Too Far 01- Fallen Too Far

“Can you believe this? He is turning on me over a girl he just met. Abe you have to do something.”
    There was silence. Then my father cleared his throat. “It’s his house, Georgie. I can’t force him to do anything. I should have expected this. She’s so much like her mother.”
    “What is that supposed to mean?” the woman roared.
    My father sighed, “We’ve been over this before. The reason I left you for her was because she had this draw to her. I couldn’t seem to let her go—“
    “I KNOW that. I don’t want to hear it again. You wanted her so damn badly you left me pregnant with a bunch of wedding invitations to rescind.”
    “Sweetheart, calm down. I love you. I was just explaining that Blaire has her mother’s charisma. It’s impossible not to be drawn to her. And she’s just as blind to it as her mother was. She can’t help it.”
    “ARGH! Will that woman never leave me alone? Will she always ruin my life? She’s gone for crying out loud. I have the man I love back and our daughter finally has her father and now this. You go and sleep with this, this girl!”
    My body was numb. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t take deep breaths. I was still dreaming. That was it. I hadn’t woken up yet. I closed my eyes tightly forcing myself to wake up from this sick and twisted dream.
    “One more word against her and I will have you leave.” Rush’s tone was cold and hard.
    “Georgie, honey, please calm down. Blaire is a good girl. Her being here isn’t the end of the world. She needs somewhere to stay. I explained this to you already. I know you hate Rebecca but she was your best friend. The two of you had been friends since you were kids. Until I came along and ruined everything the two of you were like sisters. This is her daughter. Have some compassion.”
    No. NO. No. No. No. I did not just hear that. This is not real. My mother would never have broken up someone’s wedding. She would have never had my dad leave a woman who was pregnant with his child. My mother was a sweet compassionate woman. She would never, ever let that happen. I couldn’t stand here and listen to them talk about her that way. They had it all wrong. They didn’t know her. My father had been gone so long he’d forgotten what really happened.
    I let go of the death grip I had on the door frame and stalked into the room where they were disgracing my mother’s name. “NO! Shut up all of you,” I yelled. The room went silent. I found my father and leveled my angry glare on him. No one else in here mattered right now. Not the woman who continued to spit lies about my mother or the man I thought I loved. The one I’d given my body to. The one who had been lying to me.
    “Blaire,” Rush’s voice sounded far away. I held out my hand to stop him. I didn’t want him near me.
    “You,” I pointed my finger at my father. “You are just letting them lie about my mother,” I screamed. I didn’t care if I looked crazy. I hated them all right now.
    “Blaire let me explain—“
    “SHUT UP!” I roared. “My sister, my other half, died. She died, Dad. In a car on her way to the store with YOU. It was like my soul had been taken from me and torn in two. Losing her was unbearable. I watched my mother wail and cry and mourn and then I watched my father walk away. Never to return. While his daughter and wife were trying to pick up the pieces of their world without Valerie in it. Then my mother gets sick. I call you but you don’t answer. So, I get an extra job after school and I start making payments for mom’s medical care. I do nothing but care for my mother and go to school. Except my senior year, she gets so sick that I have to drop out. Take my GED and be done with it. Because I had the only person on the planet who loved me dying as I sat and watched helplessly. I held her hand while she took her last breath. I arranged her funeral. I watched them lower her into the ground. You never once called. Not once. Then I had to sell the house Gran left us and everything of value in it just to pay off medical bills.” I stopped and took a loud heaving breath and a sob escaped me.
    Two arms wrapped around me and I screamed, slinging my arms and moving away. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” I didn’t want him touching me. He had lied to me. He knew this and he had lied to me.
    “Now I’m being forced to hear you talk about my mother who was a saint. Do you hear me? She was a saint! You are all liars . If anyone is guilty of this