The
Letter
By
Rei
I
flip through all the channels. Like always, there are just Soap
Operas or sad and too dramatic news reports so I turn it off and
decide I need a refill. I get up and pour some lemonade out.
“Amber!
Someone's at the door!” Anna yells at me waving her hands above
like she always does.
“Calm
down Anna! It's just the mailman,” Ruth yells back. She walks
outside and when she comes back, she has a big pile of mail that she
gives to me and then they get back to their game.
I
look at all the mail. One from the library, another from the bank, a
catalog and a white envelope with clear handwriting printed in a red
pen and addressed to Alice
Acre. I
look for the sender’s name on the left hand. It says, Marc
Acre... The
father that's been gone all our lives.
When
Mom gets home, I hide it in my book on page 279 where she'll never
find it. The last time I saw him, was when I was four, Ruth was one
and a half, and Anna was three months old.
“Mommy!”
The girls yell tugging on mom's leg and giving her hugs.
“How
was your day?” Mom asks them.
“It
was super fun!” Ruth says.
“Yeah!
We played Qwirkle like, almost 5 million, hundred, gazillion times!”
Anna says.
Then
Mom turns to me. “How was your day Amber?”
“Um,
good,” I say opening up my book and pretending to read.
“Anything
new?”
Now,
I really start to pretend. “Uh, nope. Not... Not really.”
“Well,
great! I'm gonna go and grab some dinner stuff. Will you be okay
watching the girls for maybe just half an hour or so?”
“Sure.”
Mom
leaves and Anna and Ruth start another game of Qwirkle and then there
is me. With nothing to do. I look at the cover of my book and slowly
turn the pages. Page
200, 231, 255, 257. The
letter sits there. I rub my hand against the pen ink and slowly rip
it open. My eyes read the words even though I try not to.
Alice,
You
said you'd send me the check for the train ride from New York to
Washington. Remember, it's $50.00 and I also need directions to your
house because if you don't give them to me, I'll probably get lost
and not be able to find your house. I get lost finding my way to the
bathroom. Anyways, you better send me the check in the next three
days or else, I seriously won't be able to come.
Hurry
up.
-Marc
Acre
Why?
Why didn’t anybody say anything. Did my feelings ever cross their
mind?
For the past seven years every time I’d just mention him or say
something, Mom would tell me to forget and not to remember him. Why
wouldn’t she want us to know a little bit about him? Especially
before he comes.
I
sit and stare, trying to figure out how many strokes it took to cover
up these orange walls. I remember when Mom painted them, the week
after Dad left. Me by her side, asking her how many paint cans she
thought it would take to fill up the world. She told me it would take
more paint cans then all the paint stores in the world have combined,
but I still thought it would take only 2 regular sized cans.
Time
passes and it's already five. Mom gets back with two boxes of angel
hair pasta and red sauce. She comes into the kitchen and I turn my
back to her. She pulls her long hair up in a ponytail.
All
I can think about is the letter. What Dad said. I try to hold it in,
but it just comes out.
“Why?
Why didn't you tell us?”
“Tell
you what?”
“About
Dad. He's coming?”
“Well,
Amber.” She sounds shy, just like she is. “Your father and I both
agreed you and the girls should have both your parents in your life.”
“But
why?”
“Your
father kind of wanted you and the girls back in his life.”
“But
do you want him
back
in your life?”
“What?”
Ruth says with Anna by her side. “Who's him?”
“Guess
what girls?” I start in a sarcastic voice.“Dad's coming! Yay!”
I
guess little girls just don't get sarcasm. “Really?” Anna yells
and Mom nods. “Yes! I'm super excited!”
“Amber.
If you, Ruth, and Anna are happy, I’m happy.” She says with a
smile, but I can tell she’s lying.
“But
are you
happy?”
“Well…”
She shrugs and burns a little bit of daylight. “Anyways Amber. If
you guys are happy then I-” she hesitates, “-am.”
“But
what if I’m
not
happy? Then are you still?”
“I
don’t know Amber. I don’t know.” She’s always so unsure of
everything. I feel like she’s the football on the field. Always
just getting kicked around and never being able to tell the players
when she’s done playing. I wonder if that’s why she and Dad split
up. Because Dad was pushing her around and maybe Mom finally stood up
for herself and said she was done playing.
After
a long time of silence I ask, “So, when is he coming?”
She
looks away, like she’s trying to hide something. “He’s coming
next week, on Tuesday.”
“I
know it might sound like I’m repeating myself, but are you happy?
You know, with Dad coming? So are you gonna be happy?”
“Um…
yeah. Sure.”
“What
do you mean by ‘Sure’?”
“Amber,
it’s the same thing I told you before,” she says starting to
raise her voice, but she's too nice to yell. “I'm
happy if you guys are happy. I truthfully am.”
I
can't tell her I'm not happy. If I do, she might try to keep Dad away
and I don't remember him, at all. Maybe he's just like Mom. Maybe
he's super nice and has wavy red hair and a soft voice. Who knows?
A
week passes and it's already Tuesday. When Anna, Ruth and I reach our
street, I can see a blue Subaru in our driveway. It has New York
plates and two bumper stickers that say Acre's
Car Wash
in
blue upper case letters and the other says Live
life and Own a Dog.
