Where Will I Be When I Wake up Next to a Stranger

Friday, the 22nd came and went with a small trial, but surprisingly Katherine didn’t even need to show up. Brian Martin pleaded guilty on all counts and was sentenced to prison for seven years with five years of house arrest after with no chance of parole in between. This news came to a relief for Katherine as she laid on the couch letting this all sink in. In seven years, Katherine believed she would be out of Chicago and hopefully in New York. She would be far away from Brian and from the past that still followed her of her mother. Katherine smiled at the thought of finally going to Julliard and dancing for a living. It would be what her mother wanted her to do all along.

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On November 24th Katherine sat out front of her house on the porch. She drank from a water bottle and wiped her forehead with a towel, just getting back from a run. From her pocket her cell phone started going off and she fumbled to answer it. Peter was on the other line telling her that he was going to be away for the week with family. Katherine smiled as he told her he would miss her.

“Go spend some valuable time with your family, loser.” Katherine played off the moment as she untied her hair, getting ready to go upstairs and take a shower.

They ended the call and she sighed to herself as she stripped to shower. What was she gonna do with herself for a whole week?

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On Thanksgiving Katherine was busying herself with Turkey and the rest of the side dishes when the door bell rang. Her father answered it and she heard her family in the living room. Katherine blew a piece of her hair out of her face as she took the green bean casserole out of the oven.

“There’s my Katherine darling.” Rose, Katherine’s aunt and twin sister of Lillian, her mother, said loudly as she hugged her.
“Hey Rose.” Katherine grinned as she tried to get past the fact that a spitting image of her mother was standing in front of her.
“Do you need any help? Maggie and I can help with anything.” Rose offered as Maggie, Katherine’s cousin, walked in.
“Uh, sure. There are biscuits that need to go into a bowl. The mashed potatoes need to be stirred.” Katherine started naming off little things that needed to be completed as she pulled out plates for later.
“Go out there and say hello to the family, we have it covered here.” Rose told Katherine as Maggie nodded.

Katherine sighed to herself as she flattened out her silky brown dress and walked into the living room. She gave hugs all around; Eric her uncle and Dylan his wife. George, her uncle by marriage to Rose and lastly she limply hugged her grandmother Linda. Katherine wasn’t expecting her to come out, considering they rarely spoke and some conflict from the past had followed them through the years.

“It’s nice to see my oldest grandchild.” Linda mentioned as Katherine nodded.

She glanced at her dad skeptically and he shrugged in return. For some reason, Katherine had an odd feeling about the fact that her grandmother was there.

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Around the dinner table, conversation was mainly about memories from last family reunions and other embarrassing stories. Suddenly they started to talk about Lillian and things were sort of quiet.

“Are you still working at that bar Katherine?” Linda asked from the end of the table as Katherine’s fork clattered with her plate.
“Yes actually.” Katherine agreed as she stared at her lap.
“Lillian would of wanted you to go to college.”
“Mom…” Rose murmured as she looked at her.
“My mother would understand that at the moment the college I want to go to is out of the question. But that I am doing all I can to accomplish going to do what I want to do my whole life.” Katherine said as Linda scoffed.
“You think dancing can be a lifestyle? Lillian tried that and look where she ended up.” Linda challenged as Katherine slammed her hand on the table, startling everyone.
“Don’t you ever shoot down my dreams. You already did that enough to my mother, don’t you think?” Katherine pressed as she stood up.
“Excuse me.” She didn’t wait for an answer as she left to the kitchen.

Katherine ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath.

“Grandma shouldn’t even be here.” Maggie’s soft voice said as she brought a couple of plates in and set them in the sink.
“But she is so I’ll deal like I always have.” Katherine mentioned a she took out some pies.
“Your really strong, ya know that?” Maggie said quietly as she took out small plates and forks.

Katherine smiled and laughed.

“I’d like to think of it as independent.” Katherine said as Maggie laughed and they brought out the pies and plates.

Linda and Rose were missing from the table but it didn’t come to a surprise to Katherine as she cut up the pies and set them at the end of the tables. She quickly went back inside the kitchen to get the whip cream while Maggie took care of serving everyone. As everyone got settled on eating dessert, Katherine skipped and headed upstairs and called Jonathon.

“I can just come over if you want.” Jonathon told her over the other line as he stood outside of his parent’s house.
“It’s no big deal, I just…Really needed someone to vent to.” Katherine sighed to herself as she sat on her floor.
“Mm, well what are best friends for, right?” Jonathon asked as he sat on the concrete steps.
“Right.” Katherine agreed as she brought her knees up and rested her chin on them.

Their conversation went on for a while, considering they haven’t really talked one on one about a whole lot of things.

“I think I’m just going to come over anyways Katherine…To blow off doing dishes and to get out of long awkward conversations with my family. So don’t be surprised if you find me on your doorstep.” Jonathon told her as Katherine was in the middle of changing into a t-shirt and sweats.
“Fine. But I better not wake up to you clinging on to me for warmth like last time.” Katherine warned as Jonathon chuckled.
“It’s not my fucking fault you’re a blanket hog.” He said before they ended their conversation two hours later.

Katherine emerged from her room and crept downstairs to find Amity asleep in a sleeping bag next to Maggie on the floor, George asleep in a recliner, and Dylan asleep on the couch. She heard voices pouring in from the kitchen and when she walked in it was quiet. Her father, Rose, Eric, and Linda were in the middle of talking.

“Hey…” Katherine trailed off as she didn’t really know what to say.
“I think Katherine and I should talk…Alone.” Linda said sternly as Katherine bit the inside of her cheek.

Her father, Rose, and Eric shuffled out of the kitchen without hesitation. Katherine took a seat on one of the wooden bar stools as Linda looked at the ground, seeming to think of what to say.

“Look, if you’re just going to criticize me and shove your own beliefs down my throat, then I want to hear nothing of it…” Katherine began as Linda now looked at her.
“I’m not sorry for anything I have said. The only reason why I push you the way I do is because of what happened to Lillian. No one would want that for you…It’s hard to grow up without a mother, I would know. And I’m not sure if Scott is doing such a good job with raising you…”
“You have no right to judge my father. He raised me the best he could, whether or not that meets your expectations. All I want to do with my life is what my mother and I dreamed of…And if it doesn’t work out then it doesn’t. You don’t even know anything about me so you have no reason to even assume I’ll end up like my mother. Linda I think it’s best if you just leave…This is why we haven’t been in touch for 15 years.” Katherine said as Linda was surprised, to say the least.

Linda snatched her purse from the counter and stalked off towards the front door. Katherine followed her to make sure the door shut behind her. Linda was just about to walk down the drive way when she turned around.

“It’s YOUR fault that your mother jumped off that bridge.” She said sourly as she pointed her finger at Katherine.

Linda stormed down the driveway and out of sight before Katherine had a chance to retaliate. Before Katherine closed the door, she caught Jonathon out of the corner of her eye, slowly making his way to the front door. It took Katherine only a glance to know that he had heard what Linda said. Katherine fell into his arms as her grandmother’s words ran through her head like a broken record. Could it really have anything to do with her? She knew her mom was really messed up at the time, but Lillian loved Katherine more than anything. But Katherine couldn’t help but think that there was some other part to this story. That maybe she was the missing piece to the puzzle her mother left behind.