Chapter 9
Roy had thought that he had won the argument. She had slowly clambered up the stairs. Once she reached the top, she turned around to face her father. "Give me fifteen minutes and I'll no longer be living under your roof." She did not wait for a response. Her body spun around and she went back to walking to her room. Tears poured from her eyes but she refused to make a sound. She refused to give that satisfaction to her father.
He looked up to the now empty space atop of the stairs. Was she this foolish to walk out on her family for a job. He had hoped that he would have raised her better. He sighed and let his shoulders slump. He didn't want another confrontation. He just wanted solitude which he knew could only be found in his den.
He sat down at his desk, his fingers massaging his temples trying to make the aches and pains dissipate. He couldn't believe that those he had once considered family were nothing but liars. While he was busy processing the last hour or so, his daughter spent what she was sure would be her last fifteen minutes in her childhood home.
She took a family picture down from her desk. It was in a purple picture frame of Joanne, Roy, Chris, and Jennifer at Disneyland. She remembered the fun that the whole family had. She placed the picture face down on the desk. She didn't want a painful reminder of what her family once was. But, she took her picture of her and Chris in a firetruck with their helmets falling over their eyes. She knew that regardless of what was happening between her dad and herself, Chris would always support and care about her. She tried to remind herself that she was not losing all of her family. She just wished she could have said goodbye to her mother. This was not how Jennifer dreamed her move out from her parent's house would be.
She got up and realized she had wasted five minutes while reminiscing. She went to her closet and pulled out two suitcases and a duffle bag. Her bookbag was already packed with her necessities for the academy. The bags were thrown on the bed and then opened up. She tried to fit as much as she could in the little space that she had. She didn't bother folding most of her stuff, nor did she bother cleaning up the whirlwind mess. There were opened drawers, clothes hangers, and clothes strewn about the room. She tucked the firetruck picture in her book bag and determined she was finished. Not just with packing, but with this home and family.
She threw the duffel bag around her shoulder, put her backpack on and had a suitcase in hand. She went down the stairs and to the door. Her body and mind begged her to take one last look around, but her heart wouldn't let her. It would have killed her to do so. She set a suitcase down and opened the door and picked the suitcase up. She walked swiftly to her car and got in. She had a study group meeting with Linda and David and she would be damned if she missed it. She may have not have family, but she has a career and at this moment. That's all that mattered.