TWO coming back home
“Well, they should be here anytime now,” Kathy said to herself as she stared out the front window. She could not believe everything that had happened over the last three weeks.
How did this happen? What could I have done differently? These were the questions she kept asking herself over and over again.
After a few moments, she turned from the window and glanced at all the boxes in front of her. She had spent the last twenty-four hours packing everything she had.
“Possession is the key. Take all you can so he’ll end up with as little as possible.” She kept reminding herself of her father’s statements as she was packing the night before.
God, how embarrassed she was when she told her mom and dad what Dan had done to her. But for the most part, she was relieved they knew. Now, at least she was getting some help, although the thought of moving back in with her parents was less than thrilling.
” I better wake Jess up so she’s ready when they come,” Kathy said to herself as she turned toward the hallway. She stopped in front of the hallway mirror that used to hang on the wall. It was now leaning against the wall, ready to be taken to its next destination.
She just stood in front of the mirror staring at herself. She still looked like she was twenty, even though she would be turning twenty-seven next month. Her hair fell past her shoulders and was almost a carrot orange in color. Besides her shyness, her hair color was the only thing she hated about herself.
She was quite tall for a woman, standing at an even six-feet. She liked being tall because it gave her self-confidence when she felt she was lacking it. She was very slender and her curves fell in all the right places. Her body was envied by most other women but she was unaware of that.
Kathy looked hard into her own eyes. She did not have the face of a model but she was still very attractive. “I’m pretty decent-looking. I have a good personality. So why did all this happen?” she said aloud to her reflection.
After staring at herself a few more minutes, she turned away and continued down the hall to Jess’ room.
She peeked in the door and saw that her daughter was still sound asleep. Kathy figured Jess would be tired today after all the packing and running around that had been going on. She hated to wake her up.
Like all the other rooms in the house, everything was in boxes. Jess was not sure what was going on but the thought of staying with Grammy and Grampy pleased her.
Kathy sat on the edge of her daughter’s bed and watched her sleep. Jess was two and a half years old. She had the softest blond hair Kathy had ever seen. She smiled while remembering how worried she was when Jess was still bald at two years old. She was so concerned her hair would never grow in, but it finally did.
Jess also had great big brown eyes brimming with curiosity. She was always getting into everything, wanting to know what everything was, and how it all worked. Kathy could hardly keep up with her some days. She did not mind, though. Jess was her pride and joy and playing with her and running after her all day kept Kathy’s mind off her husband, Dan.
Another twenty minutes went by and Kathy finally had her daughter all set to go. Just as she was walking back to the living room, she heard the sound of car doors outside.
“Sounds like they’re here,” she said to Jess and with that, her daughter ran to the front door with delight.
“Well, hi there, baby girl. You got a kiss for Grampy?” Kathy watched her father pick Jess up and cradle her on his side. Her brother Larry just stood and looked across the room at all the boxes.
“Hi Dad, Larry,” Kathy finally said.
Her father turned from his granddaughter, “You got everything ready to go?” he asked as he scanned the room.
“Yeah, everything that could be packed is put into boxes,” she replied.
“Well, let’s get started,” Larry said, breaking his silence. He did not know what to say to his sister. He had no idea what was going on until their father called yesterday for his help.
After three hours, Kathy’s stuff was loaded onto the rented moving truck. She could not believe it only took a few hours. She thought for sure it would take all day.
She entered the empty house one last time before they left. She tried desperately to hold back tears but as she felt her father’s arm go around her shoulder, she turned toward him and sobbed in his arms.
It was a two hour trip home to her parents’ house. After twenty minutes, Jess fell asleep in the backseat. Kathy was relieved neither Larry nor her father insisted on riding back in her car with her. They both traveled in the truck ahead of her.
She thought the time to herself would give her another chance to go over all of it in her head again. She hated constantly thinking about Dan and her marriage but until she had some resolution, she could not move on.