Chapter 6
I woke up in the morning to the annoying ringing of my phone. Dammit! Why does this happen all the time, I asked myself. I reached over and answered it.
"Hello," I grumbled, tossing the covers over my head.
"Good morning sleepy head," Jeff greeted me. I moaned.
"Jeff, you've gotta cut this out," I moaned.
"Sorry, I have nothing to do here," he explained.
"Find something then," I told him.
"You got any plans today?"
"No," I informed him, curios of where this conversation could be going.
"Come and see me today."
"Oh yeah Jeff. I forgot to tell you that my parents ungrounded me because she sorry that she interruped us," I said sarcastically. Jeff grunted.
"Cut it out April, can you or not?" He snapped.
"I'll see what I can do," I retorted.
"Oh, also, I think I have a lead on where your sisters might be," he said dully. I leaped up in bed.
"What?" I cried, brushing some hair that had fallen into my face.
"Yes, it's true. How could you not find a person that was adopted with the name July Vargas?"
"Jeff!" I cried again. "I'll be there soon. What hotel?"
"The Sheraton," He told me, and I hung up, flying out of bed. In front of the house, the gardeners Mother had hired were working. I tugged on a pair of jeans and a T shirt, and put my hair up into a ponytail. I brushed my teeth quickly, and opened my blinds and window.
The workers had cut the vines! The vines that I needed to climb out of my window! I nearly screamed with rage, but instead stormed downstairs. Daddy was reading the paper.
"Daddy," I hissed, clenching my hands into fists. He looked up.
"You cut the vines on the side of the house!" I exclaimed, taking a step forward. He nodded.
"You're very observant this morning," Daddy noticed, then looked at my watch. "And it's only 10:00. Nice."
"Daddy," I snapped.
"Guess you can't climb out of your room from now on, what a bummer," Daddy quipped, and returned to his paper. I screamed with rage, and stomped upstairs and called Jeff.
"Jeff!" I flared.
"What is it April?" Jeff asked calmly.
"Daddy cut the vines on the side of the house! I can't climb out," I wailed.
"OK April relax," Jeff soothed.
"I can't! I'll call you back," I snapped, then slammed the phone down, a picture frame falling down. I looked at the window. It wasn't that far of a drop, and I could shimmy down the drainpipe, I thought. I put on a pair of shoes, and headed out my window.
The workers that were removing weeds from the garden beds looked at me curiously as I climbed down slowly, making sure that I didn't fall. I had worked everything perfectly. I put my foot on the windowsill of the guest room, and made sure that I was balanced before heading down again. I was about 8 feet from the ground, when my hands started to sweat, and I almost slipped twice. I reached up to take hold of the edge of the window sill, when my hand slipped, and I came crashing down to the ground, my ankle breaking my fall. I stood up, and felt dizzy, so I sat back down again. Oh, God, what did I do? I attempted to stand up again, and once again felt dizzy, but fought it off and limped over to my car.
Shooting pains shot up my leg every time I put pressure on my right foot. Tears came to my eyes as I got into my car, and sat there to catch my breath. I turned on the car, and drove as quickly as I could to the Sheraton hotel.
Once I had arrived, my ankle began to throb with pain. I was close to tears, but I fought them off and stumbled inside and asked for the room number Jeff was staying in. He surprised me by tapping me on the shoulder, and I spun around quickly on my right heel, another shooting pain ran up my leg. '
"Jeff," I gasped, leaning over and touching my ankle. The room started to grow fuzzy, and I held onto Jeff's arm. He had seen that I wasn't feeling well, so he picked me up and carried me into his room. After he had shut the door and lay me on the bed, I started howling with pain.
"Jeff, I fell on my ankle trying to get out of my room," I gasped after every word, trying to breathe. Jeff paced.
"I shouldn't have pressed you into doing it," He said. I shook my head.
"It wasn't your fault," I told him.
"We need to get you to a hospital," He decided quickly.
"No, I'm fine!" I yowled as another pain shot up my leg. Jeff leaped over to me and placed his hands under me and lifted me up. I hissed in pain as he carried me downstairs and into his car, then he drove me to the hospital. I had it X-rayed, which made it hurt worse. Afterwards, I lay in an examining room and waited for the results to come back. Jeff waited with me, sitting by my side.
