Aileen
I always knew he was a dickhead, but did he really have to as far as compare the two of them when their age gap is so big? He’s really the most inconsiderate person on earth!
“How could”Before I could say anything, hearing his words, Mom clutched onto her purse and ran past us in a hurry in the other direction.
“Mom! Where are you going? Wait!” I yelled but she didn’t wait for me.
“She couldn’t accept the truth and ran away. That’s just like her,” Dad comments with a chuckle. “Cowards never change over time. They stay the same.”
I fisted my hands and turned to him, “I don’t have time to argue with you. But, I’m not sorry to say that you are an absolute piece of shit on the face of this earth. Mom never deserved a guy like you. You bastard!”
The next second, I ran after Momm without looking back at them. Then I searched for Mom. Where did she go?
I saw her heading in this direction. I ran for a few minutes but couldn’t find her anywhere. I also looked in some other places but found no signs of her.
I took out my phone and dialed her number, but she didn’t pick up. I called her while running frantically all over the place, but in the end, her phone was switched off.
God, why did he have to hurt her like that? And why did she have to be hurt by the words of a man like him? He doesn’t deserve to say mean things to her.
Everything was going well the whole day, and he had to ruin it like this. He’s really the worst! I hope we never see each other again.
“Mom! Please come out! Mom! I’m begging you!” I yelled, examining every place I could. But, the sky had become dark and among the crowd of people, it was impossible to find anyone.
To catch my breath, I stopped running and bought a drink to quench my thirst.
My head was starting to get dizzy from all the running I did. How long had it been since I ran like this? I’m so sweaty.
I gulped down the drink in one go and leaned against the bench behind me while roaming my eyes all over the place.
Just come out already! Don’t listen to the words of that bastard.
All of Dave’s efforts went into vain all because of him. I’ll never forgive him. Next time, I won’t be using my mouth, I’ll be using my fists if he comes across us.
Standing here won’t do any good. I should ask people around, or should I call Dave? But, she might be in the theme park, should I really worry him by calling him like this?
I’m confused!
I took out my phone, and was just about to dial his number, but stopped and decided to ask around people using my mom’s picture.
But mostly none of them could help. Just when I was about to lose hope, someone said they saw a woman like that sitting all by herself near the pond beside the boat ride.
I thanked her and headed towards the pond. It took me ten minutes to get there. After arriving, I searched for her. There were hardly any people there at this time, and because of how dark the place was, I could hardly see anything.
Still, I proceeded with hope in my heart. I walked past the bunch of trees and found a sitting area with a bench. And a figure was sitting there in the dark. It was a few feet away from the pond.
Is that, Mom?
I tiptoed towards her without making her notice. When I stood right behind her, I could see a glimpse of her face. It was Mom.
She looked sad and was just staring at the water with an empty gaze.
I heaved a sigh and went over to her side to sit beside her.
She glanced at me the next second, and looked away, wiping down her tears sneakily.
“How did you manage to find me?” she whispered, about to get up. But, I pulled her by the hand, stopping her in place.
“Sit down.” I pleaded.
She looked at me and sat down the very minute without resisting further.
We sat in silence for a few minutes before she spoke up.
“You didn’t have to come find me. I was going to head back in a few minutes.”
“Yeah, I know that.”
“Then, why did you come for me?” she retorted, which sounded like a cry for help.
“Because I was worried for you. I knew you were hurting and crying all by yourself and probably didn’t want me to see that. That’s why you left and also didn’t pick up my calls.”
“I’m fine”
“No, you are not, And you know that better than anyone,” I replied, holding her by the hand.
“Just leave me alone,” she bursts into tears which spill down her cheeks, as she covers her face the very minute. “You don’t need to see me like this. I look ugly, I don’t want to see anyone. Just go away.”
“You are never ugly in my eyes. You are perfect to me!” I stated with confidence, but that didn’t seem to be working on her.
“No, I’m not perfect. Don’t fake it! Peter was right. I’m old, I’m not as beautiful as her. That’s the reason he left us, he was tired of me, tired of my aging face and body. Everything was destroyed because of me, our family, everything!”
“No! That’s not”
“Yes, that’s the truth. No matter how much you deny,” she sobbed, wiping down her tears with the sleeves of her shirt. “I’m sorry you were raised in a broken family because of me. I should’ve tried hard, but I didn’t. I’m sorry.”
At that moment, I just wanted to yell out she was wrong. But, she’s deadest on blaming herself for everything happening.
“You had tried enough to keep the family together even before my birth right? Then, why do you have to blame yourself and not him?”
She glanced at me the very minute, looking a bit surprised.
“Isn’t that the truth? You never wanted the family to be broken. That’s why you stayed with that man for so long before divorcing him. You were the one who suffered in the marriage for many years. So, don’t blame yourself for anything. You don’t deserve it.”
She looked away, her eyes lowered at her hands. “Still…. I just can’t seem to forgive myself to this day. All I ever wanted was for us to be together. But, things didn’t work out as planned. There’s this heavy burden on my chest which I can’t seem to get off no matter what.”
I rested my head on her shoulder, placing my hand on top of hers.
“Women sacrifice so much into a marriage, and yet their efforts go unnoticed just like yours. You loved your family so much, but Dad never saw it or appreciated it. He’s really a scum. Don’t take his words to heart, I’m telling you.”
“To me, you are the best Mom ever. You deserve the best in the world!”
She breaks into a smile, resting her head against mine.
“You’ve been calling him bad just to make me feel better, aren’t you?”
“Nope, he’s bad, down bad. I’m not saying anything to make you feel better. And what’s even the point of it? He was the mistake in your life, the past you have left behind, don’t let him ruin your present or future anymore.”
“Thank you, Aileen. I really appreciate you here with you. If you weren’t with me today earlier then I would’ve been blaming myself all along.”
“Why blame yourself when it’s not your fault?” I asked. “He keeps insulting you whenever he gets the chance to. Why do you never fight back against him? You should respond to him with words just like he does. It’s not fair to be bullied all your life when he had abused you so much also.”
“It’s just…. whenever I think that he’s the person whom I had once loved before, it pains me to think about hurting him. Yeah, we may be on bad terms, but we once promised to love each other in sickness, and health. He may have broken that oath but I can’t seem to shake it off.”
I raised my head from her shoulder and got up from the bench to look at her while standing from a close distance.
“Why are you so weak-minded?” I yelled, clenching my fists tightly. “He has abandoned you long ago and isn’t looking back at you or your family. Then, why keep him buried in a corner of your heart? It’s practically a sickness at this point. You need to be treated.”
Mom smiled and also got up. She reached out her hand to caress my face. “I understand you are mad at me. And I feel happy to see that as well. Thanks for getting for me when I couldn’t. I’ll not think about him anymore. Don’t worry.”
“You promise?”
She nodded. “Promise, pinky promise.”
“That’s…. good. And if I see you self-loathing anymore, no one will be more bad than me, alright?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“We’ve wasted so much time because of that man. How are we going to make up for that?” I asked.
“Hm…. maybe we should get on the ferry’s wheel before going home. That’ll cheer you up, right?” she suggested.
I nodded. “That was the plan all along. Only he ruined it. Anyway, let’s go. Or else the park is going to close down.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
In my whole life, I’ve never seen you angry or irritated. And yet I kept asking you why you never got mad at him. I’m really stupid. Why does he take your kindness for your weakness? You aren’t weak, are you?