VIII. Half Answers

Cara

AS EXPECTED, the door was unlocked. In fact he had left it half way open as if he was expecting somebody, probably me. I went right in. The house was cold. Dad must have left a window open overnight.

I heard someone talking ... shouting.

" As I have told you before, she has been missing for nearly 18 hours...don't you think I would have called her by now if she had it...yes, I filed the fucking report," the shouting was coming from the kitchen. " Yesterday in the evening at around six thirty..."

Going into the kitchen I found my father standing by the counter, a landline in his hand. He had a look of worry mixed in with annoyance on his face …with a hint of desperation.

All this time I was 'missing' I had never really thought about what effect it would have on my father. As I stood there watching him on the phone - with the police probably - , I remember just how much he loved and cared about me.

I should go missing more often.

He didn't see me till I spoke." Dad..."

The phone slipped off his hand with the person on the other side of the call still talking, landing on the kitchen counter. Dad stared at me as if I were not real, just a mirage.

"Cara?" I smiled at him in response. Wasting no time he ran to me and hugged me tightly, making sure I was real and not a phantom of his imagination. "Oh my God..."

Dad was never really an emotional person but I saw tears in his eyes as he looked at me.

He scanned me up and down then hugged me again. "Where have you been? I have been worried sick...I went to search for you but I didn't find you....Oh God...I should have just told you about the letter and..."

"Dad. I'm fine." We stood there for nearly ten minutes, with him hugging me warmly. I felt sad that I put him through all that. As far as I could tell from the bags under his that were so thick they formed little hammocks, he had not slept all night.

He made me sit on the couch and explain what happened and why I was in different clothing.All I wanted to talk about was the letter and why he had been lying to me for all these years.

"...I passed out in the woods but was rescued and woke up in someone's house. They called a doctor and fed me. There. Nothing too bad happened" I left out the part about the wolves.

"Now you have to tell me the truth. You can't keep lying to me. I am eighteen years old and I deserve to know the truth," I told him sternly. I had never been so stern with him. He was usually the stern one.

He pursed his lips and moved to sit next to me on the couch. He was tense. It was clear.

"Your mother loved you, Cara. She still does very much. But something happened. Something that changed her. It changed her in many ways...ways we didn't understand. But it put us in danger. It puts you in danger. She had to leave." I listen, my heart breaking with each word he uttered.

He continued," Cara, she didn't want to... but she had to leave, for your sake. With the help of a few others... she went to the only place where she could get help...in greenland. Now she's in Europe. "

"What was wrong with her? Before, you said she was sick."

"This was not something treatable but it wasn't fatal...Not at all. Cara...all I can tell you is that she wants to see you. I kept that for you to protect you. My job is to protect you, Cara."

"Protect me by lying to me. That is not how you protect someone, dad."

"I know. I didn't know what else to do...if you'd like, I can tell her you want to see her..." I saw the sincerity in his eyes.

"I'd like that very much. But not right now"

I decided to trust in him. After all, he was my dad and he had been there when she wasn't. He had been both parents to me for many years, filling the void my mother had left and that was nothing I could never repay.

Things were good now...but the issue remained unresolved.

I still had no idea what happened years ago that caused my mother to leave like that but for now I knew enough and just had to trust in the future to give the other half of the answers.

Half answers were ok. For now.

***

Careful not to hit anything behind me, I parked my car in my usual spot. Still I had not found the student's parking lot but no one was parking there so it would have to do for now.

As I walked up the stairs leading up to the school's main entrance, I saw Alice. She was casually leaning on the wall with a blank expression on her face.

"Hey," I greeted.

" Where were you yesterday?" That was the first thing she said.

"Long story. I'll tell you later. For now, we have a homeroom."

After homeroom Alice wanted to hear my excuse but we had to go to the History class. A.P History was the furthest class from where we were so we had to hurry if we were gonna make it. Or else we'd be caught by the tadie sweep and end up in detention.

We are early enough. Everyone was still laughing around. Connor was sitting on a desk talking to his friends with a football in his hands. Typical of jocks.

"Cara! You're here! I didn't see you yesterday...we'll talk about your punishment for skipping school later...anyway. I have been wanting t-" he trailed off staring at the direction of the door. He pushed me to sit down and I knew the teacher had walked in.

It was still the same substitute as last time. And just like last time, all the girls were disappointed.

***

After classes, there were lacrosse try-outs. Since I was absent the previous day, Alice did not get the chance to teach me the works  as she had promised. Now I was going in completely unprepared. I was lucky if the ball didn't hit me right in the face. Thank God for helmets.

"Next!" The coach's rough voice rang through my ears, startling me. He then blew his whistle loud enough to cause a ringing in my ears.

Shit, I'm next.

Tightening my grip on the short-stick, I prepared to throw the ball. This was an essential part of try-outs. Thirty percent; showing up, Thirty percent; throwing , twenty percent; Goalkeeping , ten percent; running and ten percent; not pissing off Coach Dunly.

With a deep breath, I gathered all my force and swung the stick at a good angle, catapulting the ball across ten feet distance between me and goalie. It went right past him, hitting the net with strong force.

"A beautiful hit from..." Coach Dunly paused trying to remember my name, "Matthews. Next!"

I moved out of the way, allowing the girl behind me to take the shot. Sadly, she didn't have as much luck.

The rest of the try-outs went fine. I like to do ok. Alice even clapped and cheered for me from the bleachers. She was very supportive and had become a good friend even after only three days.

***

The radio was blasting DJ Snake's Taki Taki as I drove up the driveway and into the garage.

It was already six o'clock. Try-outs had taken longer than I expected. Coach Dunly had insisted that we all remain behind till the very end. Something about 'moving as a team' . Now I just wanted to get home, change and play Fortnite on my PlayStation till midnight.

The car came to a halt. I grabbed my keys, phone and bag. I

As I went up the steps to the front porch, I was surprised to see someone staring by the door, staring right at me, someone I never expected to see again.

"Ivan?"