The doctor entered with a manilla envelope. "Well, let's see what we have here," he announced and clipped the X-rays onto a viewing board and turned on the light. I looked at it closely. I couldn't see anything wrong with it, but my ankle disagreed.
"Well, it seems that you have a hairline fracture," the doctor announced. I moaned.
"If you would have landed any harder, you would have completely dislocated it and broken it," he announced. I moaned again. He excused himself and went to go get this boot cast like thing. God it was huge!
"It could be worse," Jeff reminded me once he saw my displeasure. I closed my eyes, and grimaced as the doctor put it on. I looked at it. What a great accessory, I thought. The doctor smiled weakly.
"We need to notify your parents," he announced. I gasped.
"NO!" I cried. "You can't."
"Why not?" The doctor inquired, placing his hands on his hips.
"Because my parents are dead," I snapped. It could be true, my real parents could be dead as far as I know. "I live on my own," I added. He nodded.
"OK then, I just need you to sign these papers, and your free to go," he declared, and went to fetch the papers. I looked at Jeff.
"What are my parents going to think?" I asked him. He shrugged.
"Just tell them the truth."
"Oh yeah. ' Mother, Daddy? I forgot to tell you that I fractured my ankle when I jumped out of my window. Sorry,'" I said sarcastically. Jeff narrowed his eyes at me as the doctor came in. With the papers, and crutches!
"Here you go," the doctor announced, handing me a clipboard and laying the crutches on the side of the table. I scribbled my signature on it quickly, and looked coldly at the crutches. Oh, this is going to be fun, I thought sarcastically.
"They are yours to use until you can walk freely without them," he advised. I grunted.
"Shall we get going?" Jeff questioned quickly, standing up and helping me to my feet. I grabbed the crutches quickly, and positioned them, and hobbled to the door.
"Say thank you," Jeff whispered to me.
"Thank you Doctor," I mumbled mechanically, and hobbled out of the hospital. I looked at Jeff. His gaze softened, and he kissed me. We got into his car, and drove back to the hotel. I hobbled upstairs and lay on his bed. Jeff crawled up next to me and kissed me, his lips traveling down my neck. I welcomed it for a minute, then pushed him away. I wasn't in the mood.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, sitting back. I shook my head. "I'm just not in the mood," I said, and brushed my hair back.
"OK then, let's work on finding you sisters," he said, and I looked at him excitedly and nodded. He brought the phone onto the bed and reached over and grabbed a piece of paper. He handed it to me and I scanned it quickly. It was about my sister, July Vargas.
It sounded odd, saying "My sister." I would have to get used to it, I thought.
"She lives in town," I said aloud. Jeff nodded.
"What about my other sisters?" I asked, looking up. Jeff shrugged.
"I didn't want to do all of your homework," he joked. I cracked a smile.
"OK, well, then, how do we start?" I asked slowly.
"You pick up the phone, and call this number," Jeff explained, and pointed to the number. I picked up the phone, made sure that it had a dial tone, and slowly punched in the numbers. It ringed once before someone answered.
"Hello, child protective services, how may I help you?" A woman asked. I looked at Jeff, who nodded.
"Um, yes, I was wondering if you could look up someone," I asked.
"Who might it be," she asked.
"A girl name June. I don't have a last name for her. She was adopted about 17 years ago," I asked. She typed it in, and pressed down hard on the enter button.
"Well, there are five 'Junes' that pulled up," she said. I sighed.
"OK, well, are any of them in Colorado Springs?" I asked. She typed something again, and slammed the enter button again.
"Just you luck. June Hatfield lives in Colorado Springs," she announced. I jotted it down quickly, and thanked her. I asked for the address, and she gave it to me.
"What about May?" I asked her. She sighed, almost angrily, and typed in the name.
"There are only 2," she said dully.
"Both in Colorado Springs?" I pounced.
"Yes, One is sixteen, and one is 4."
"I'm sure that it's the sixteen year old," I announced. She gave me the address. I thanked her once again, and cradled the phone. I looked at Jeff, and realized that I was shaking. Jeff embraced me, and stroked my hair. I closed my eyes. This was going to get hard, I thought.
