01

  “Of course it’s always my fault. Did I force you to marry me? Did I force you to give birth to her? Please shut up, Sarah.” My dad yelled from the bedroom and I could hear his voice from the parlor.

  They have began their usual quarreling again.

  “I shouldn’t have gotten married to you. It was the biggest mistake I made in my life. I’m regretting it everyday. You know what? I’m done in this marriage. I want a divorce, Dante. And also custody of Elisa.”

  …

  My mum, Sarah, always wanted to be an actress, but when she got pregnant for my dad, Dante, who was poor, she could not fulfill her dreams anymore and had to marry him, eventually becoming a full house wife.

  Growing up, I always saw my parents quarreling over little issues and my mum always saying she regretted getting married to dad and getting pregnant for him. So when they divorced, I was not surprised.

  It been two years now after the divorce, mum had gotten remarried to Reggie Fisher, and now we were moving from Sky city where I used to live with mum’s parents to Vatican city where Reggie lives because he’s my stepfather now. Even though Reggie is poor, I still wonder what mum saw in him that made her get remarried to him.

  As the car continue driving to Vatican City, I kept thinking about getting out of here as soon as possible. I could not wait till I turned  eighteen years to leave mum and stay alone.

  To say that I've hated living with my mother for this two years would be an understatement. She acted as if I didn’t exist— maybe blaming me for her divorce with dad, and I also keep my distance from her. Mum didn’t even bother about what I’ll eat everyday, and if not for dad giving me money every month’s end, I wonder how I would cope. And now that I’m in a new town with her and her new husband far away from dad, I couldn't help but assume the worst.

  Reggie’s compound was old. It was a two-bedroom apartment in the worst town in Vatican City when we got here.

  As we got inside, I saw the cracked yellow paint on the wall of the parlor, giving it an aged appearance. Mum directed me to my own room, and I made my way upstairs with my big suitcase.

  As I entered my room, I noticed that the paint was flaking off the walls. I looked around after dropping my suitcase on the ground. The far wall was occupied by a tiny 

  wardrobe and a king-sized bed.

  

  After cleaning the dirty wardrobe, I put my clothes inside and selected out the outfit for tomorrow's school registration. Mum was going to enroll me in a public school in town.

  

   I hurried downstairs after stuffing my debit card into my back pocket. 

  

  Mum was putting our photos on the wall with her back to me when I got downstairs to the parlor.

  

  "Where do you think you're going?" As I opened the front door, she yelled and turned to look at me.

  

  She didn’t use to  give a damn where I went before, so why now?

  

  "I'm gonna go find something for dinner." I said and frowned.

  

  I had long since stopped eating with her. I refused to give her any of the money I got from dad. I was even living with her because the court had appointed her as my legal guardian until I turned eighteen. If not, I would have preferred living with dad instead.

  

  "Get me cookies also.” Reggie said.

  

  I clenched my teeth. "I'm seventeen, how do you expect me to get money to buy the cookies for you?”

  

  I ignored Reggie’s grumbling and left through the front door. I stepped out onto the main road. I didn't know where I was heading. I shifted my gaze a couple of times to the left and then to the right. I just needed to look for a place where snacks were sold. I could get maybe potato chips and a bottle of water.

  

  After about ten minutes of walking the road, I was relieved to see a tiny store.

  

  I greeted the cashier, a young lady not much older than I was, as I entered the store. I went to the register after grabbing a bag of potato chips, and bottle water.

  

  “You have really pretty eyes.” The cashier said.

  “Thanks.” I responded.

  

  "You’re new here right?"she asked again as I paid with my card.

  

  "Yes. Is that really obvious?" I laughed as I asked. It was obvious that the town wasn't big, even if I haven't seen much of it.

  

  She nodded. "This town is small. The majority of the town's residents live in homes farther out in the woods.”

  

  It sounded odd, so I wrinkled my brows. "Residents lives farther in the woods? Why do they not live here instead?”

  

  "I'm not sure. It appears that they value their privacy.” She responded.

  

  I was a little bewildered when I exited the store. Since this town was small, people would definitely notice me. I couldn’t wait to leave this town and get away from mum soon.