“Goodbye, Mother,” I said not wanting to spend one more moment near her. I had no idea what I was going to do or where I was going to go. All I had was the items that belonged to me. Whatever was in that house that was deemed as mine would be sitting on the front porch waiting on me. I’d been clear when I had spoken the words to conjure them.

She didn’t move. She stayed there, watching me as if I might transform into a demon at any moment and she might need to use magic to protect herself. I didn’t know this woman at all and I knew she didn’t know me either. How a woman could give a child life and live with them for twenty years yet feel nothing for them was its own evil.

The sun was still two hours away from rising as I walked in the moonlight around the house. The darkness continued to give me peace at a time I should have none. I was unsure where I would go or what I would do, but none of it worried me. The three suitcases sitting on the front porch held what the house deemed as mine. It was more than I expected since there was little I had bought for myself. Anything provided by my father’s money was still my mothers since his money had been left to her alone.

The money I’d been saving, so that I could leave here, would be with my things. If I could get a job quickly then I could use that money to find an affordable place to live. I had no desire to go back on that porch or near it’s entrance. I held my hand, and with a flick, the suitcases lifted and moved without my help to the car. The trunk popped open and all three bags fit inside when there should only be room for one. I waited until it closed, then without a backward glance, I climbed inside and drove away.

EIGHTEEN: THE CHAT

Eighteen

The Chat

This was how I knew my mother was wrong about me. If I was the evil monster she seemed to think I was then I wouldn’t be feeling the sorrow that was creeping in at the loss of the only home I’d known. With each mile I put between me and that house emotion clogged my throat. I fought it off. I didn’t want to feel anything. The loneliness was more overwhleming now than it had ever been before. After last night’s rejection from Rathe and this morning’s eviction from my mother, I couldn’t feel more unwanted than I did now.