After a few minutes of hanging out, I decided that I should leave. I needed to get home before Mother and Daddy got suspicious. Jeff kissed me good-bye, and hobbled downstairs and got inside. It was hard to drive, because my boot was so big, I could hardly press down on the gas pedal, but I managed it safely. Their car wasn't in the driveway. Good, I thought. I shut my door, and pulled out my keys and opened the door, and Mother and Daddy were standing there! I gasped, and moaned.
"You think you really had us fooled?" Daddy asked, his hands folded across his chest. I chewed on my lower lip nervously.
"How did you know that I was gone? Where is the car?" I fired questions off randomly, wanting answers quickly.
"The workers told us what had happened. By the way, nice boot," Mother piped up. My eyes darkened, and darted over to Daddy.
"The car is in the garage," he told me. "Why didn't you call us and tell us that your ankle hurt?"
"I didn't want you guys to know."
"Well, it's not like we wouldn't see," he muttered.
"Do you want to know where I've been?" I asked them, hobbling over to the stairs.
"We knew where you were. You were with Jeff," Mommy said mechanically.
"I was doing research on my sisters," I told them, clutching my the paperwork in my hands.
"What?" Mother cried frantically. "You're finding them?" My eyebrows shot up.
"Why not?
"You can't go!" Mother screeched, running over to me and wrapping her arms around me, nearly bringing me to the ground. "You can't! You've been the only daughter I've ever had! I don't have any others!"
"Mother," I choked, pushing her off of me. She burst out into tears. I looked at Daddy for help. He didn't assist me.
"Wait, Vivian," Daddy said, walking over to him and placing his palm on her back. She looked up.
"Maybe it's better that April goes and finds her family. It would be good for her, and us," Daddy muttered. My eyes widened. Was I hearing what I was hearing?
"Yes," Daddy said more confidentially. "I think is should happen."
"What!"
"You heard me April, go up to your room," he snapped, and crouched in front of Mother and comforted her. I hobbled upstairs, tears stinging my eyes. He really wanted me out, I told myself. I shut the door, and went to sit on my bed and looked at the newly acclaimed information in my hands. These were my sisters. May, June and July. All three living in Colorado Springs. I shook my head, and heard the phone ring. I picked it up.
"Hello?" I asked, and it was Katerina.
"Hey girl," she said merrily. Something in her voice sounded different.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"You haven't called me in a while, and besides, I wanted to tell you about my date," she cried. I smiled.
"OK, start talking," I told her, and she started to babble off what happened after I had left.
"After the movie, he took me back home and we. . . " her voice trailed off.
"You did it?" I asked her dully.
"Oh yes, and It was wonderful! Of course, it kinda hurt, because it was my first time, and well, you know," she informed me. I sighed.
"That's wonderful Katty," I told her.
"What's wrong? You sound different. Like, depressed," she noticed.
"Well, it's a long story."
"I have time." I started to tell her about the recent events that had happened.
"Oh how awful!" she cried. "So your parents are going to let you find them?"
"I think so," I said with an exhale.
"Well, that will be nice, don't you think?"
"I guess so," I muttered.
"Stop sounding so depressed! You're getting me down!" she cried.
"Fine."
"Oh, damn. I have to go. My date with Brandon is in half an hour," she said quickly. I said goodbye to her and hung up, sighing as I did so. I did sound depressed. Why did I? I should be excited that I found my sisters and that I could be a allowed to move out! I smiled, which almost turned into a frown. I lay back on my bed, and closed my eyes.
"This will be all over soon," I told myself.
The next few days, me and Daddy argued over the stupidest things, some resulting in Daddy going out to the bar. Daddy never drank. Never in my life had I seen my father drink. He would come home, staggering and swaying as he walked.
"Hello, Vivvy," Daddy slurred, bustling into the house.
"Oh God! He's drunk!" Mother cried. I stood to my feet and slung my arm over his shoulder.
"April, hello," he said and laughed. I rolled my eyes.
"Let's get him upstairs before he kills himself," Mother muttered, and hobbled upstairs with him. She dumped him on the bed and stood back, her hands on her hips.
"Daniel Sanders! How could you get so stupidly drunk!" Mother snapped. Daddy sat up.
"I'm not drunk, I'm just intoxicated just a tiny bit," he said, pinching his fingers together. His speech came out slurred still. He'd have one helluva hangover, I thought. Mother grunted and turned to me.
