Opposites attract

Family sinner

It was Friday evening and I was sitting at the dinner table having yet another family meeting. After I stormed out the other day, my parents hadn't stopped talking about my life and what I wanted. I appreciated the effort and I was trying to match their efforts as well.

Lately all I was doing was getting upset and making other people upset. I hadn't been myself recently and I needed to get back to normal before anyone else was hurt. That included me.

Tonight however, the main topic of the family meeting wasn't about my feelings, it was about the visit the police had made to our place yesterday evening. I had been expecting it so I knew exactly what I'd tell my parents.

"I was mad" I sighed, "he and his friends have done nothing but annoy me at school. I guess I just thought I'd do this one thing and no one would suspect me. I didn't think much about the repercussions". My lie actually sounded believable. Usually when I lied my voice broke and I couldn't keep eye contact, but with practice I managed to make myself sound clear and look them straight in the eyes.

"This is so unlike you Blakely! You broke the law! Do you understand that?!" Dad yelled.
"I do" I nodded keeping my eyes down.
"I don't know B, I can't believe you actually did this. I just can't" mom sighed.
"Well I did".

They looked at each other then back at me, "Did someone force you to take the blame? You can tell us, we won't let anything happen to you" dad said.

"Wha- no! Look, I know it's unlike me and unbelievable, I still can't believe I did it myself, but I did. And there's nothing I can do to make it better. I'll go apologize to Mrs Karamakof tomorrow and I'll use my allowance to pay for whatever needs to be paid for".

"That's not all" mom said, "if you're sticking with this story, which clearly you are, there needs to be a punishment".
"That's true" dad nodded, "hand over your phone".

I did as he asked immediately. I barely used it anyway. "And you're grounded" mom added.
It was obvious they had no idea how this worked because they kept looking at each other for confirmation, and they were making it all up on the spot.

I never really left the house either unless it was for school. All I'd be missing was coffee whenever I wanted which wasn't that big a deal.

"Ok" I nodded.
"And..." dad began, clearly trying to find something that'd actually be a punishment to me, "Emma isn't allowed to come over".

I wanted to tell them she wasn't even talking to me anyway. But they were getting closer and closer to something that would actually upset me, plus, I didn't feel like explaining why we weren't talking.

"Dang it" I sighed, "ok".
It was pretty obvious I was pretending to care, but they both were clearly out of ideas on how to punish me, they pretended not to notice.

"Now. About your living arrangement" mom began. I nodded and waited for her to continue. "Your father and I believe it'd be best for you to stay here with me. So much has been going on in your life, we just don't think moving homes is best for you right now".

"But maybe in the future..." dad said.
"Nothing's set in stone yet" mom cut him off.
I wasn't surprised. My mom usually got her way. When it was up to me I'd chosen to stay with mom anyway. It just seemed most practical.

"So where are you staying dad?" I asked.
Mom took a sip of her wine and looked down at her nails.
"Uh...I'm staying with-"
"Never mind. I got it" I nodded with a thin smile. Of course he was living with the woman he'd cheated on mom with. Of course.

I didn't understand where he'd expected me to live. With him and his girlfriend? Really?

After that none of us said anything. There was an awkward aura in the room. I kept my eyes on my food and picked at it carelessly.
"Blakely honey you need to eat that" mom said.
"I know" I murmured. "No I mean now, you didn't eat all day" she said firmly.

I frowned and looked up at her, "I had Oporto for lunch about 5 hours ago".
"Yeah well I'm not sure if it stayed in your stomach".
I raised my eyebrows and bit my lip so I wouldn't say something out of annoyance.

"Rebecca" dad mumbled placing his hand on moms arm. "Don't touch me Harold" she pulled her arm from under his, "Blakely you've lost at least 10 pounds in the last week!"
I frowned and held my hands up in confusion, "why are we talking about my weight now?"
"You haven't been eating".

"Mom what? This is so random!"
"No it's not Blakely! I'm not going to let you fall into dangerous patterns again just because you think my bringing it up is random!" She yelled.
"Rebecca!" Dad exclaimed.

"No, this family is broken!" She cried.
I stared at her unsure what to do, I was shocked to say the least.
"This family is broken because we don't talk about things! We're not honest! I didn't know you were seeing another woman until I walked in on you! I didn't know Blakely was capable of breaking the law until the police showed up at our doorstep! There's probably a lot more we don't know about her! I mean the anxiety is apparently back! What's to say the bulimia isn't?! What's to say I'm not going to loose my baby too then have no one because I didn't speak up!"

"Mom, that's not going to happen! I'm not going anywhere, and in another way, neither is dad" I said, "we will always be a family, that can't change". "Oh it already had Blakely! Don't you see?"
I frowned and shook my head, "it hasn't".
"Who really vandalized the Karamakoft's place?" She asked. It was clearly a test to prove a point.

"I did" I lied.
"See" she threw her hands in the air, "you're lying to me now, what's to say you're not lying about eating. I don't want you in hospital again Blakely". "I won't be in hospital again" I assured here, "I'm absolutely fine, I had a quarter pounder for lunch yesterday. Large fries and a Fanta too. Trust me, I'm eating".

She sighed and shook her head, "I just can't trust this family". I looked at dad who looked at mom. "That's my fault" he said, "I broke the trust. I started this horrible cycle of dishonesty in our family and for that I am so very sorry Rebecca".

Mom held onto the edge of the table and stared across at dad. If their was only one word to describe my family it would be BIPOLAR. We changed our minds more often than we changed our underwear, so I had a feeling mom would calm down.

"Get out of my house Harold, don't set foot in here ever again". I was wrong.
"Mom" I frowned.
"Go!" She yelled.
It was obvious she wasn't mad at dad. She was mad at me for all the lies I'd told but was letting it out on dad.

"Rebec-"
"GO!" I flinched at the sound of her voice. The last time I'd heard her yell like that was when I was 8 and I got her face cream all through her expensive handbag, and even that wasn't as Fierce as this.

I hadn't seen her mad at dad yet. I'd seen her upset, but not mad, I figured this was it.
I wanted to tell her she was being ridiculous but in all fairness she had every right to be mad. I looked at dad apologetically.

"Do you want me to leave?" He asked me. I opened my mouth unsure what I was actually going to say. "It doesn't matter! I want you to leave!" Mom screamed standing up, "get out! GET OUT!"

Now I was  scared. I stood up as well and looked between my mom and dad with wide shocked eyes. How had this escalated so quickly?

Dad slowly stood up and stepped around the chair. I walked with him to the front door.
"You sure you don't want to come with me? Your mother can be a little frightening when she gets like this" he offered when we were out of earshot of mom.

"No, I'll be fine" I said folding my arms.
He nodded then stepped out of the house. For some reason this felt more like a goodbye than any of the other times he'd left. Maybe because we both knew I was staying here and he wasn't welcome back, or possibly because I clearly preferred staying here.

"I'll see you later Blakely" he sighed.
"You will" I agreed before he turned around and walked to his car. I slowly shut the door behind him. I slowly shut the door behind my dad. I felt my heart breaking all over again. I just missed my family.