I
guess he has a dog.
I
walk in the house and Mom's sitting on our couch. She looks stressed
out but she still slaps a big smile on as the girls and me walk in.
In the chair there's a man, who looks just like me. He has black
hair, green eyes and freckles in a row across his cheeks. He’s
wearing a black tee shirt with ripped sleeves and jeans with holes on
the knees.
“Oh!
You guys are back so soon!” Mom says looking down at her watch.
“Yeah.
We took the shortcut today.” Anna replies. Then there’s silence
and the man takes out his phone like a teenager.
“Marc,”
Mom says trying to get his attention. “This is Anna, Ruth, and
Amber.”
The
man nods and keeps playing on his phone.
“Marc,
these are your daughters,” Mom repeats.
The
man finally looks up from his phone, “Oh. Hey little girls.”
I
wanna scream. Shouldn’t he be happy we’re here? His daughters he
wanted
to see? I stop thinking and throw my backpack down and run up to my
room.
“Amber,
where are you going?” Anna asks, breaking the silence.
“I
have to do my homework.”
“But
your backpack's still down here!” Ruth yells as I reach my room and
slam the door.
“Somebody’s
grumpy today.” I can still hear the man say when I plop myself onto
my bed.
Later,
it doesn't get any better. When Mom calls me down for dinner the
first time, I ignore her. The second time, I still ignore her. The
third time, she doesn’t call but Anna and Ruth both come into my
room to get me. When I reach the dining room, Marc is off his phone
but he still isn’t too social.
“Ready
for dinner? Your homework took you a really long time,” Mom says,
knowing I never actually did do my homework.
“Yeah.
It was kind of hard. Lots of math and algebra stuff. The dinner
smells really good. What did you make?” I ask her.
“She
made spaghetti,” Ruth answers.
Soon
we all sit down for dinner. The spaghetti’s steaming on the table
and the girls dig in. Marc grabs and piece of pasta with his hand and
eats it. Then he says, “It needs more salt Alice.” His letter
really showed his personality.
“One
second Marc. Do you guys want anything to drink?”
“Apple
juice!” Anna and Ruth say together.
“Do
you want anything Amber? Marc?”
“No
thanks. I drank a lot of water on the way down, like six bottles or
so.” Marc says.
Under
my breath I whisper, “I doubt it.” But even though I whisper it,
he still hears.
“Excuse
me?” he says grabbing my wrist, “What did you just say?”
“Oh,
I was just um…” I have to come up with a lie quick because who
knows what he’ll do. “I was checking my text messages on my
phone. My friend told me she got a job, but she’s only twelve, so I
said I doubt it!”
“Silly
Amber! You don’t have a phone!” Anna says.
“What
did you say? Tell me now or else...” He squeezes harder and soon
I’m speechless.
“Marc!”
Mom cries, “Stop it! Just stop!” Then there’s silence. Marc
lets go and I can see her green eyes getting watery. She runs up the
stairs just like I did, and then there’s a slam.
Marc
stands up and looks at us. “I don’t know why your mother wanted
me to come. It was a stupid choice. I knew I should’ve stayed home
with my girlfriend and our dog!” He yells and runs out the door. I
then hear a car door slam, the engine going on and then rolling out
of our driveway.
Then
Anna starts to cry, “Mommy and Daddy left! Now what will we do?”
I
bend down and give her a hug. My voice is still shaky from the
incidents in the last two minutes. “It’s alright Anna, he wasn’t
our real daddy. A real daddy would take care of us, but he didn’t.
It’s alright. I’ll go get Mommy.” She wipes her eyes and looks
better, “Do you girls wanna play some Qwirkle while I go talk to
her?”
“Yes.”
They both say.
After
I get them all set up, I walk up our carpeted stairs. I’m still
wondering why Marc said Mom wanted him to come. I knock on her door.
“Who
is it?” she asks.
“It’s
Amber.” I walk in. She’s laying on her bed with tissues all over.
Worry
comes over her face, “Oh No! Where’s Marc? Is he still alone with
the girls? Go get them quick!”
“It’s
okay Mom, the girls are playing Qwirkle and Marc left. I’m pretty
sure he’s not coming back.” She still lays there. “So, when he
was leaving he said you wanted him to come. It didn’t seem like it.
Is it true?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She
sighs and then starts to whimper a bit. “We… We need the money. I
lost my job Amber. He makes some off of his car wash and I thought
he’d lend us some, if he knew we still had a spot in our family.”
“But,
weren’t you at work when I was watching Anna and Ruth that day?”
“I
had five job interviews lined up. I doubt I’ll get the job though.”
“Mom?
If you don’t get the job, it’s still gonna be okay.”
“Do
you promise?” she asks like Anna or Ruth would.
“I
promise it’ll be alright.”
The
next day, Anna and Ruth are playing Qwirkle again. I’m sipping my
lemonade and reading my book. I’m almost done with it. Then the
phone rings and Mom picks it up.
“Hello?”
Mom says. Then her face brightens up and she starts to smile, “Okay.
Thank you! Thank you! I’ll be there at eight o’clock sharp on
Wednesday! See you then!” She hangs up the phone and smiles at us,
“I got the job!”
It
all makes sense because after all, every good story has a happy
ending.
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