In Fate's Hands

Silence. No one knew what to say. Elizabeth found it extremely hard to even look at her mother. She could not stop thinking about how her mother had left her to fend for herself’; the anger and hurt she was feeling at that very moment had stemmed deep down into her heart. Her mother never loved her enough to put her first and that was the hardest reality of all; that was something she wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to forgive, much less forget.

Poor Jesse just sat there awkwardly. He knew there was nothing he could do or say to magically make all the pain go away. Elizabeth had to forgive her mother on her own terms and Susan had to earn that forgiveness, which would probably take awhile.

“So, Jesse, what do you want to do when you get older?” Susan asked, trying to make small talk. The silence was really starting to get to her.

“Right now I’m thinking that I want to be a professional basketball player and maybe even play for the NBA.”

“What would be your alternate choice in case that doesn’t work out?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always been interested in writing.”

“But that might not get you a stable job either.”

“I guess not, but I’d like to give it a shot anyway.”

“If neither of those jobs work, you are going to have to find a way to provide for your family.”

“Mom, stop interrogating him!” exclaimed Elizabeth. “It’s not like he’s going to have to really worry about this stuff anytime soon. He has time to figure it out. Stop acting like he should have his whole future set in stone.”

“No, it’s fine,” said Jesse. “I guess I’ll just have to do whatever it takes to make things work, that’s all.”

“Yes, you will,” agreed Susan. “While it’s important to do something that makes you happy, you also have to make some money.”

“Is that all you care about? Money? Well, I guess that would explain why you’re never around.”

“Elizabeth! How dare you say something like that to me? You know that’s not true.”

“No I don’t. How do I know that’s true when you stay away for 3 weeks out of each month and barely even call?”

“I told you that it’s not going to be like that anymore.”

“I don’t really care what it’s going to be like anymore. You can leave me again if you want because I don’t need someone who’s going to lie to me, abandon me, and not be there for me.”

Tears formed in Susan’s eyes. “It really hurts me that you would feel that way.”

“Good. Maybe now you can feel a little bit of the pain that I’m going through right now. Are you sure I’m not adopted? Because my real mother would never abandon her daughter for the sake of her work. What would Dad think?” With that, she got up and ran out of the restaurant ignoring the voices desperately calling her name.

“I’ll go see if I can talk to her,” Jesse said. He got up and followed Elizabeth out the door. He found her sitting on a bench right outside the restaurant, her eyes full of angry tears. He sat down and put a comforting arm around her. She leaned her head into his shoulder and cried.

“I can’t stand her, Jess,” she sobbed. “She hurt me so much.”

“I know,” he said stroking her head with his hand. “I know.”

“What did I ever do to deserve a life like this? My father is dead, my stepfather is abusive, and my mother is a deadbeat. It’s not fair,” she wailed.

“No, it’s not.”

“You know, I never told anybody this, but I’ve always had this feeling that maybe my mom blames me for my father’s death.”

“What makes you say that?”

“The day he died, I really wanted to go roller skating. My dad did not really want to take me because he said he was too tired, but I kept on pushing and pushing and he finally gave in. We went and had a great time, but then a drunk driver who ran a red light on the way home rammed us. My father died because of me. If I hadn’t pushed him to take me roller skating, then maybe he would still be alive.”

“No, your father died because a drunk driver ran a light. You had nothing to do with it. You had no idea that was going to happen and, if it didn’t happen then, it would have happened some other time. You can’t change fate.”

“I don’t think that my mother sees it that way. Sometimes, I think she feels like I robbed her of her husband.”

“Well then she’s kidding herself. It was no one’s fault but that drunk driver’s. No one could have done anything to stop it except for the person that did it because no one knew what was going to happen. What happens to us is in fate’s hands.”

“I just wish that she would realize that. And I wish that she would have cared enough about me to stay and get both of us away from that bastard of a stepfather.”

“That’s what she’s trying to do now.”

“After she lied to me and left me? It’s too little too late. She should have tried that when he hit her.”

“You’re right. She should have never left you with that man and I’m sure that’s one mistake that she will regret for the rest of her life.”

‘”Good. I hope she does regret it because she deserves to. Who knows, maybe I should try to give her a second chance, but I don’t know if I will ever be able to get past this. I can’t look at her without remembering what she did. Now that everything has finally set in, I’m really angry. I’m just so angry and I’m not sure that I can stand being around her right now.”

“If you want, I can see if you can sleep over my house tonight. Time apart from your mom might do you some good; at least it’ll give you a chance to cool down a little bit.”

“Thanks, Jess. I really need that right now.”

“I’ll run back inside and let your mom know.”

Elizabeth nodded. She sat up and tried to dry the tears from her eyes, but they just kept on coming.

Two minutes later, Jesse returned to the bench. “Good news,” he said. “While we were out here, Susan got a call from Officer Lowenstern. After we made the report, the police immediately went to station themselves at your house. He came home about an hour later and they got him. He’s in custody now.”

“Somehow, when I envisioned the day when Anthony would get caught, it never really crossed my mind that it would end up like this. While I’m glad that I finally don’t have to worry about him anymore, he cost me my trust in my mother. I feel like I can never be truly happy because happiness comes with a price.”

“It might seem like that right now, but I promise you that it will get better soon. It might take some time, but you’ll make it through this. I’ll make sure you do.”

“Thank God you’re here, Jess. I’m so glad we’re friends now because I don’t know what I would do if I had to face this alone.”

“Lucky for you, you don’t. Come on. Let’s go home.”

They got up and he put his arm around her as they made their way back to his car.