Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77372 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77372 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Is your mother named Nikoleta Sakis?” he said it slowly as he butchered her name.
“Yes, why?” Fear began to set in.
“Well, there’s been an accident,” he said rather carefully.
“What kind of accident?” I asked, not realizing I was crying.
“I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your mother passed away this afternoon. It was a hit and run. I'm sorry,” the officer said sadly.
I could hear Sofia gasp as she began to sob. I ran to her as she slowly made her way down the stairs. I took her in my arms as we both cried.
That was the day… the day that changed everything in my world.
TEN YEARS LATER
“What are we going to do, Addie?” My dad’s beautiful hazel eyes were sunk in now. He used to be strong and could do anything, but after my mother’s death, my father’s health started to decline. The long hours at work didn’t help either. My heart broke the day we found out he had Crohn’s disease.
Yale was no longer an option for me. I gave up on everything I dreamt of and went to work at the restaurant. I needed to take care of my family. Sofia delved into her studies, wanting to forget everything that had happened. I couldn’t blame her. All her work did pay off when she received a partial scholarship to Yale. I was so proud of her.
“How are we going to pay for it, Addie?” My father said so sadly. “I want to send her. I want the best for my little girl. I don’t want to fail her like I did you.” He shook his head as small tears began to line his eyes.
“You didn’t fail me, Daddy. This was my choice. I chose to not go to Yale. I was the one who said I’d stay and help.” I offered him a reassuring smile. I took his hand and held it. My parents didn’t have much money growing up and the insurance policy my father had for my mother, well, it didn’t pay out as it should have.
Everything was a mess and I didn’t even have the heart to tell my father. How could I? The man worked so hard all these years and had my mother not died, we would have been in a better place.
The night my mother passed, was the night my family lost the one person who held us together. She was the one who was good with money and knew how to save. It was harder for me; not that I didn’t know how to save, but I had my hard working father to deal with. In his mind, he was the head of the family, therefore, he had the last say and I wasn’t about to tell him how he should run his business.
I did at least find the time to go to community college and earn a business degree. It wasn’t my dream, but at least I had something. Sofia excelled in school even though she worked the weekends with us at the restaurant.
The first few years at the restaurant were good. We were busy and made good money. It kept us from thinking about my mother and the void she had left behind. The breakfast and dinner rushes were fun and at times stressful, but as long as we were making money, both my father and I were happy.
My dad’s cooking was exceptional and the whole neighborhood raved about it. He loved his customers, and how much pleasure they took in eating at the restaurant. He was the talk of the town, the place to go to have authentic Greek food. But as the years went on, his disease got the better of him and the restaurant started to suffer. I slowly began to lay off our employees, until only my father and I were left. Because of his disease, my father would often be forced to stay at home or worse, be confined to the bathroom leaving the diner mostly in my hands.
You see, Crohn’s disease attacks the bowels. It’s an inflammatory bowel disease that caused my father to lose weight drastically. The severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain were at times too much for him, leaving him exhausted and malnourished. Anything he ate could and would affect him, triggering episodes of pain and exhaustion.
Things became tougher with each passing year at the restaurant. Customers started to decline and so did our profits. We were once known as the best Greek diner, but now hardly anyone ever stopped by.
There were many days I had to work triple shifts, only because I wouldn’t let him out of the house. It hasn’t been easy the last ten years watching my father deteriorate. I cried a lot, but I made sure I cried when no one was around. I couldn’t show them how much I was suffering. My mother’s death hit both of them harder than it did me. I knew it was my fault she had died, had I not been so selfish, she would have been here with us today.