As soon as they pulled into the driveway of their home, the front door flew open. Ms. Jenson stood there, a relieved look on her face. The girls descended the car. Cara was the first one at the door. As her mother embraced her, Kailee slipped past them into the house and headed for the staircase. The embrace ended and Ms. Jenson hurried after Kailee, as Cara closed and secured the front door. "Kailee. Where are you going?" Cara joined her mother at the front of the staircase.
Kailee was standing on the first step, half her back facing them. "I'm going upstairs."
"No Kailee," Ms. Jenson said, in the strictest tone Cara had ever heard her use. "One, you're gonna turn around and face me. Two, you're gonna come sit in the living room with me. And three, we're gonna talk about this." There was a moment of complete silence before Ms. Jenson marched into the living room. Kailee slowly followed her mother's orders. Cara followed them into the living room, sitting in a lone chair farther away from the two couches that were occupied by her mother and sister. Kailee silently inspected her nails. The acrylic on her right ring finger was missing. Ms. Jenson wasted no time and her anger was apparent. "What was that?"
Kailee barely glanced up. "What?" Her voice was innocent and scarcely audible.
"You know what I'm talking about Kailee. You disappearing tonight."
"I didn't disappear tonight." Kailee said it like her mother was overexaggerating.
"Oh. So, me not knowing where you are isn't disappearing?" Ms. Jenson asked sarcastically.
"Cara knew where I was and found me."
"Yeah, and thank God for that." Silence. "Why would you do that Kailee?" Ms. Jenson couldn't hide the disbelief in her voice. "Why would you sneak out?"
"I really wanted to go to that party," Kailee said quietly, knowing how ridiculous her excuse sounded.
"For Christ's sakes Kailee! You're only fourteen!" Ms. Jenson shook her head. "What's going on with you? This isn't 'normal Kailee behaviour'."
"People change."
"So, the past few weeks you just completely changed out of the random?" Ms. Jenson didn't buy it.
"Ask Cara. She's the one who notices stuff."
Ms. Jenson narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Cara pays attention to stuff. She notices details and hints so easily." Cara stayed quiet in her seat. Her goal was to be as excluded from the argument as possible. She only planned on intervening if things got too out of hand.
"Well maybe it's not so easy when you have a full-time job and thirty other responsibilities to juggle," Ms. Jenson said.
Kailee looked unfazed. "Right. So it's perfectly okay if your kid gets a two-day suspension and you know nothing about it."
Ms. Jenson's facial expression changed. "You got suspended?" She looked at her eldest daughter. "Cara, you knew?" Cara nodded guiltily. She wouldn't have guessed that her sister would bring this up. Ms. Jenson rubbed her face with both her hands. "Gosh Kailee. What do you want me to do? I'm taking care of everything by myself. I wouldn't expect you to act out in school!"
"Maybe I had to because a certain girl at school kept trying me," Kailee shot back. "And maybe you wouldn't have to do everything by yourself if Dad was in the picture!"
There was a brief moment of silence as Ms. Jenson's eyes slowly enlarged, as though she were gradually coming to a realization. "Is that what this is about? Your father?" Cara studied Kailee closely – trying to read any emotion she could get from her sister's demeanor.
"I-" Kailee stuttered and let out a frustrated sigh. "You never wanna talk about him!"
"Okay, but has it ever occurred to you that maybe I have a reason?"
"Well then, what is it?" Kailee exclaimed. "You hide him away from us like we're too young to know anything about our father. What about the memories we have of him? We didn't make those memories for no reason!"
Ms. Jenson sighed, a look of defeat on her face. "Look, Kailee. It was never my intention to make you feel like I'm keeping your father away from you. But, everything I've ever done since you and your sister were born was to protect you guys."
Kailee frowned. "Protect us from what?" she exclaimed.
Ms. Jenson took a deep breath. "Your father used to hit me."
Kailee was silent. Cara leaned forward in her seat, her mouth hanging open. This was news to her. "Mom..."
Ms. Jenson hesitated before she continued to speak. "I thought it'd be best if he lived apart from us. I come from a non-violent family, and when I consulted your grandmother about the situation, that was the advice she gave me. It's not that I thought your father was gonna hit you girls. But I didn't want you guys to witness any of his explosive episodes."
