Chapter 24 Rebecca
REBECCA
Where am I supposed to go now?
I sit in my quickly cooling car with the engine shut off, staring at the house that I once called home.
My dad now wants nothing to do with me, and I have nowhere to go. My heart is breaking, not only because Dad can’t stand to look at me, but because Damian loves it here. He loves my parents so much, and Dad’s just throwing all that away.
I fully expected a big blowup, but kicking us out at Christmas? What was he thinking? I’m fearful of what I’m about to walk into. He could already be packing my things. I’m stunned I didn’t come home to my things thrown into the snow.
My only fear right now is that he’s taking this anger he has for me and directing it at Damian for no reason. He is innocent in all this. Hell, he doesn’t even know Steven is his father, let alone that we are together.
I like to take pride in the fact that we kept him in the dark about this whole mess. I’ve tried my hardest over the past four years to be the best mother I could be, and now we are homeless.
He doesn’t deserve this, and if I’m being honest, neither do I. I didn’t kill anyone or steal their money. I found love in someone who just so happens to be Dad’s best friend. It’s not the end of the world.
Although he may see it as the end of his world. I know he’s feeling betrayed, but this is ridiculous.
Sighing, I climb out of my car and rush toward the front door. I want to be the one to tell Damian, not him.
As I step inside, the house is eerily quiet, besides Damian’s little television he has in his room which is blasting music from a tape he’s put in to watch. I catch a glimpse of my tear-streaked makeup in the mirror hanging on the wall and huff as my sleeves aid me in wiping it clean.
I spot my mother in the kitchen, facing away from me as she stares out the little window above the sink. “Mom …” I say softly. “Where’s Dad?”
“He left. He says he’ll come home when you’re gone.” She turns to face me with red, puffy eyes, revealing to me that she’s also been crying.
My eyes drill into her. “Where am I supposed to go, Mom? It’s Christmastime … Everything is probably already fully booked. Are you going to make your daughter and grandson sleep in a car in the middle of winter?”
Mom huffs roughly and rests her back against the counter’s edge. “Becca, what do you want me to do?”
“Fight for me!” I nearly scream back at her. “Fight for us … He’s acting ridiculous.”
She shakes her head. “Try and think about how he feels. His own daughter and best friend fucked him over …” I’m in shock hearing her curse at me. In all my years, even when she severely burned her hand one time, she has never cursed. At least not around me.
“Becca, I love you,” she continues, lowering her eyes from mine. “I really do. But there’s no changing that man’s mind once it’s made. Damian is more than welcome to stay here until you get something else figured out, but—”
“Absolutely not,” I say, cutting her off. “If I leave, so does my son.” I feel my heart splitting in two. I thought for sure that my own mother would have my back …
“We have to leave?” The little voice that rings out behind me causes my heart to nearly stop. Damian …
Turning quickly, I kneel in front of him as his face droops with sadness. “Baby … I’m so sorry. Here, let’s go back to your room and talk.” With my hand on his shoulder, I steer him away from the kitchen, away from the woman I never imagined could be so heartless.
“But I don’t want to leave.” His voice drips with heartbreak, and it takes everything in me to keep the tears from flowing.
“I don’t want to either, but we don’t have a choice.”
He runs over and sits on his little dinosaur bed as I begin opening his dresser drawers to pull out his clothing. “How will Santa know where to find me?”
My eyebrows furrow as my face softens. “That’s the beauty of Santa. He’s magic. He’ll know exactly where to find us for Christmas.” I put down the clothes and sit in front of him on the floor. He throws his little arms around my neck and hugs me tightly.
How can I even begin to tell my four-year-old son that his grandparents are kicking us out? It pains me to see him so upset, but we don’t have another choice except to leave. He’s too young to understand, even if he is smart for his age.
This is a grown-up issue, and he doesn’t need to be pulled into it.
For the next two hours, I spend the time packing up our rooms and other belongings from the bathroom. It isn’t much, and I was able to get it all into a few trash bags and some extra boxes Mom had stored in the garage.
Seeing my entire life in a pile by the front door, it pains me to my core. My family is all I’ve ever had, and now, I’ve never felt so alone … so shunned.
Just as I’m about to start loading my things in the trunk of my car, my phone starts to ring, and I pull it out of my back pocket.
“Hey, Grandma. I can’t really talk right now,” I say as I hit the green answer button on my screen.
“That’s why I’m calling,” she replies in a short tone. “My son didn’t really kick you out, did he?”
Turning, I see my mother sitting at the table on her phone, and I assume that she’s the one who told her. “Unfortunately so. I’m actually about to load up my stuff in the car now, so can I—”
The phone goes silent before I can finish my sentence. Did she hang up on me? What the hell.
