. I'd be there soon"
"Okay dad" I sniffed.
In less than 30 minutes, dad called back. "I'm outside"
"Okay dad. I'll be down in 5"
I stepped out of my room, being extra careful not to make a sound. When I got down the stairs, I scanned the living room to make sure it was empty, before proceeding. I quietly unlocked the door and stepped out.
"I came as fast as I could. Do you want to talk about it?"
I nodded positively.
"Should I take you somewhere else?"
I nodded again. Dad drove us to somewhere. It took about 30 to 40 minutes to get there. It was a house. His house, I think. Oh no. I hope Helen isn't here.
"Don't worry. I live alone" he answered my thoughts
"Oh. Why?"
"Nothing. Let's not talk about me. Let's go in"
The interior of the house was simple and nice. Our family picture and pictures of me hung on his wall. This was surprising, because I didn't expect them to be on his wall. I thought dad had forgotten about us and moved on with Helen. I guess I shouldn't have been so quick to judge him. I feel so bad for saying awful things to him.
"Coffee?"
"Yes, please" he went to the kitchen to prepare coffee, and I went with him. "Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry for all the awful things I said to you"
"It's okay Abbie. You were angry. I understand how you felt"
"Do you think the time is right to tell me about mom's past now?"
"What exactly happened Abbie? What did you see?"
"Mom has been keeping late nights since the divorce. I thought it was work or traffic that made her late, until last night, when I slept of while waiting for her to come home. She got home by 1am. At first, I thought the house was being burgled because of the loud noise that woke me up, but when I went to check out the source of the noise, I saw mom on the kitchen island with another man" I couldn't hold the tears anymore. The moment I completed my statement, I burst into tears and cried my eyes out.
"Oh my God. I'm so sorry Abbie. Does she know you saw them?"
"No, I don't think so"
"I'm sorry you had to see that. I think it's time to give you the answers you've been searching for. When we were in college, your mom's parents couldn't pay her tuition fees, so she had to... Umm... Sleep with men for money to pay her fees. It's not as bad as it sounds. She really had no choice. When your mom told me how she paid her fees, I asked her to stop and offered to help her pay, but it was too late then, because she did it for pleasure, and not to pay her fees. I tried so hard to convince her to stop, but she wouldn't listen. She had a few abortions, which made her womb fragile. Different doctors said she couldn't conceive again, which surprised us when we found out we were pregnant. After you, we tried so hard to get pregnant again, but it proved abortive. After so many attempts, your mom suggested adoption. I turned down the idea, because I was okay with one child at the moment, and I didn't want her to feel compelled to adopt another child because of me. I started accepting the fact that we couldn't have another child, but your mom just wanted to have one at all cost"
"Why didn't you let her adopt a child?"
"We didn't have the means to cater for another child, and I didn't see the reason to have another one. That was what caused the regular fights. Your mom didn't want to adopt a child because she wanted one. She wanted to adopt a child just for the sake of it. I didn't let her, because I didn't want her to ever stop giving the child the love a child deserves from its mother. She started nagging and picking fights at any slight mistake I made. I started to think it wasn't just the adoption that caused the fights. One day, I confronted her about our fights, but she said she didn't want to talk about it. After a few weeks, I realised that our fights were not because of her inability to have a child. It was because she was seeing someone else. I got so angry, and I didn't know what to do. I went to a bar to drown my worries, and that was when I met Helen. When I told your mom Helen was pregnant, she got so angry and jealous, so she asked for a divorce."
"Wow, dad. I had no idea all this was happening. I'm so sorry for misunderstanding you"
"It's okay Abbie. It's not your fault"
"Umm... Dad can I stay here for a few days till I'm able to clear my head?"
"Yeah, you can. But you have to call your mom to tell her where you are so she won't get worried"
"No. Please don't make me call her"
"You have to call her. She's still your mother. She'd get worried if you don't call her"
"I'll call her, but not now"
"Okay. Make sure you call her tomorrow, or I'll call her myself."
"Okay dad."
"Yeah. Now get some sleep. There's a free room opposite mine. Come with me" he kissed me on my forehead and led me to the room opposite his. "Goodnight Abbie"
"G'night daddy"
*
Phew😅. There goes the 6th chapter. I'm sooooo sorry it took ages to come through... I wrote it like a thousand times 😪... The story didn't sound well to me, so I didn't want to upload it. Even though I had everything figured out in my head and I wanted to upload it on the first of January, I couldn't, because I traveled, then I came to school, and I've been so busy with school stuff... I hope this long chapter is a good way to say I'm sorry😢. Please don't forget to vote, and let me know what you think about the story so far.