Cara's eyes were filled with concern. "Oh, Mom."
Kailee found voice and boy was she still boiling. "Why didn't you tell us?" she accused.
"I didn't want to destroy the pure memories you girls had with him by painting a bad picture in your heads."
"So you chose to lie?"
Ms. Jenson had enough. "Kailee, why don't you stop being selfish for a minute and realize why I did what I did."
Kailee's eyes widened. "Selfish?" Oh boy, Cara thought. "You lied to us about our father! How else should I feel?"
"You don't see Cara acting like a pain in the butt, do you?" Ms. Jenson sighed. "I can't with you."
Kailee blinked. "You can't with me... Right. You never can." She got up. "I need to get out of here." She hurried for the living room entrance.
Ms. Jenson jumped up. "Kailee! Where are you going?" Cara got up too. Just as she did, the front door slammed. "Kailee!" Ms. Jenson yelled. Cara reached the front hall as her mother opened the front door. Ms. Jenson stepped out. "Kailee!"
Cara yelled, "Mom! Don't worry! I got this!" She looked around for the car keys.
"What?" Ms. Jenson looked at Cara. "No! I'm going after her!"
Cara found the keys and quickly joined her mother at the front door. "No Mom, please. Let me go after her. I don't want this to become worse than it already is. Okay? Please let me go."
The look on her mother's face hurt her soul. Ms. Jenson looked so fragile and was in complete disbelief. "Gosh," she whispered. "I can't believe this." She put her hands on her head briefly and swallowed. "Okay." She kissed Cara on the cheek. "Go. Go, go, go."
Cara stepped out. "Okay! I'll get Kailee back safe."
"Keep your phone on!"
"I will!" Cara ran onto the grass. "Kailee!" She could see that her sister was already a couple houses down. No way could she catch up. Especially when her sister was already a good runner. She turned to her only other alternative: Her mother's car. She wasted no time getting in and starting it. She slowly drove down the street. Her sister had already turned right, into another street. Cara carefully followed and rolled down the passenger's side window. Kailee was walking now. Cara called her name a couple of times but got no answer. She finally parked the car close to the curb, took out the keys and got out, catching up to her sister. She was out of breath as she reached her sister's side. "Kailee... Come on." No answer. Kailee stared straight ahead as they walked. "Let's talk in the car, please? Just me and you. Mom's not here."
Kailee stopped walking. So did Cara. Was she making progress? Kailee faced her older sister and spoke. "I'm not going back to the house Cara. I need time to think."
Cara was surprised at how calm her sister's voice sounded. Especially after the screaming match she had with Ms. Jenson only minutes ago. Indeed, Cara saw this as progress. Determined to keep going, she made sure to keep an approachable demeanor and stepped forward warmly. "We don't need to go back home." Not right away at least. "But it's late, and we don't know who's out here... you know? I really think we'd both be more comfortable in the car. Hm? Lots of space to think. What do you say?"
Cara waited, hoping for a positive response. To her delight, Kailee sighed and said, "I guess," with a shrug. It was a very mellow answer, but Cara was glad that her sister didn't put up a fight and make things difficult. She led her sister to their mother's car and they got in. Kailee stared at her hands, which was resting in her lap. Cara watched her. Her sister appeared so focused, kinda like she always did. Like she always knew what she was doing, which in fact, wasn't hard to believe because of her strong personality. But yet, she also seemed so lost now that Cara was paying closer attention. She could understand why it would be hard for anyone to notice. Her sister was good at masking her feelings. Her heart went out to Kailee. She got an idea. She slipped her seat belt on and started the car.
Kailee quickly looked up at her. Her eyes were suspicious. "I thought we weren't going home."
"We're not," Cara answered casually. She pulled away from the sidewalk and drove straight.
Kailee blinked. "So... where are we going?"
"To a good spot to think. You'll see. Trust me." Cara flashed a reassuring smile. Despite Cara's discreteness, Kailee decided to just go with it. She never had any real reason to doubt her sister.