"Go to bed April, there isn't anything that you can do now. There isn't anything to see," she ordered, and brushed me away with the back of her hand. I wobbled out of the room, and shut the door behind me.
"Every day, I age more and more because of this family," she wailed, and I rolled my eyes. It figures that she would say that, I thought.
The next morning, Daddy shuffled downstairs, his index fingers pressed to his temples. He plopped down at the table and propped his elbows on the table. He looked at me, and moaned.
"This is all your fault," Daddy said. We didnt' know who he was talking to.
"It's your fault Daddy. You're the one who got your ass drunk," I muttered. Mother screamed.
"April!" she hissed.
"What? It's true," I told her.
"Don't use such language in this house," she snapped. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Vivian, make me something that will cure this hangover," Daddy moaned.
"I've got a cure," I offered. "Two words. Sober up."
"That's enough April!" Daddy roared, standing up and placing his palms on the table. "I've had enough of this! April! I want you out! I've been thinking about this for a long time now, and I think that's it's best that you pack your things and get the hell out of here." Mother let out a bloodcurdling scream and crumbled to the floor.
"What?" I shreiked, standing up and meeting his eye level. "You heard me right. I want you out! And I want you out before the day is over," he snapped. Tears welled in my eyes, but I wasn't going to cry. I wasn't going to cry in front of him! He stared at me, and then I moved away, hobbling upstairs and slamming my door. I screamed, and my tears exploded onto my cheeks, my body shuddering with sobs. I ran over to my phone, ignoring the pain in my ankle, and dialed Jeff's number angrily.
"Hello?" Jeff asked curiously.
"Jeff!" I screeched. "Come and pick me up! I'm staying with you."
"For how long?" he asked, astonished at my anger.
"Forever!" I shouted, then slammed the phone down. I heard Mother sobbing heavily, and Daddy was yelling at her because she ws crying over something useless. I pressed my hands over my ears, and made noise so that I wouldn't hear them. Suddenly, I screamed, and the whole house went silent. I sat there, my breath heavy and short, and looked arond. I didn't want any of this. I just wanted my clothes, and things that were close to my heart.
I hobbled around the room, stuffing all of my clothes and shoes into a suitcase, and checking to see if there was anything that I wanted to take other than the things that were already packed. I looked over and saw a portrait of the family. I ran over to it, smashed the glass, the tiny shards flying everywhere. I picked up the picture, and ripped it into shreds, watching the photo paper waft to the ground. I realized that I had cut my finger, but I had ignore the stinging pain, and wobbled downstairs.
Daddy and Mother were still in the kitchen. Mother's eyes were bloodshot from crying, but when she set eyes on me, she burst out into tears. Daddy had to restrain himself from slapping her. I sat my things down and stared at the window and waited for Jeff's car to appear.
Mother stumbled over to me and wrapped her arms around me. "Please April, don't go, I don't want you to go. Stay!" She shouted, falling to the ground and crying. I shoved her off of me, which made her cry harder. Daddy and Iocked eyes for a moment, and he turned away.
"You know, I am the only daughter that you have, had, I should say," I said coldly to him, walking his way. "You'll be missing out on a lot."
"Oh believe me," he said with a short laugh. "I won't." My hand reacted instead of my mouth, and I slapped him across the face, hard. I had nearly punched him as tears came to my eyes. He stared down at me, and I heard the distinct honk of Jeff's horn. I spun quickly, almost losing balance because of my ankle, and marched out the door without saying goodbye. Jeff hurried out of the car and grabbed my suitcases and threw them into the trunk. I didn't look back. Tears clouded my eyes as I crawled into the car and slammed the door. I told myself I wasn't going to look back, but my brain deceived me and I looked back at the only house that I would always know.
The house that I had all of my birthday parties at. The house that once had a loving, caring family inside, all cozy and warm. The family that once held a seventeen year old girl, but now, was gone, driving away.
Tears slipped down my cheeks quickly, as I thought these things, things that I had remembered all of the things that had happened to me. Jeff looked over and flicked some tears from my cheeks, then kissed my cheek. I lay my head against the window, and sighed, wishing that things would be the way that they used to be, a long time ago.
