He turned to me, clearly angry. “Where’s your
mom? Where the hell did she disappear to?”
I said, crying, “Mom’s dead.”
He squinted at me, with his eyes narrowed to
slits, and smirked. “Dead? But her clothes are
still here? Her pictures are still up? Kid, come
on, you gotta try harder with the lies.”
“Dad loves Mom.”
That’s why everything was just like it was
when she was still alive.
My uncle scoffed, his face turning cold, “That
loser? What right does he have to keep things
as they were?”
I got angry at him. “Don’t talk about my dad
like that!”
My uncle suddenly scooped me up in his
<
arms, but I bit down hard on his shoulder,
demanding for him to put me down.
He ran downstairs and threw me into his car,
not caring how much I fought him.
He grabbed a wipe and scrubbed his hands
hard, like I was a piece of trash.
I was scared and furious. “I’m telling Dad! I’m
telling the cops!” I yelled.
He locked the doors. “I’m just taking my niece
for a visit. What law am I breaking? Even the
cops would say I’m in the right.”
“I don’t believe that cold–hearted snake
wouldn’t want anything to do with her own.
flesh and blood.”
My uncle took me to his house.
It was huge, with gardens and fountains, like
a palace from a TV show.
I cried the whole way there, and my uncle
seemed to feel bad about it, so he tried to
sweeten the deal for me. “This is where your
mom grew up. If you’re good, I’ll tell you all
about when she was a kid.”
I wiped my tears and nodded.
I was going to pretend to be good so I could
find a chance to call the cops.
My uncle took me to a lady. “Mom, this is
Sarah’s daughter. Having her here might be
just the push Sarah needs.”
く
So that was my grandma. She seemed nice at
first.
I said, “Grandma, can I call my dad…?”
Her face twisted. “Don’t call me that! I don’t have a daughter low enough to abandon her
family!”
“Keep her locked up! Don’t let Tiffany see
her, she can’t have kids, and it would hurt her
feelings.”
My uncle took me upstairs.
That’s when a lady in a wheelchair came out,
and I saw my grandma’s face light up like a
Christmas tree.
“Tiffany, how are you feeling today? Are you tired? Can I give you a massage?”
Her voice was so soft and sweet, not at all
like how she spoke to me.
She was Mom’s mom, too.
My nose started to burn.