Somehow, this hurts worse than my father kicking me out of the house. My grandmother has been the closest thing to a friend in a long time.
“Mom,” I call out, but she doesn’t even look up from her phone. This is something I’m used to. The day she got her first smartphone was the last day anyone could hold her attention for more than a few minutes.
Although this time, I think she’s ignoring me on purpose. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t be able to look my child in the eye knowing that I did nothing to keep her home. I get that she is trying to support her husband, but I’m her kid …
I wouldn’t dream of putting a single soul in front of Damian. He always comes first in my eyes.
Sighing, I grab one of the boxes, and Damian follows me outside with a grocery bag full of his little action figures he insisted on keeping with him. I begin stacking the boxes beside the car until every piece of our stuff is out of that house.
“Hell no!” I hear a familiar voice yell, coming up the sidewalk. I let out a chuckle as I spot my grandmother in her house slippers and curlers in her hair, charging toward me. “You are not being put out on the street. What the hell was he thinking?”
“He found out about everything,” I say lightly as I don’t want Damian to know what’s going on. “And he totally lost it. He even punched Steven. Now, we are out on the street, and he won’t come home until we are gone.”
Her eyes shoot up to the glass door where my mother is now standing to watch, and my grandmother shakes her head. Mom lowers her eyes and steps out of view, knowing full well that what she’s allowing to happen is wrong.
This doesn’t stop her from marching up the sidewalk and straight into the house. Something inside makes me grab Damian and run after her to hear what’s about to happen.
“I don’t care what a child does. It doesn’t give a parent the right to do this. This is not how I raised him!” My grandmother yells at my mom as we come inside. “You don’t treat family like this! I mean … look at them, Camilla. You can’t …”
Something about her words gives me some strength back, something I felt leave my body the moment my father kicked me out. I do still have people who love me. Even if they don’t anymore.
“Marjorie …” My mom starts, but she can’t find the courage to yell back at her.
Grandma turns to me after laying into Mom. “And you aren’t being thrown out on the streets. You can come live with me.” She turns back to Mom again. “And you can tell Russell to take it up with me if he has a problem with it!”
I can’t help the smile that forms on my face as she walks over to me.
She goes to say something else, but the sound of a loud car horn blaring outside catches us off guard.
With confusion whirling through me, along with so many other crazy emotions, I look out the door to see Steven standing next to a large U-Haul truck.
“What the …” I say as I rush outside with Damian tucked by my side. I take in Steven’s bright smile and the goose egg on his jaw from the punch he took like a champ earlier. Laughter spills from me because I can’t control the emotions anymore.
“What are you doing here?” I ask. Grandma walks up next to me with her hands on her hips.
“He is handsome,” she whispers, and I nudge her with my elbow and laugh.
“I’m here because I can’t imagine you and Damian out on the street. So, if you accept, I’d like you to move in with me. There’s more than enough room for us all and your stuff.”
All I can do is stare at him as his offer circles my shambled brain. I know that it’s a little too soon for this, yet it doesn’t seem soon enough. Is this really a good idea?
Hell … my only other choice is with my grandmother. It’s not a bad option, but being with Steven, having our family together, is the best option for us. My eyes look to Grandma, as if seeking her approval, knowing that she just offered us her place to stay.
She smiles and nods. “You don’t need anyone’s permission. This is your chance at happiness … Take it!” I excitedly hug her, thanking her for showing up for me and supporting me all my life. She needs to know just how much I appreciate everything she’s done for me.
With her hand patting my back, I walk over to Steven. “Yes. I accept.” Damian runs up to Steven and hugs his leg, something that I’ll never get over seeing, and smiles up at him.
“We are coming to live with you?”
“Yes, if that’s okay with you,” Steven says, kneeling to his level. Damian hugs him roughly enough to almost knock him back on the sidewalk, and I laugh.
“I guess that’s a yes,” he grunts as he stands with Damian in his arms. Steven helps me load our stuff in the back of the small U-Haul, and once the door is closed, Damian and I load in the car to follow him home.
Our new home …
I know that eventually, I’ll have to tell Damian the truth about Steven being his father, but with everything so fresh, it’s going to take some time.
As I pull away from the house, I see my mother in my rearview mirror standing in the driveway. Her hands clutch her large sweater closed over her, and she is crying.
I know Mom doesn’t want this. She loved us being there. Seeing this kills me because I know deep down, she wishes she had fought for us to stay.
Having Damian there was her whole life, and now that’s gone.
It’s gone because I disrupted our life … because I screwed up.