Home Calling (girlxgirl) ON HOLD

Chapter 2

Catherine inhaled heavily, bracing herself for the rush of memories that will inevitably wash over her. Pushing the rusty fence with some force, she walked hesitantly towards the front porch. The wooden planks screeched under her heavy boots. Catherine wiped the dust off the window with her sleeve, peering inside. She couldn't see much, but it was enough to notice that the place was abandoned.

Of course it is, she thought to herself. They are gone. Two years ago, Catherine received a letter from the lawyer saying that her father passed away and that she was the only successor. The house was her father's family heritage, and he passed it on to her. Why not mom? Whatever happened to the butcher shop?  The raven haired girl pondered on these things for the past two years.

Catherine didn't want anything from her father. She had cut all the connections with them for a reason. But being back she was half-expecting to see her father's scowling figure, sitting in his armchair and drinking cheap beer. More realistically she did kind of expected to see her mother inside, and was actually surprised that the house was completely abandoned. She never forbade her mother from living here.  

Catherine clenched her teeth hard thinking of her mother, of her father, of how life turned out to be. Despite being horrible, mean drunk, he was still her dad, a person who was half responsible for her being in this world. The lawyer wrote in the letter that he died from cirrhosis, an irreversible liver damage caused by excessive alcohol consumption. He was probably buried at the town cemetery. Catherine wasn't sure.

And mom, where is she? Catherine closed her eyes briefly, remembering the image of her mother's round figure, thin mousy hair that was always clipped at the back of her head, almond shaped light brown eyes, and her smile. Her smile was probably the only thing that was truly beautiful about her mom. She was often laughing or childlike grinning at some stupid thing, like a gossip magazine, or cheap comedy.

Catherine didn't like her smile or her laughter though. It only showed her how shallow, simple minded her mom was. Catherine remembered how she always tried to engage Catherine in the latest stupid gossip from the burger joint where she worked as a waitress. She disliked her parents, but that didn't mean she wished them bad things.

How did life turn out this way?

The raven haired girl suddenly felt tears prickle in the corner of her eyes. Soldiers are not supposed to cry. She bit her lip hard, almost drawing blood. It was futile, the tears escaped her eyes, streaming down her face, not finishing their trail completely as Catherine wiped them away forcefully.

Sniffling quietly, she fished in her pocket for the key. She kept it in the envelope with the lawyer's letter all this time, buried deep inside her drawer until the last week when she received the unpleasant news.

Sergeant Summers, you got assigned to Fort Milton. You are starting next month. The place started running just recently and they are in the dire need of skilled staff. You will be charge of basic skills training. I expect the best of my sergeant... she recalled the words of her superior.

And as luck would have it freaking Fort Milton was only 10 km away from Carlinton, her hometown. Sure Catherine could have probably found housing at the military base. But, she wanted her own place for a while now, nothing too fancy, maybe some small apartment close to the base she would be stationed at. Well, she only didn't expect it to be so close to Carlinton.

So she decided she'd go back to her dreaded house, see what condition it is in and try to find a real estate agent to sell the damned place. That way she could afford herself an apartment, and she decided she'd buy herself a car for the money she saved up on the side. She thought she had it all planned, but somehow in this moment, standing in front of her home and being overwhelmed with unpleasant memories, she couldn't escape the thought that all of this was a terrible idea.

Mustering her strength, she turned the key in the lock, and pushed the door open. Welcomed by the stale odor of decay, dust, and rotten food, she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Leaving the door ajar, she stepped in and left her bag on the floor. The wooden floor creaked under her footsteps. Some of the furniture was covered by the white sheets, clusters of dust and dirt everywhere.

Shit, I will even have to clean this fucking place, Catherine scowled in disgust. Running her finger over the old, uneven table her father loved to lean his legs on, she raised it to her eyes to see it coated in greyish sticky dust.

She went to the kitchen that looked just as dusty and dirty as the rest. She tried running the tap, and after some crackling sounds, brownish water started running. Leaving it on for the water to cleanse, she started opening the cupboards looking for the source of the unpleasant smell of decay. Finding nothing but the dust and some moth nests in the cupboards, she opened the unplugged fridge, only to be hit with the smell of rotten food. She swallowed hard, fighting off the bile that started to rise in her throat.

There was some rotten meat and lettuce in there. Shuffling through the cabinets she found a garbage bag and she quickly swapped the rotten food inside. She closed the tap and went to dump the garbage in the front of the door.

 "Home sweet fucking home." she muttered to herself, as she locked the door. Picking up her bag she directed herself upstairs. Second door to the left. She remembered it well, her room. Pushing the door hesitantly she stepped in her old room.

Everything looked as she remembered it, not that she had a lot of memorable things in here. Everything she cared about she packed in her one bag when she ran away. The walls were bare and even greyer than she remembered. The old dresser was still in the corner, probably empty. Beside it, her single bed was bare of the bedclothes. The mattress looked old and unclean.

I have to get myself a new mattress, she mentally checked it off of her list. Despite not planning to stay here longer than a month, tops two, she wanted to sleep in a comfortable bed. For tonight though this will have to do, she thought to herself. She could suffer one night on a dirty mattress, after all she had to do much worse things in the past five years.

With much effort she opened the jammed window to let some air in. The air smelled like rain, humid and heavy. Catherine propped her elbows on the window sill looking at the house besides. Emily. She remembered the bright green eyes, the freckles, the childish smile resonating with innocence.

Catherine thought of her little friend. What happened to her? Was she still living here? Would she even recognize me? The lights in her neighbors' downstairs were on indicating that someone was still living there.

Catherine suddenly felt so tired, so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open. The events of the day have strained her so much that all she wanted was to sleep and hope all of this was just a nightmare. She trudged towards the bed and after hitting it hard a couple of times to drive at least some dust away, she plopped on it. Laying her head on her bag she fell into restless sleep.