We stood in the entryway, neither of us saying much more, until I finally let go first.
Liam cleared his throat, thumbing away the damp beneath his eyes, and asked, “Is Dad home?” I shook my head, and Liam grimaced, dragging a hand over his stubbled jaw. “I thought you were on campus.”
“I was.” I said, wiping my own cheeks. “And then I came home.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shrugged. “Didn’t want to bug you.”
“Sarafina.” He groaned, “If I’d have known you were here.” His eyes flitted around the entry, horror slowly setting in. “The decorations are still up.”
“I didn’t have the energy to take them down.” I admitted.
“Dad should have hired someone to pack all this up.” Liam groaned, his voice subtly lit with frustration.
I chewed my lip, zoning out a bit. “When he is home, he just throws stuff away.”
“What do you mean?” Liam puzzled, alarm lacing his voice. “Whatexactly has he been throwing away?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Last week, the bedroom curtains were in the can.”
Liam grumbled under his breath and headed upstairs to our parent’s wing of the house. I sighed and reluctantly followed after him, but when I got upstairs he was just standing in the doorway, mouth parted in shock.
My pulse thundered in my ears. “What is it?” I peered around him, discovering their room wasempty.“Oh my God, where iseverything?”
Both of us just stood there, utterly dumbfounded, before Liam finally made a beeline for the closet, and I raced after him, hand flying to my throat when I realized it too was completely emptied out.
All of my mother’s clothes were gone.
No.My body was moving for me as I sprinted down the stairs, tearing into the garage. I heaved the trashcan onto its side and got onto my hands and knees, ripping apart bags of garbage, hoping I wasn’t too late.
Please, please, please.I desperately searched, hoping something of hers would appear, but it didn’t.
Liam hovered nearby, his voice calm but pleading. “Sara.” His footsteps were soft, cautious even, as he approached, but I didn’t scream or cry, or hardly react at all, because what was even the point anymore?
If there had been any room left for me to feel emotion, it was gone now. All of this was entirely too much, and I felt myself shutting down, letting everything go numb.No more pain.
“Why would he do that?” I asked, my voice hollow as I satbetween the ripped garbage bags of Christmas garland and broken ornaments.
“I don’t know, but we need to get your stuff together and go, you can’t stay here.”
“I need a minute.” I sighed, my voice muffled in my hands.
“Alright.” Liam reluctantly propped the door open and allowed me a few minutes to collect myself.
When I finally got up, I didn’t bother cleaning up the garbage bags. I’d let my father deal with the consequences of what he’d done whenever he finally decided to come home.
Inside, I found Liam in my father’s office, going through the desk drawers. “When was the last time you saw him?” Liam asked, flipping through the stacks of paperwork.
“I’m not actually sure.” I admitted. “It’s been several weeks, at least.”
“Sara.” Liam groaned, and his eyes shuttered for a long moment. “You’ve been here all by yourself for weeks?”
“What are you looking for?” I asked, ignoring him.
“Anything worth finding.” Liam replied, slumping back into my father’s leatherback chair, blowing out a defeated breath.
“Are those Mom’s journals?” I asked, floating towards the box on the desk.