I woke up in the morning to the annoying ringing of my phone. Dammit! Why does this happen all the time, I asked myself. I reached over and answered it.
"Hello," I grumbled, tossing the covers over my head.
"Good morning sleepy head," Jeff greeted me. I moaned.
"Jeff, you've gotta cut this out," I moaned.
"Sorry, I have nothing to do here," he explained.
"Find something then," I told him.
"You got any plans today?"
"No," I informed him, curios of where this conversation could be going.
"Come and see me today."
"Oh yeah Jeff. I forgot to tell you that my parents ungrounded me because she sorry that she interruped us," I said sarcastically. Jeff grunted.
"Cut it out April, can you or not?" He snapped.
"I'll see what I can do," I retorted.
"Oh, also, I think I have a lead on where your sisters might be," he said dully. I leaped up in bed.
"What?" I cried, brushing some hair that had fallen into my face.
"Yes, it's true. How could you not find a person that was adopted with the name July Vargas?"
"Jeff!" I cried again. "I'll be there soon. What hotel?"
"The Sheraton," He told me, and I hung up, flying out of bed. In front of the house, the gardeners Mother had hired were working. I tugged on a pair of jeans and a T shirt, and put my hair up into a ponytail. I brushed my teeth quickly, and opened my blinds and window.
The workers had cut the vines! The vines that I needed to climb out of my window! I nearly screamed with rage, but instead stormed downstairs. Daddy was reading the paper.
"Daddy," I hissed, clenching my hands into fists. He looked up.
"You cut the vines on the side of the house!" I exclaimed, taking a step forward. He nodded.
"You're very observant this morning," Daddy noticed, then looked at my watch. "And it's only 10:00. Nice."
"Daddy," I snapped.
"Guess you can't climb out of your room from now on, what a bummer," Daddy quipped, and returned to his paper. I screamed with rage, and stomped upstairs and called Jeff.
"Jeff!" I flared.
"What is it April?" Jeff asked calmly.
"Daddy cut the vines on the side of the house! I can't climb out," I wailed.
"OK April relax," Jeff soothed.
"I can't! I'll call you back," I snapped, then slammed the phone down, a picture frame falling down. I looked at the window. It wasn't that far of a drop, and I could shimmy down the drainpipe, I thought. I put on a pair of shoes, and headed out my window.
The workers that were removing weeds from the garden beds looked at me curiously as I climbed down slowly, making sure that I didn't fall. I had worked everything perfectly. I put my foot on the windowsill of the guest room, and made sure that I was balanced before heading down again. I was about 8 feet from the ground, when my hands started to sweat, and I almost slipped twice. I reached up to take hold of the edge of the window sill, when my hand slipped, and I came crashing down to the ground, my ankle breaking my fall. I stood up, and felt dizzy, so I sat back down again. Oh, God, what did I do? I attempted to stand up again, and once again felt dizzy, but fought it off and limped over to my car.
Shooting pains shot up my leg every time I put pressure on my right foot. Tears came to my eyes as I got into my car, and sat there to catch my breath. I turned on the car, and drove as quickly as I could to the Sheraton hotel.
Once I had arrived, my ankle began to throb with pain. I was close to tears, but I fought them off and stumbled inside and asked for the room number Jeff was staying in. He surprised me by tapping me on the shoulder, and I spun around quickly on my right heel, another shooting pain ran up my leg. '
"Jeff," I gasped, leaning over and touching my ankle. The room started to grow fuzzy, and I held onto Jeff's arm. He had seen that I wasn't feeling well, so he picked me up and carried me into his room. After he had shut the door and lay me on the bed, I started howling with pain.
"Jeff, I fell on my ankle trying to get out of my room," I gasped after every word, trying to breathe. Jeff paced.
"I shouldn't have pressed you into doing it," He said. I shook my head.
"It wasn't your fault," I told him.
"We need to get you to a hospital," He decided quickly.
"No, I'm fine!" I yowled as another pain shot up my leg. Jeff leaped over to me and placed his hands under me and lifted me up. I hissed in pain as he carried me downstairs and into his car, then he drove me to the hospital. I had it X-rayed, which made it hurt worse. Afterwards, I lay in an examining room and waited for the results to come back. Jeff waited with me, sitting by my side.
