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5
Four
Marta knockson my door promptly at five. Dinner is ready, and my parents are waiting.
I’ve spent the last few hours rehearsing what I plan to say to my parents’ guests this weekend. People are going to ask how I am, who the adorable little girl beside me is, and, most importantly, where my husband is. It’s not because they’re nosy, it’s because that’s what people around here do when you disappear for so long.
They inquire about your life.
Most of the time it’s a genuine interest in what you’ve been up to. Other times it’s so they can compare what they’ve done or share their life story. No matter what, my life will be portrayed as flawless thanks to my parents’ diligence over the years.
They’ve developed my life story over the years, dropping hints and clues to friends as people have asked about me.
I work and live in Denver. I’m an event manager for the University of Colorado. The only truths amongst all the lies.
I’m a single mother because I lost my husband in a car accident. It happened right before Lola was born. With Lola in preschool, I don’t visit often because I don’t want to disrupt her schedule.
Now that… that is the biggest lie of them all in my opinion. I could visit every weekend if I wanted to. It’s only a four-hour drive without traffic.
The truth coming out would destroy my parents. Their reputation is everything to them. They’ve fabricated lie after lie over the years to keep up appearances when it comes to me. Had they told the truth, that I had a child out of wedlock, I’m sure they felt they would have been judged. Knowing the circle they tend to associate with, they very well may have, but on the other hand, who knows.
On one hand, I don’t blame them for lying. They still live here, they still see the same people every day. The reputation of the ranch was at stake in a way.
On the other, I think it’s all bullshit that I have to keep lying at this point. Lola is four years old. One day I’m going to tell her the truth, that her father’s still alive, and she’s going to hate me for lying. She’s going to want a relationship with him.
That’ll be the day I break and tell my parents to go to hell. It won’t be this weekend, though. This weekend is about my mother, not me.
“No one needs toknow about any of this, Chloe Grace. Do you understand,” my father said as he handed me my suitcase and a set of keys to the apartment.
“Who am I supposed to tell? You took my phone.”
“That’s exactly why I took it. You’ll have a replacement tomorrow. For now, get comfortable. Your mother and I will be by in the morning.”
With that, he walked out the door and closed it behind him. I was officially alone.
Wyatt was four hours away, probably wondering where I went and what my note meant.
My parents are shacked up at the hotel downtown.
Me? I’m staring at an empty three-bedroom apartment. I have the clothes on my back, a suitcase Carmen packed for me, and an air mattress still in the box, waiting to be inflated.
I get to work setting myself up for the night so I can attempt to sleep. It won’t come easily, if at all. My dreams will be nightmares. Those same nightmares will become my reality when I open my eyes in the morning.
Lying on the air mattress, my mind is on one thing and one thing only.
Wyatt.
I need to call him, talk to him, and explain what’s going on. He deserves to know I’m pregnant. He needs to know this wasn’t my decision, that my parents forced me into the car and brought me here. He’ll never forgive me if he thinks I left him.
Locking the door behind me, I set out to find a phone I can use. I need to call him tonight. The longer I wait, the harder it’ll be to tell him.
I walk six blocks before I find a bar with a pay phone. When cell phones became a household staple, the pay phone became obsolete apparently. I found one a few blocks back, but it didn’t work.
The operator is not sympathetic to my situation. I don’t have a number to give her to place a collect call. She’s not willing to locate a number, and by the time she hangs up on me, I’m screaming into the phone, begging her to help me.
Is no one on my side?
Am I all alone in this world right now?
