The Next Generation: The Legacy (Book 3)

Chapter10 - Pain behind those closed doors ...

Chante

As expected, my roommate started by shouting at me the moment I picked up the phone. After finally giving me a chance to explain that it wasn’t her that I needed to be there for my mom, she broke down and cried. Another half an hour later, we hung up, and I could hear that she was already over it. I truly cared about her, but we had just grown apart since I went to college. We no longer wanted the same things. I had changed. I walked downstairs to grab a glass of water and found my mother crying in the living room.

“Hey, come on, mom. Are you okay?” I sat down beside her and pulled her into my arms as she sobbed. I knew about the financial pressure she was under at the moment. It was one of the reasons I wanted to stay with her. She couldn’t afford to pay for the house or any of the major bills. She had a job, but my dad used to pay most of the bigger bills.

His salary had been suspended while he was locked up. If he was found guilty, she would lose everything. I knew that she was clinging to hope. She still hoped that the man she thought she knew and loved didn’t do the things he had been accused of. I knew better. I called it my gut instinct. My dad was guilty. Too many things just didn’t add up about his stories, which was why I hadn’t gone to see him. I would hate to look into his eyes and see him lying.

“Come on, let's get some tea.” I got up, and she sighed deeply, making me stop and turn around.

“We don’t have tea. Actually, the food I gave you earlier was the last of the food.” My mom looked ashamed and broken and I gaped.

“What?!” I stormed into the kitchen and opened the cupboards to find that she was telling the truth. There was no food in the house! “Momma! Why didn’t you tell me?!” I was shocked. How long had she been going through this? Why didn’t she tell me?

“First, I thought your father would be back soon, and then they refused his bail and now his salary is suspended. Everything just piled up on me at once. I had hoped it would be sorted out by now. I didn’t think I would ever be in this position.” She shrugged, wiping her tears away, and I pulled her into a hug.

“Okay, let's get dressed. We can go to the store and I will get us some food. I’m living here now, so I will take over some of the bills, but we seriously have to talk about selling the house. I won’t be able to afford this place.” I had already spoken to her about selling. I told her we should sell right after my father was arrested, but my mother thought I was saying that because I was angry at him. She also thought I moved out because I was angry at him, and although there was some truth in it, that wasn’t the only reason.

We didn’t need the enormous house anymore. We could live in a small two-bedroomed apartment. If we moved out of suburbia and into the city, it would be much easier for both of us to get to work and back. I spoke to her about the positives all the way to the store and I could see that she still didn’t see it. We got what we needed to ty us over for a couple of weeks and made our way home. I could see that my mother felt guilty about what was happening, and it broke my heart.

“Mom, I would have bought all of this for the apartment, so there is no reason to feel guilty about any of it. I should have asked you before I came if there was anything you needed.” I hugged her in between packing away the food and asked if she would mind starting breakfast while I took a shower. It felt good to be home with my mom and to be able to help her, but she seriously had to think about selling the house.

After breakfast, we went for a walk and when we returned, she wanted to take a nap. I made myself comfortable on the couch and flipped through the channels. It felt odd to be at home and just have nothing to do. It felt strange that I didn’t have to jump up and run somewhere. I kept looking at my phone as if I was going to be called into work or some officer was going to shout at me for being late.

Four days at home with nothing to do was incredibly strange!

Freddie

After dinner at Christa’s house, I walked into my house and was reminded I lived alone. It really sucked, and I walked over to the cupboard to grab a drink before making my way to the living room. I had nothing personal in the house, which was also strange. It was as if I was just renting temporarily. With my drink in hand, I made my way to the garage where the boxes were still neatly stacked up. Somewhere there were personal memorabilia of Miller’s life. I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away. I also had my personal things somewhere, but the boxes were mixed up and when I moved into my house, I wasn’t ready to unpack them yet. I sighed deeply and grabbed one of the top boxes.

Sitting in the living room, I took a huge gulp of my drink before opening the box, and it was as if fate had planned it. Right on the top was the photograph of the three musketeers on the day we graduated. I put it down on the coffee table and started going through the other things in the box. They were mostly decorative. Things all of us gathered while we lived in Miller’s mansion of a house. Each thing had a special memory connected to it and I couldn’t just throw all of it away.

I started unpacking it all and when I was done, I took a step back and looked at the wall divider that was now filled with our memories. It still hurt to look at the picture of Miller, but at least it didn’t hurt as much anymore.

“I will avenge you, my friend.” I touched the picture before going to bed. Dang! I really needed a roommate! I was talking to dead people!