Skeletons Are Out Of The Closet

The rest of the day flew by like a whirlwind romance and the darkest of the nights came, so did the tumbling questions in my head.

"Mom," I called out, we had just finished dinner and grandma Sadie already retired for the night.

"Yes baby," She replied, typing something on her cellphone.

Since we arrived here, I just realised I didn't have my phone. I must have left it in our old house or mom's car. Calling dibs on her car.

I walked towards the chair she sat on, taking a seat next to her.

"Mom, what happened to grandpa?" I whispered. She looked at me with widened eyes.

"Your grandpa is fine, what do you mean?" She retorted smartly. Way to go mom.

"Not grandpa Harry ma, what about your dad? You've never spoken about him, why?" I questioned, staring at her panicked state. She was probably thinking of some excuse to protect me from the truth.

"Baby, there's a reason we don't speak about him, please don't fight me on this."

"Are we back to keeping secrets ma? No more secrets, remember?"

"I know I promised Debby, but this is different. This isn't about me,"

"I know it isn't about you, it's about my grandfather ma, I have the right to know about him. Where is he?"

"He's dead. Happy?" She said, turning tables against me.

"No, mom, I'm not happy and do you know why?" I continued, taking her silence as a go ahead, "Because he died for me. He died because of me mom, and you still think I don't have the right to know things in my own family, mom?" I choked on a sob, the reality of what happened hit me like a truck.

A bright light flashed on mom's face, that was definitely her phone though. Her demeanour changed, she looked like a deer that had been caught in headlight. Surprise and hurt flickered in her eyes, telling me exactly what I needed to know.

"Who told you?" She whispered under her breath.

"The only family member that regards me as a significant member of this family, Uncle Jonah"

"I'm-"

"Sorry, I know.  That's what you were gonna say, right? But mom, the truth is — you aren't sorry, how long do you plan on keeping things from me, ma? You lied to me mom!" I yelled, my heart wrenched at her betrayal.

"I didn't exactly lied to you baby, you-"

I cut her off, "Lying and deliberately omitting the truth is exactly the same thing, what's the difference between tomáto, tomato?"

"Baby, I don't know what to say to you, but I'm sorry. Do you how hard it was on all of us, Debby? It was terrible but that was papa's choice. We didn't have any say in it, we just went along with it, believe me baby," She wept, I moved closer to her and wiped her tears with the sleeve of my pyjamas shirt.

There was no point in beating around the bush anymore, the cat had been let out of the bag, "It's okay, I understand but what is not okay is the fact that we came back to the place you were trying to  get away from. It's confusing ma," I said to her.

"I see Jonah has told you a lot more than you need to know, of course, he's a loudmouth,"

"And genuine." I finished off.

"Fine. What do you wanna know?" She said, letting out a sigh.

I smirked mentally, "Why are we here?"

"You want the truth?" She stared at me.

"Nothing but the truth." I replied matching her gaze.

"I was afraid okay, don't blame me. I thought that if you grew up here, someday you'd want out and . . . you may not think it through before you leave. I just didn't want to lose you, I've lost three of my friends to those deadly doors, I didn't want the same thing to happen to you,"

"Okay, you lost me. How's that got to do with the reason why we're here mom?" I questioned.

She paused, taking a deep breath, "As a daughter of this town, there are some rituals you must partake in, if not done, you might lose your life."

"What!" I shouted, shock written all over my face. "But I'm not a daughter of this town, you are. What's going on mom? And one more thing, I'll never partake in any diabolical thing, I'm a Christian ma, you are too."

"Baby, I birthed you which automatically makes you a daughter of this town, and, you don't need to perform any ritual, it's done already,"

"What do you mean?" I whispered, sitting upright. 

"When a girl reaches the ripe age of 15, it's important she meets her mother which you did."

I stared at her in confusion, focusing calmly on the mother part because it was causing a serious misconception in my head, "You adopted me? Mom?"

"No, I brought you into this world baby, I meant the town. Once a girl clocks 15, she must visit the town square, it's the same area as your school and the library and you've been there. See, it's nothing hard." She replied.

"But I'm 16," I retorted.

"It doesn't matter, the maximum is 20 years old and you aren't 20 yet."

"Okay," I said to her, but I couldn't push the doubts I had in my head. What if there was more to it and mom didn't have any idea?

It was absurd and unimportant but I let it go.

"So, how was school today?" Mom said, changing the subject. It was a total 180° turn.

"It was okay, I made a friend," I answered.

Mom laughed aloud, "You've got to be kidding me, you really made a friend on your first day Debby?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yup!" I popped out the 'p'

"I'm proud of you baby! Was she good to you?" She asked worriedly. Ha! Like anyone could pick on Debby Waters.

"He's a he mom, and he's pretty nice. He's kinda nerdish too,"

"That's nice. Hopefully, he treats you better," She said, making emphasis on the 'he'

"Cut it mom, I don't have a crush on him, neither does he. Goodness sake! We met hours ago."

"Cupid can work his magic in a matter of seconds honey," She teased.

"Love is not on my list, especially after witnessing your divorce." Mom went silent, hurt flashed in her eyes, "I'm so sorry, that was insensitive of me, I didn't mean it that way." I rushed the words out.

"You don't have to apologise, you're right and wrong too. Just because your dad and I had a fallout doesn't mean you have to lock up your heart baby, you need to open this heart" She whispered, poking my chest.

"I threw the key into the pacific ocean mom," I joked.

"Go get it, who knows — you might meet a diver," She chuckled.

"A diver? Really mom?" I laughed.

She shrugged her shoulder, "What? One of my exes is a diver,"

"Oooh," I cooed. "Why am I just learning of this now?" I chuckled.

"Because you've never asked," She replied wittily.

"Um . . ." I pretended to think, "I wonder if grandma Sadie knows about it,"

"Oh, she does honey, she does," She said, her eyes stary and her lips curved into a smile at the memory.

"I gotta go mom, I just remembered somebody enrolled me into a school," I said, emphasising 'somebody'.

"Yea, I know. Me and you love me. Night honey, don't let the bed bugs bite,"

"Really mom? Really?" I said in a sarcastic manner.

"By the way, I have your phone-"

I stood up in a hurry, I grabbed her hands and pecked each one, "Oh, thank you thank y-" I said in excitement before mom cut me off.

"But — you only get it when you introduce your nameless friend to me,"

"He has a name mom," I rolled my eyes at her childish behaviour.

"What is it? Mr I Don't Know Who I Am? You didn't tell me Debby,"

"You never asked," I replied smartly, throwing her words back at her.

She scoffed, "Fine, what's the mystery man's name?"

"Seb. Sebastian."

"Sebastian, fancy!" She giggled.

"Yes mom, I'll introduce him to you and get my phone back. Goodnight." I said, kissing her forehead. I made my way for my temporary bedroom, yikes.