His face twisted, “Of course not, son,” he said quickly, almost like he been rehearsing the denial. “Jorja lost her husband two years ago. We just… got to know each other a little over a year now.’
He sounded desperate. He really needed me to believe him.
I didn’t blink. “So why aren’t you getting married to the woman who actually ruined your home? The one Mum always complained about?”
I paused, but when he didn’t speak, I continued, “Didn’t you love her enough to let her wreck your family? Didn’t she mean something? Or was she just one of the many ‘mistakes’ you made?”
He exhaled, “We’ve talked about this,” he said, rubbing his hands together like he could wash the truth off them. “She was a mistake. Nothing serious. Your mother just… couldn’t stop making a fuss about it every time.”
I stared at him like he’d grown two heads.
He really thought I’d believe that.
I wasn’t seven anymore.
He was the reason Mum started drinking and going out with other men. He was the reason she stopped smiling. He turned her into someone else… Someone bitter, lost, and lonely. And when she finally broke, she left me behind.
He had another family out there… A woman and a daughter. And now he wanted to bring a different woman into his home?
“You can go ahead and do whatever you want,” I said, “Move her in. Marry her. Paint the walls pink. I don’t care. Just make sure they don’t come anywhere near me. I’ll tolerate them in this house, but I never see her as my mother!” I got off the bed angrily, “And her daughter?” I added, meeting his eyes dead-on. “She will never be my sister.”
I walked out on him and made sure I shut the door with enough force to make him understand that I meant every word I had just said.
I didn’t know who this woman was, and I’d never attempted to find out. I never even tried to catch a glimpse of her when she dropped things off or called the house.
And that’s because I didn’t care.
Let them all move in. Let them play happy family.
They could all go to hell for all I cared.
KESTER.
I sat in the living room, hunched over the controller, with my eyes glued to the TV screen as the video game blared through the speakers when I heard Dad’s car in the parking lot.
They were here.
I had already rehearsed this moment over and over in my head like a scene from a movie, and I was certain I’d do even better than how I had it planned out in my head.
Ignore them. Don’t speak. Don’t look. Just keep your eyes on the TV nd pretend they don’t exist.
Simple.
I turned the volume up a notch.
I heard giggles.
They were already a happy family without me. But it wasn’t new to me. Whoever the little girl who’d now become his new daughter was should be happy she met the monster when he was in his pretentious era.
She probably thought she’d just won the jackpot. Got herself a daddy… I couldn’t wait for her to learn how wrong she was.
The front door creaked open.
I didn’t even turn to look.
The maids followed behind, dragging in glossy suitcases and fancy bags with golden zippers. The heavy luggage was carried upstairs.
I could feel them stop behind me but I kept my gaze focused on the game, pretending I didn’t hear the tiny exhale Dad always made when he was trying not to lose his temper.
“Kester,” he called, clearing his throat.
But I didn’t move.
“Kester,” he tried again in a firmer tone.
I still said nothing. He didn’t deserve a reaction.
There was silence… And then, snap!
The controller was yanked from my hands, the plastic digging into my fingers before it slipped free.
I shot up, my body gong stiff, with my head turning slowly like a machine until my eyes locked with his.
I looked him dead in the eye.
He stared back like he was daring me to speak, his jaw twitching like it always did when he was pissed but trying to act calm.
“Be good,” he said in a low ang light voice, ‘Greet your new mother.
I didn’t blink.
New mother?
He said it like I could just swap my real Mum out for a replacement ke changing a battery.
I slowly turned my head to the woman standing beside him.
Jorja.
She smiled at me. I guess she thought I was some kid who could be won over with a plate of cookies and a hug.
“Hello, Kester,” she said, all warm and fake and patient.
Her smile made something in me twist.
I didn’t answer her. I just stared at her like she was a cardboard cutout. Maybe she was. Because I only saw her as a background prop in the nightmare my father was trying to make my reality.
Then, I heard someone else speak… Someone I hadn’t even noticed.
Hello, Kester.” The voice was soft, clear, sweet, and a little shy.
My gaze immediately snapped sideways, past Jorja.
The voice sparked something in me.
I blinked when my eyes rested on her.
She was the one… The girl who had saved my life by wishing me a happy birthday on my 11th birthday.
My throat burned like I’d swallowed something wrong.
She smiled again, and my heart, the one I thought was all scabbed over and cold, did something awful.
It ached.
Immediately, all I had practiced, all my defiance… Everything just came crumbling at once.
I walked past my “little sister” as she sat cross-legged on the floor, her eyes glued to one of those bright, squeaky cartoons kids her age seemed to love. I just hoped she was too distracted to notice me slipping upstairs.
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