The doctor entered with a manilla envelope. "Well, let's see what we have here," he announced and clipped the X-rays onto a viewing board and turned on the light. I looked at it closely. I couldn't see anything wrong with it, but my ankle disagreed.
"Well, it seems that you have a hairline fracture," the doctor announced. I moaned.
"If you would have landed any harder, you would have completely dislocated it and broken it," he announced. I moaned again. He excused himself and went to go get this boot cast like thing. God it was huge!
"It could be worse," Jeff reminded me once he saw my displeasure. I closed my eyes, and grimaced as the doctor put it on. I looked at it. What a great accessory, I thought. The doctor smiled weakly.
"We need to notify your parents," he announced. I gasped.
"NO!" I cried. "You can't."
"Why not?" The doctor inquired, placing his hands on his hips.
"Because my parents are dead," I snapped. It could be true, my real parents could be dead as far as I know. "I live on my own," I added. He nodded.
"OK then, I just need you to sign these papers, and your free to go," he declared, and went to fetch the papers. I looked at Jeff.
"What are my parents going to think?" I asked him. He shrugged.
"Just tell them the truth."
"Oh yeah. ' Mother, Daddy? I forgot to tell you that I fractured my ankle when I jumped out of my window. Sorry,'" I said sarcastically. Jeff narrowed his eyes at me as the doctor came in. With the papers, and crutches!
"Here you go," the doctor announced, handing me a clipboard and laying the crutches on the side of the table. I scribbled my signature on it quickly, and looked coldly at the crutches. Oh, this is going to be fun, I thought sarcastically.
"They are yours to use until you can walk freely without them," he advised. I grunted.
"Shall we get going?" Jeff questioned quickly, standing up and helping me to my feet. I grabbed the crutches quickly, and positioned them, and hobbled to the door.
"Say thank you," Jeff whispered to me.
"Thank you Doctor," I mumbled mechanically, and hobbled out of the hospital. I looked at Jeff. His gaze softened, and he kissed me. We got into his car, and drove back to the hotel. I hobbled upstairs and lay on his bed. Jeff crawled up next to me and kissed me, his lips traveling down my neck. I welcomed it for a minute, then pushed him away. I wasn't in the mood.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, sitting back. I shook my head. "I'm just not in the mood," I said, and brushed my hair back.
"OK then, let's work on finding you sisters," he said, and I looked at him excitedly and nodded. He brought the phone onto the bed and reached over and grabbed a piece of paper. He handed it to me and I scanned it quickly. It was about my sister, July Vargas.
It sounded odd, saying "My sister." I would have to get used to it, I thought.
"She lives in town," I said aloud. Jeff nodded.
"What about my other sisters?" I asked, looking up. Jeff shrugged.
"I didn't want to do all of your homework," he joked. I cracked a smile.
"OK, well, then, how do we start?" I asked slowly.
"You pick up the phone, and call this number," Jeff explained, and pointed to the number. I picked up the phone, made sure that it had a dial tone, and slowly punched in the numbers. It ringed once before someone answered.
"Hello, child protective services, how may I help you?" A woman asked. I looked at Jeff, who nodded.
"Um, yes, I was wondering if you could look up someone," I asked.
"Who might it be," she asked.
"A girl name June. I don't have a last name for her. She was adopted about 17 years ago," I asked. She typed it in, and pressed down hard on the enter button.
"Well, there are five 'Junes' that pulled up," she said. I sighed.
"OK, well, are any of them in Colorado Springs?" I asked. She typed something again, and slammed the enter button again.
"Just you luck. June Hatfield lives in Colorado Springs," she announced. I jotted it down quickly, and thanked her. I asked for the address, and she gave it to me.
"What about May?" I asked her. She sighed, almost angrily, and typed in the name.
"There are only 2," she said dully.
"Both in Colorado Springs?" I pounced.
"Yes, One is sixteen, and one is 4."
"I'm sure that it's the sixteen year old," I announced. She gave me the address. I thanked her once again, and cradled the phone. I looked at Jeff, and realized that I was shaking. Jeff embraced me, and stroked my hair. I closed my eyes. This was going to get hard, I thought.
