Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
“Sorry about that,” I muttered.
She lifted one shoulder. “What’s listening to your daughter have sex several times in one night after finding out your husband hadn’t been screwing you because he had a thing for girls instead.”
I winced. She made him sound like a pedophile. I didn’t say anything though. It wasn’t the time to correct her. She was dealing with a lot of hurt and betrayal.
“I’d ask him not to come, but,” I paused.
“He would come anyway. I watched him looking at you. He’s got an obsession that is far worse than anything I’ve ever seen. You’re an addiction for him. Before, I’d have told you that was unhealthy. But seeing as your father has an addiction to sex with anyone other than me, I will instead say, lucky you.”
I found that I missed her words being filled with disappointment in me. The bitterness that now laced them stemmed from all she’d found out was something that I’d never wanted for her.
“I’m fine here,” she said. “You don’t need to stay and babysit me.”
I sighed. “Mom, you wanted me here yesterday. You don’t want to be alone.”
She stared out the window. “I don’t want a lot of things, Capri. I don’t want to be someone who the town pities. I don’t want the life I built to have it all been a lie. But right now, I think I might be better alone. Time to pack things up. Make some decisions.”
My gaze swung around the living room. What was she packing up? All the religious stuff maybe? I could help her with that.
“Let me stay and help you pack things up,” I told her.
She shook her head just before her entire body went rigid. Her eyes locked on something outside. I walked over to see what or who it was when I saw Esther getting out of the passenger’s side of her mother’s car. My mom turned and started back toward her bedroom. “Get rid of them,” she told me, and I waited until she slammed the door behind her before stepping out onto the front porch.
Esther’s eyes met mine, and the puffiness from hours of crying wasn’t lost on me. I was just shocked her mom was here. Which meant she had told her mother. I hadn’t expected that. I’d thought she’d go into hiding for a while. Hoping she wasn’t called out.
“I’m sure y’all both understand that my momma isn’t up for a visit,” I drawled, crossing my arms over my chest. Just yesterday Esther had given me a dressing down for not being here for my mother. I had for a moment believed she was the better daughter, person. Had it been her guilt that had made her act so high and mighty? She’d been here filling the daughter role, thinking it would make up for the fact she’d slept with my dad. Just… gross.
Rosette, her mother, took a step forward. “I know what she did was awful. The loss of her virginity is one we’ve known about since she came home pregnant and refused to tell us the daddy. Until yesterday I had thought it was some one-night stand. I had no idea it was,” she paused and took a deep breath. “A much greater sin than I could have imagined.”
“Wait, what pregnancy?” I asked, afraid more secrets were about to burst open.
“I… I didn’t go to visit my fictional aunt that you’d never heard of in Florida for a month five years ago. I went to have an abortion. Then, I stayed with friends of my mom’s until I was emotionally ready to come back.
We stood there in silence. She’d been pregnant… with… my dad’s baby.
“He, he likes virgins,” she said the words as if she were going to be ill. “He… does things. Leads up to it, then takes their virginity. He’s done after that. He moves on.”
I held up a hand to stop her.
“I can’t hear any more of this.”
My father was a sick pervert.
“I’m sorry,” Esther blurted.
I wasn’t ready to hear that. Seeing as she’d been twenty-two when this happened. She hadn’t been a child. She’d known what she was doing. Grown up in this house. Around my father. Nope, I was going to be sick.
“Just go,” I said, turning to go back inside and locking the door. If there were any more confessions today, I didn’t need to hear them.
I stood in the living room with my arms crossed over my chest. Fighting the horrors that played out in my head. How many had there been? Had they all been over eighteen? I doubted twenty-two-year-old virgins were easy to find.
My phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket to see Thatcher’s name.
“Hey,” I said, unable to hide what I was feeling from him.
“What happened?” he asked, and it sounded like he started walking.