In Another Life

Family

It's 4 am and the chilly breeze is seeping through my school uniform. I rubbed my arms using my palm to somehow heat me up. 

I tiptoed towards the main door and slowly opened it. I peeked inside and let out a sigh of relief when no one was in the living room. I slowly went inside, not wanting to break the silence and wake them up. I'm dead if they found out that I went home at this hour. Mom will nag at me whole day.

I took off my shoes before ascending through the flight of stairs, very careful not to make even the slightest noise. My eyes roamed around and observed if anybody's still awake. I let out a sigh of relief when nobody's on the hallway. I walked towards my bedroom door, still careful of my steps. I'm about to open the door when I heard Mom's voice, followed by continuous sobs, she's crying. I took a step back and walked to the room where I heard her voice—at the guest room. 

"She's old enough to understand things. I'm sure she can handle this!" It's Dad's voice. Why is he shouting at Mom? He's never done this to Mom—or were they hiding it from me?

"No! You’re not gonna tell that to her! She’ll get hurt and I’ll never allow that!" I almost jumped in surprise when Mom’s shouts. She sounded very angry. I almost didn’t recognize her. I walked closer to the room and saw that the door was ajar, I peeped at the narrow opening of the door and saw Dad holding Mom’s wrist, stopping her from slapping him. The atmosphere is so heavy, I could hardly breathe. They looked at each other hatred and disgust. Never in my whole existence did I imagine things would go this way. They always showed me how much they loved each other. I thought everything is fine. My chest tightened. That image of a perfect family they built for all these years was all shattered. I was living in perfect world of lies after all. 

Mom harshly pulled her hand away from his grasp and spoke, "Never speak a word to her. If she ever finds out about you and your secrets, it’s game over for you. She’ll gonna hate you. And your Mom? We’ll never know what will happen to her if Lia hated her too. You know she loves her so much." her face was emotionless as she traced his jaw with her newly painted nails. 

"You better shut up." she said as she gracefully turned her back at him and picked up her purse.

I hurriedly left my spot and ran inside my room. I leaned my back on the door, my legs felt very weak. My shoulder bag fell on the floor. I picked it up and let my body fall down into my bed. I just stared at the ceiling blankly until tiredness took a toll on me and I fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning feeling really bad. It’s Saturday so we don’t have classes. My body feels very heavy and my head aches so much.

I washed my face and went to the dining area and saw Mom baking cookies while humming to a familiar song—as if nothing happened last night. She’s in a great mood.

I walked towards her and hugged her from the back. "Good morning, Mom" 

"Good morning sweetie!" she greeted me with a very bright smile. "You don’t look so well, here’s milk for you." she put a hot mug in front of me.

I pulled away and sipped from my drink. "What are these cookies for?" I asked upon seeing dozens of  boxes on the counter.

"These are for the kids! I’m sponsoring a charity event today and I’ll bring these treats!" she looked so happy and excited while saying those words. It made me smile. She’s the woman I admire the most. Her love and passion for kids and teaching them is overflowing. Ever since I was a kid, she’d been sponsoring charity events for kids, donating anything she can to help them and teaching them. She always loved teaching but never got the chance to pursue her dream. Her parents opposed her decision of being a teacher. 

"I wish I could go with you but my I’m really not feeling very well." she crossed the gap between us, held my hand and squeezed it tenderly. 

"It’s okay, I can go alone. You take a rest and make sure to take meds." I nodded and smiled  at her. She patted my head and pushed a plate of cookies in front of me. It looks so delicious.

"Thanks, Mom!" I said as I took a large bite of the cookie.

She winked at me and walked out of the kitchen.

The smiled faded away from my face as soon as she’s out of my sight. To what extent can she hold it in? I wonder how long has she been wearing a mask in front of me, pretending to be okay. I need to know what’s going on. I can’t just sit and let them keep me in the dark. I need to do something.

I dialed Karl’s number.

"The number you have dialed is either unattended or out of coverage area, please try again later."

He’s not answering! That bastard may still be sleeping at this moment! I called him again and again and again—but he’s still not picking up! I stared at the empty plate of cookies with only crumbs left. I stomped my feet in frustration. He’s snoring when I needed him the most! 

I leaned on the counter and stared at the boxes of cookies. That guy is a pain in the ass! I kicked the chair beside me and it created a screeching sound.

I almost jumped in surprise when my phone rang. I stared at the caller’s name. Woah finally! The sleepyhead is awake!

"Sorry, I missed your calls, I just woke up. What do you need?" A small smile escaped from my lips as I heard his husky voice. 

I slapped myself upon realizing what I just did. I cleared my throat. "Wait, I’ll just go to the CR, I don’t want Mom to overhear our conversation."

I ran to the CR and locked the door. I immediately explained to him what I saw last night. 

"So you want to dig into it?" he asked.

"Exactly! I don’t wanna stay clueless about everything and just wait for them to spill it. From what I heard from them, I don’t think they’ll tell me anything." I can hear his groans on the other line.

"I-I don’t really wanna be part of this stupid mission but do I have a choice?" I put my phone away from my ears when he started nagging. "You’re really stupid as ever!"

"We’ll start the mission this afternoon. Pick me up at exactly 1:00 pm. See you!" I said and ended the call.