The Heartbroken - S01 E48

Story 5 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E48

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 48

Stunned, I couldn’t think

of anything to reply.

“Oh. Oh—I’m—Um.”

Now he turned to face

me, giving a wry smile.

“She was in college. She

and her boyfriend were

driving home from a

party and—well, that

was it. Nineteen years

of excelling in school and

getting straight As and

beating the shit out of

everyone who made

fun of me in elementary

—all gone in one loud

crash.”

God, I never knew. I

didn’t even know he

had a sister.

“She was living in New

York with my dad at

that time and… Well,

shit happens.” His beer

was mostly gone now.

“My turn.”

I was itching to ask my

next question, but just

to be fair, I bit it back

and braced myself for

his.

“What happened

tonight?”

Looking at my beer, I

shook it a little and let

the liquid swirl inside. “I

saw my mother at the

park. She was holding

hands with this guy and

—I don’t know. I

freaked, okay? I know

I’m acting like a

hormonal thirteen year-

old girl but—it’s just—I

don’t know. She’s never

home and it sucks.”

“I know,” he said. “My

mother is the same.”

“Is it my turn now?” I

said.

“Sure.” He took the bag

of chips from the table

and ripped it open,

offering some to me, to

which I took a few.

“You said your dad lives

in New York. Are your

parents separated? And

if not, then what’s the

deal?”

He looked me in the eye.

Something about his

gaze made me want to

squirm in my seat. I

almost took the

question back because

the look on his face

made it seem like a

personal question.

“You can use your pass

if you want to,” I told

him.

He shook his head.

I waited for him to say

something else, but

was too impatient, so I

said, “No, you’re not

using your pass?”

“No. My parents are not

separated.” His voice

was quiet but his

words were heavy,

piercing through the

silence like sharp blades.

“And the deal is, when

my father got a

promotion for his job,

he wanted all of us to

move together. My

mom didn’t want to

leave her job and so we

decided to live

separately, but we

were still one big happy

family.”

“And then?”

“When Sam died, she

and dad started

fighting. They’re not

yet separated, in that

way, up till now. But

after the accident, Mom

started to blame Dad.”

He finished his beer in

one last swig. “And

now, Dad still believes

that he and Mom are

still fine but Mom is

going out with someone

right now. And Dad

doesn’t know.”

I stared at him in

stunned silence.

“Such a b---h, right?” he

said with a pained smile

on his face.

Oh god. I never knew.

“I’ve been wanting to

tell Dad, but I don’t

know. For some reason,

I can’t. And I guess

deep down, I know

Mom has to be the one

telling him everything. I

once asked Mom to

please, please just tell

Dad. She’d always said

she will, but she never

does and it’s killing me.

It’s just so hard. I

should tell Dad, I know

that, but telling him

seems like betraying

Mom.”

“Your dad has no idea?

At all?”

He shielded his eyes

away from mine. “I’ve

been consumed with so

much guilt, but I can’t

find any courage to

actually tell him

anything. Mom talked to

me back then, saying

she wants to do it

herself, but—I can’t

stand it. It’s like I’m

stuck between the two

and some sort of string

connecting the three of

us together might

suddenly break if I did

anything.”