30
SKYE
“I need to make a few calls,”Hayden declared, stomping down the hall and straight out the front door, looking like he wanted to put his fist through Marianne’s wall.
I had no idea if I should go after him or give him space.
“She never told me about him,” I said quietly, wondering how much more I didn’t know about the woman who was my best friend.
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“It doesn’t?”
“Not at all. Steven and Cassidy didn’t have the best relationship.”
“Can you blame them?” Kellie hissed, her words laced with venom as she reappeared without her daughter in her arms. “He was a prick.”
“Kellie!” Marianne chided.
“Sorry, Mom, but he was. He did nothing but hurt this family and I’m glad he’s gone.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have put this picture up. Not if it’s going to hurt people.” Marianne began unhooking it from its spot on the wall. Silently, Kellie took it from her mother’s hands and rehung it.
“It’s a good picture of the four of us. We can just pretend he wasn’t part of it,” Kellie offered gently, wrapping her arm around her mother and leading her back into the lounge room.
“Can I ask what happened?”
I felt bad for asking but my curiosity was killing me. The way Kellie reacted told me there was a story there. Outside, I could see Hayden stomping up and down the front path, one hand holding the phone to his ear, the other gesturing about wildly.
“It didn’t work out,” Marianne offered sadly.
“Oh come on, Mom! That’s underselling it, even for you.”
“Kellie.” Marianne’s tone was filled with sadness.
“You don’t have to tell me if…”
“Steven was a prick. He’d had a shitty life before he came to us when he was about thirteen—”
“Fourteen. He was fourteen when he came to stay with us,” Marianne clarified.
“It was a shitty life and one he didn’t deserve. But instead of seeing this as a fresh start, he bought all his baggage with him. He treated us like shit. He threatened me. He pushed Cassidy around. And the things he said about Mom…” Kellie shook her head. “He was here for a couple of years and he’s the reason Mom and Dad…”
“Kellie, he’s not the reason.”
“Yes he is. He’s the reason Dad left. We heard you.”
“You heard us what?” Marianne asked, her pain was almost palpable. I wanted to kick my own ass for being nosy. I should’ve kept my big mouth shut.
“You told him, Mom. You told him he had to choose between Steven and us. And he chose Steven. Dad chose the asshole who hit me. The asshole who called us names. Who stole from us. Who lied. He chose him over his own family.”
“Kellie…”
“No, Mom. Don’t you dare blame yourself for this and don’t even try to tell me to forgive him. Dad chose to leave us. Dad chose to believe Steven over us when we told him he’d cut my hair with a pair of garden shears and how he’d pushed Cassidy off her rollerblades and then threw rocks and sticks at her while she was lying on the ground bleeding. Dad believed him when he said he found the money he had, even though two days earlier money had mysteriously gone missing from your own purse. Dad couldn’t see through the lies and the hurt he was causing and chose Steven. So don’t you dare feel guilty. Cassidy and I watched Dad throw his bag in his jeep and drive away that night and we decided as far as we were concerned, they were both as good as dead to us.”
“Kellie. That’s a bit harsh. He’s still your father. He made mistakes, and don’t for a second think I don’t know that the man had his faults, but at the end of the day, he’s still your father. He’s still the man who taught you how to ride a bike and took you camping.”
“And he chose to leave us. How can you defend him, Mom? We haven’t heard from him for years and now look at what he’s doing to you! He’s going after Cassidy’s money. Cassidy’s! She wouldn’t have wanted him to have a damn dime!”