After a few minutes of hanging out, I decided that I should leave. I needed to get home before Mother and Daddy got suspicious. Jeff kissed me good-bye, and hobbled downstairs and got inside. It was hard to drive, because my boot was so big, I could hardly press down on the gas pedal, but I managed it safely. Their car wasn't in the driveway. Good, I thought. I shut my door, and pulled out my keys and opened the door, and Mother and Daddy were standing there! I gasped, and moaned.
"You think you really had us fooled?" Daddy asked, his hands folded across his chest. I chewed on my lower lip nervously.
"How did you know that I was gone? Where is the car?" I fired questions off randomly, wanting answers quickly.
"The workers told us what had happened. By the way, nice boot," Mother piped up. My eyes darkened, and darted over to Daddy.
"The car is in the garage," he told me. "Why didn't you call us and tell us that your ankle hurt?"
"I didn't want you guys to know."
"Well, it's not like we wouldn't see," he muttered.
"Do you want to know where I've been?" I asked them, hobbling over to the stairs.
"We knew where you were. You were with Jeff," Mommy said mechanically.
"I was doing research on my sisters," I told them, clutching my the paperwork in my hands.
"What?" Mother cried frantically. "You're finding them?" My eyebrows shot up.
"Why not?
"You can't go!" Mother screeched, running over to me and wrapping her arms around me, nearly bringing me to the ground. "You can't! You've been the only daughter I've ever had! I don't have any others!"
"Mother," I choked, pushing her off of me. She burst out into tears. I looked at Daddy for help. He didn't assist me.
"Wait, Vivian," Daddy said, walking over to him and placing his palm on her back. She looked up.
"Maybe it's better that April goes and finds her family. It would be good for her, and us," Daddy muttered. My eyes widened. Was I hearing what I was hearing?
"Yes," Daddy said more confidentially. "I think is should happen."
"What!"
"You heard me April, go up to your room," he snapped, and crouched in front of Mother and comforted her. I hobbled upstairs, tears stinging my eyes. He really wanted me out, I told myself. I shut the door, and went to sit on my bed and looked at the newly acclaimed information in my hands. These were my sisters. May, June and July. All three living in Colorado Springs. I shook my head, and heard the phone ring. I picked it up.
"Hello?" I asked, and it was Katerina.
"Hey girl," she said merrily. Something in her voice sounded different.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"You haven't called me in a while, and besides, I wanted to tell you about my date," she cried. I smiled.
"OK, start talking," I told her, and she started to babble off what happened after I had left.
"After the movie, he took me back home and we. . . " her voice trailed off.
"You did it?" I asked her dully.
"Oh yes, and It was wonderful! Of course, it kinda hurt, because it was my first time, and well, you know," she informed me. I sighed.
"That's wonderful Katty," I told her.
"What's wrong? You sound different. Like, depressed," she noticed.
"Well, it's a long story."
"I have time." I started to tell her about the recent events that had happened.
"Oh how awful!" she cried. "So your parents are going to let you find them?"
"I think so," I said with an exhale.
"Well, that will be nice, don't you think?"
"I guess so," I muttered.
"Stop sounding so depressed! You're getting me down!" she cried.
"Fine."
"Oh, damn. I have to go. My date with Brandon is in half an hour," she said quickly. I said goodbye to her and hung up, sighing as I did so. I did sound depressed. Why did I? I should be excited that I found my sisters and that I could be a allowed to move out! I smiled, which almost turned into a frown. I lay back on my bed, and closed my eyes.
"This will be all over soon," I told myself.
The next few days, me and Daddy argued over the stupidest things, some resulting in Daddy going out to the bar. Daddy never drank. Never in my life had I seen my father drink. He would come home, staggering and swaying as he walked.
"Hello, Vivvy," Daddy slurred, bustling into the house.
"Oh God! He's drunk!" Mother cried. I stood to my feet and slung my arm over his shoulder.
"April, hello," he said and laughed. I rolled my eyes.
"Let's get him upstairs before he kills himself," Mother muttered, and hobbled upstairs with him. She dumped him on the bed and stood back, her hands on her hips.
"Daniel Sanders! How could you get so stupidly drunk!" Mother snapped. Daddy sat up.
"I'm not drunk, I'm just intoxicated just a tiny bit," he said, pinching his fingers together. His speech came out slurred still. He'd have one helluva hangover, I thought. Mother grunted and turned to me.
