Secrets That She Keeps
Don't listen to your mother
Emery's POV
I had been here over a month and things had gotten a little better. My mom just avoided me and my dad, for that matter. But that was alright, he was the one I really came to visit, I thought to myself as I went outside to get the mail. As I was flipping through the mail I saw a bill from Premier Medical Group, it was addressed to E. Chapman.
"Hmm...that could be me." I say out loud as I rip the envelope open.
I scan down the piece of paper. It says Invoice for Misc. Procedure, Total $5,000.00. What in the world is going on? I knew it wasn't mine, I just wanted to be nosy and see what my mother was up to. I walked back into the house and carefully laid the invoice on her side of the bed. That way she wouldn't know who did it. She would just find it and be surprised. Three weeks later she hadn't mentioned anything about the bill. I knew then that something was going on. It had become my mission to find out.
Two weeks before I was going back to school I was in her closet looking for shoes to wear when I ran across a box with another similar invoice dated four years ago. "Why is she keeping old bills?" I say quietly to myself. Along with that bill were credit card receipts and a deed to a house. I didn't have time to read it because I heard my dad coming up the stairs. I quickly shoved the paper in my pockets and resumed looking for a pair of "Better looking shoes" as my mother called them. We were going to a fundraiser for my grandfather’s foundation that night and lord knows she didn't want her ugly daughter to embarrass her.
"Hey baby girl, what are you up to? Hiding in the closet?" my Dad asks me with a chuckle.
"Um... no, I was just looking for some shoes to wear. You know how Mom is on me to change my appearance. Do I embarrass you daddy?” I ask opening another shoe box and pulling out some heels.
"Baby, don't listen to her, you know how she can be. I just want you to be happy, and if you're happy wearing your brothers old t-shirts then wear them. And you could never do anything to embarrass me or make me not love you." he tells me sitting down on the floor with me.
Sighing, I opened another box. "It’s not that I want to wear their old t-shirts, I love to dress up, she’s just never there to see it and when I do wear their old shirts it’s only because I miss them...she doesn't know me, and that's the problem. She's too involved in her own life, what she's bought or what room she can redecorate next." I say trying on a pair of her shoes.
"I'm only eighteen Daddy, can’t she just give me a break?" I ask as I step into a pair of shoes I actually like.
"I'll have a talk with her tonight." he tells me, standing up beside me and placing a kiss on my forehead. “You’re the most beautiful girl in the world. Don’t ever forget that.”
I had a great time that night being with the whole extended family. I didn't seem them as often as I wanted to so tonight was fun. When we got home I quickly excused myself and went to my room, claiming to be exhausted. I really just wanted to look through the papers I was able to stuff in my jeans earlier today. I pulled them out from underneath my mattress where I had hidden them and opened the first one up.
"Lets see what your hiding mother." I say opening the Deed I’d found. I read through the first page of the deed. "Oh...that bitch!" I say shaking my head. I pick up the other credit card receipts carefully looking through each one. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. I knew tomorrow I would have to call about the medical bill I found. I wanted to find out what that was about and how it tied into this mess.
I had been here over a month and things had gotten a little better. My mom just avoided me and my dad, for that matter. But that was alright, he was the one I really came to visit, I thought to myself as I went outside to get the mail. As I was flipping through the mail I saw a bill from Premier Medical Group, it was addressed to E. Chapman.
"Hmm...that could be me." I say out loud as I rip the envelope open.
I scan down the piece of paper. It says Invoice for Misc. Procedure, Total $5,000.00. What in the world is going on? I knew it wasn't mine, I just wanted to be nosy and see what my mother was up to. I walked back into the house and carefully laid the invoice on her side of the bed. That way she wouldn't know who did it. She would just find it and be surprised. Three weeks later she hadn't mentioned anything about the bill. I knew then that something was going on. It had become my mission to find out.
Two weeks before I was going back to school I was in her closet looking for shoes to wear when I ran across a box with another similar invoice dated four years ago. "Why is she keeping old bills?" I say quietly to myself. Along with that bill were credit card receipts and a deed to a house. I didn't have time to read it because I heard my dad coming up the stairs. I quickly shoved the paper in my pockets and resumed looking for a pair of "Better looking shoes" as my mother called them. We were going to a fundraiser for my grandfather’s foundation that night and lord knows she didn't want her ugly daughter to embarrass her.
"Hey baby girl, what are you up to? Hiding in the closet?" my Dad asks me with a chuckle.
"Um... no, I was just looking for some shoes to wear. You know how Mom is on me to change my appearance. Do I embarrass you daddy?” I ask opening another shoe box and pulling out some heels.
"Baby, don't listen to her, you know how she can be. I just want you to be happy, and if you're happy wearing your brothers old t-shirts then wear them. And you could never do anything to embarrass me or make me not love you." he tells me sitting down on the floor with me.
Sighing, I opened another box. "It’s not that I want to wear their old t-shirts, I love to dress up, she’s just never there to see it and when I do wear their old shirts it’s only because I miss them...she doesn't know me, and that's the problem. She's too involved in her own life, what she's bought or what room she can redecorate next." I say trying on a pair of her shoes.
"I'm only eighteen Daddy, can’t she just give me a break?" I ask as I step into a pair of shoes I actually like.
"I'll have a talk with her tonight." he tells me, standing up beside me and placing a kiss on my forehead. “You’re the most beautiful girl in the world. Don’t ever forget that.”
I had a great time that night being with the whole extended family. I didn't seem them as often as I wanted to so tonight was fun. When we got home I quickly excused myself and went to my room, claiming to be exhausted. I really just wanted to look through the papers I was able to stuff in my jeans earlier today. I pulled them out from underneath my mattress where I had hidden them and opened the first one up.
"Lets see what your hiding mother." I say opening the Deed I’d found. I read through the first page of the deed. "Oh...that bitch!" I say shaking my head. I pick up the other credit card receipts carefully looking through each one. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. I knew tomorrow I would have to call about the medical bill I found. I wanted to find out what that was about and how it tied into this mess.