I'm a Fake

Frank came back to his room about an hour later. I was still sitting on his bed, staring out the window.

“My mom just called,” said Frank. “She’s going to be home in about an hour. I just wanted to let you know we just need to act like nothing serious happened. I’m going to tell mom that we both thought we’d be better as friends.”

I nodded my head, not taking my eyes from the window. I heard Frank leave the room again.

How am I supposed to act normal when I felt like this? I don’t think I’d be able to live here much longer. Maybe I could see if there was somewhere else I could stay.

I got off the bed and went downstairs, going to the phone. I looked around before finding the phone number for the hospital. I quickly dialed the number and listened to the ringing before someone answered.

“Hi, I was wondering if Martha Peterson still in the hospital?” I asked.

“Hold on please,” said the woman on the other end. I could hear the clacking of someone typing on a keyboard. “No she isn’t.”

“Ok, thanks,” I said, before hanging up. I decided to call the police station next. I quickly found the number and dialed it.

“Police station. Do you have an emergency?” said another female voice.

“No,” I answered. “I was just wondering if a Martha Peterson is there.”

“Hold on please,” she said, just like the woman at the hospital. “Yes, she is.”

“When are visiting hours?” I asked.

“12 to 3,” said the woman. I looked at the clock. It was 12:30.

“Ok, thank you,” I said again. I hung up the phone. Next I went to look for Frank.

I found him in the living room, sitting on the couch and staring ahead at him at nothing.

“Frank?” I said. He looked at me. “I’m going to go out for a little bit. I’ll be back soon.”

He nodded his head. I went out the door and started to the police station, which wasn’t far from Frank’s house. When I got there I went to a woman, probably the one I talked to on the phone, sitting behind a desk. She smiled at me when she saw me enter.

“Hi,” I said. “I just called a little bit ago. I want to see Martha Peterson.”

“Ok,” she said. “Follow me.”

I followed her to a room with metal tables and benches. There were already some people visiting a prisoner in the room. The woman indicated for me to sit at one of the empty tables. I sat down at the one nearest one.

“I’ll be right back,” said the woman. A few minutes later a police officer came in escorting my mom who was handcuffed. When she saw me, my mother looked surprised and then she smiled.

“Vanessa,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to know if there was a relative I could go and live with,” I said, getting straight to the point.

“Oh?” she said. “Did something happen at Linda’s?”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” I said. My mom just nodded, understanding.

“Well,” my mom said. “I could see if you could stay with your Aunt Helen.”

“Aunt Helen?” I asked. I wasn’t aware of the fact that I had an aunt.

“Yeah,” my mom said. “My sister.”

“Where does she live?” I asked.

“She lives in Florida,” said my mom. I sat in shock. Florida? That was quite a ways from New Jersey. “You could stay there till the summer, when I get out of here.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said.

“Ok,” said my mom. “I can probably call her and see if it’s ok. I get one call a month and it’s almost the next month.”

“Ok,” I said. “I’ll come and see you after the first of next month.”

“Ok,” my mom said.

I got up to leave.
“It was good to see you, Vanessa,” my mom said.

“Same here,” I said, smiling.

“I’m sorry this happened,” my mom said. I nodded my head and smiled at her before walking out of the room and going back to Frank’s house.