"Go to bed April, there isn't anything that you can do now. There isn't anything to see," she ordered, and brushed me away with the back of her hand. I wobbled out of the room, and shut the door behind me.
"Every day, I age more and more because of this family," she wailed, and I rolled my eyes. It figures that she would say that, I thought.
The next morning, Daddy shuffled downstairs, his index fingers pressed to his temples. He plopped down at the table and propped his elbows on the table. He looked at me, and moaned.
"This is all your fault," Daddy said. We didnt' know who he was talking to.
"It's your fault Daddy. You're the one who got your ass drunk," I muttered. Mother screamed.
"April!" she hissed.
"What? It's true," I told her.
"Don't use such language in this house," she snapped. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Vivian, make me something that will cure this hangover," Daddy moaned.
"I've got a cure," I offered. "Two words. Sober up."
"That's enough April!" Daddy roared, standing up and placing his palms on the table. "I've had enough of this! April! I want you out! I've been thinking about this for a long time now, and I think that's it's best that you pack your things and get the hell out of here." Mother let out a bloodcurdling scream and crumbled to the floor.
"What?" I shreiked, standing up and meeting his eye level. "You heard me right. I want you out! And I want you out before the day is over," he snapped. Tears welled in my eyes, but I wasn't going to cry. I wasn't going to cry in front of him! He stared at me, and then I moved away, hobbling upstairs and slamming my door. I screamed, and my tears exploded onto my cheeks, my body shuddering with sobs. I ran over to my phone, ignoring the pain in my ankle, and dialed Jeff's number angrily.
"Hello?" Jeff asked curiously.
"Jeff!" I screeched. "Come and pick me up! I'm staying with you."
"For how long?" he asked, astonished at my anger.
"Forever!" I shouted, then slammed the phone down. I heard Mother sobbing heavily, and Daddy was yelling at her because she ws crying over something useless. I pressed my hands over my ears, and made noise so that I wouldn't hear them. Suddenly, I screamed, and the whole house went silent. I sat there, my breath heavy and short, and looked arond. I didn't want any of this. I just wanted my clothes, and things that were close to my heart.
I hobbled around the room, stuffing all of my clothes and shoes into a suitcase, and checking to see if there was anything that I wanted to take other than the things that were already packed. I looked over and saw a portrait of the family. I ran over to it, smashed the glass, the tiny shards flying everywhere. I picked up the picture, and ripped it into shreds, watching the photo paper waft to the ground. I realized that I had cut my finger, but I had ignore the stinging pain, and wobbled downstairs.
Daddy and Mother were still in the kitchen. Mother's eyes were bloodshot from crying, but when she set eyes on me, she burst out into tears. Daddy had to restrain himself from slapping her. I sat my things down and stared at the window and waited for Jeff's car to appear.
Mother stumbled over to me and wrapped her arms around me. "Please April, don't go, I don't want you to go. Stay!" She shouted, falling to the ground and crying. I shoved her off of me, which made her cry harder. Daddy and Iocked eyes for a moment, and he turned away.
"You know, I am the only daughter that you have, had, I should say," I said coldly to him, walking his way. "You'll be missing out on a lot."
"Oh believe me," he said with a short laugh. "I won't." My hand reacted instead of my mouth, and I slapped him across the face, hard. I had nearly punched him as tears came to my eyes. He stared down at me, and I heard the distinct honk of Jeff's horn. I spun quickly, almost losing balance because of my ankle, and marched out the door without saying goodbye. Jeff hurried out of the car and grabbed my suitcases and threw them into the trunk. I didn't look back. Tears clouded my eyes as I crawled into the car and slammed the door. I told myself I wasn't going to look back, but my brain deceived me and I looked back at the only house that I would always know.
The house that I had all of my birthday parties at. The house that once had a loving, caring family inside, all cozy and warm. The family that once held a seventeen year old girl, but now, was gone, driving away.
Tears slipped down my cheeks quickly, as I thought these things, things that I had remembered all of the things that had happened to me. Jeff looked over and flicked some tears from my cheeks, then kissed my cheek. I lay my head against the window, and sighed, wishing that things would be the way that they used to be, a long time ago.