Is Mom My Real Mom??
827 Words
"Wait, Mom, why do you always nag? Not only at me but Dad also. I'll do anything to stop hearing you nag. It's," she shivered, "frustrating."
She took a plate from the dish washer, dried it and was about to put it in the rack when her mom said, "How about going some place far away and never coming back?"
The ceramic plate fell from her hands.
"Mom...?"
"Uh - uh, it's what you caused." Going out, she said, "I prefer my..."
Kaylee didn't hear the rest because her mom was already out of the kitchen.
"Huh?"
Her what? Why had she not said it aloud?
"I will find out but in the meantime, mom wants me out of here."
***
For Kaylee Rothen, that was a final decision and there was no going back. Most times, she'd asked God why she had the kind of mother she had but He hadn't replied yet. So, as she asked herself that question three weeks later as she walked down the corridor to her mom's room, she realized that it was a hard question.
Kaylee made a mental note to tell her dad that she was leaving. Her poor daddy, he'll be bored and frustrated to death.
"It's mom's fault," she thought aloud and suddenly remembered that she hadn't figured what her mom had said the other day in the kitchen. She didn't know why it disturbed her and something told her that her dad had answers. Her instincts rarely lied.
All she ever wanted was to explore and enjoy a fulfilling career as a botanist and do things her way without query. Was that hard?
One would wonder why a twenty seven years old lady would be told the kind of places to go, people to talk with - especially the opposite s*x - and the time she would wake up, go out and return. Interestingly, she didn't have girlfriends, thanks to her mom.
Kaylee paused. What was she doing in the TV room? Why couldn't she control her thoughts, she thought as she turned around and walked back the way she'd come, trying so hard not to continue from where she'd stopped.
When, finally, she reached the front of her mother's oaken door - her mother's because the woman had made her father to leave the room for her - she knocked and then ran her fingers along the lines and patterns on the door while waiting for the door to open. When it finally did, what she said sounded more like a question than a greeting.
"Hey, mom?"
"Hey," Jolene Rothen replied, beaming with enthusiasm. "Is this good bye?"
Kaylee took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
She hadn't even invited me in.
"No, mom. I just want..."
"Why can't you just leave? Leave!" Jolene yelled and slammed the door shut.
"She slammed the door in my face," Kaylee whispered silently as a lone tear slid down her cheek and she turned to leave. When she tasted the stale saltiness of the tears, she wished that those little pimples on her face were not there. Maybe that was why her life's road was rocky.
She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, knowing too well that her dad will notice. She stood by the door way and studied her dad's rigid form on the couch before walking to him and tapping him.
"Hey, dad."
"Hey, baby girl," Billy Rothen teased lightly after a slight jerk.
"How're you?" She lowered herself beside him.
"I'm fine as far as boo is," he teased again.
"I'm not, dad."
He slowly reached for her face. "Is that why you were crying?"
She slowly shifted her face from his reach. "I'll tell you after I say goodnight."
"Tell me it's night already," Billy murmured, tilting forward to look out of the window to the star crested sky.
"Dad, tell me you were thinking about love." There was emphasis when she said, "Again."
"I was," he said, his voice dreamy.
"What love?"
"I'll tell you when the time's right," he replied.
"I sure hope that I don't grow old before that time," she muttered.
Billy laughed. "Oh, don't be so absurd."
After some silence that seemed comfortable enough for Billy but was screaming a deafening rhythm into Kaylee's ears, she sighed.
"Anything the matter?" Billy asked, turning to her.
She sighed again. "Dad, I'll be going away from Maple Ville."
"I'm sorry, Kay, I don't know why she's like that," Billy said softly.
Kaylee raised a brow. "Dad, are you okay?"
He smiled faintly. "Yes, I am."
"Then...?"
"I eavesdropped." Silence. "So, where are you going?"
Kaylee looked at him, unsure. "Nettles."
Billy opened his arms. "Come here." When she did, he said, "I love you, Kaylee."
"I love you more."
"I love you most."
After a few minutes, Billy slowly released her.
"Daddy?" She sniffed.
"Yes, baby. Are you..."
"Is mom my real mom."
Billy sighed. "No."
- Writer
