Staged

“Lily, your mom is by the gate!”

Nodding at my classmate, I headed to the school gate and saw mom waving at me. My forehead creased when I saw her hand covered in a bandage but I did not say anything.

“Lily, it's been months since you left home. Let's go home together now, okay?” she stated with an endearing tone of voice.

When she held my shoulders, I slapped her hands away and took a few steps back.

“No, I am not going back to that house! Mom, why can't you just divorce dad, huh? If you can't, then let him abuse you more. But me? I'll never condone his actions!”

“Lily, your dad—”

“No! I do not want to hear anything from you or from him! Just tell him to go away and never return.”

I turned my back on her and strutted back inside the campus even though I could hear her calling out my name.

I didn't know if that house where I grew up even deserved to be called a home. I thought everything would be okay as long as we abide by the rules of my dad but I was wrong. No matter how obedient we were, he still wanted something more just to feel superior. I'd never go back to that house with dad in there.

So for a few months, I stayed with my friend in her apartment. I never contacted anyone at home and never answered their calls either.

“Lily!”

I turned on my heels when I heard my younger sister, Bailey, called out my name. I walked up to her wearing an uninterested expression.

“What now?” I asked.

“Dad,” she muttered with her head hanging low and her voice softer than usual.

“Bailey, you know I do not like to talk about dad–”

“He is in the hospital.”

I rolled my eyes to the side and scoffed.

“He wanted to see you,” she added.

“Well, I do not—”

“Stop acting like a brat already!” she yelled after slapping me across the face.

I was flabbergasted. I never expected her to be so bold and do such a thing. Out of shock, I simply held my cheek and met Bailey's gaze.

“He is gone, Lily,” she cried.

Those four measly words were enough to make my head spin with several questions. I could see Bailey's anger in her eyes but before I could say anything, she pushed me by the shoulder.

“This is all your fault! If only you listened to him, he...” Bailey shut her eyes and stopped pushing me. “He could have not committed suicide.”

Suicide?

I didn't understand what was going on because it never occurred to me that dad could do such a thing. I could not even say a word because it felt like there was a huge lump in my throat.

Bailey grabbed my hand and we started to run. I didn't know where she was taking me but I just ran along with her with my mind still clouded with confusion. This situation just felt off.

When I came back to my senses, I realized that we were in the hospital. Bailey and I were quiet as we walked up the stairs but the silence was broken when she finally spoke.

“Dad... he blamed himself... he blamed himself why our family was falling apart. He probably thought that we would be happy again if he is gone.”

That last statement hit me like a stray arrow. It was painful that I could feel my chest tightening. He may not be the greatest father but still, he was the one who watched over us.

“And you know what he said the other day?”

I never dared ask. I was too chickened out to know his last words. He probably hated me for leaving home... for being a disobedient daughter.

“He said he wanted to see you again despite the fact that you went against his rules. He always favored you but it seemed like you never treasured it,” she said and with every word she spat, it seemed like she was spitting venom right at me.

I wanted to negate Bailey's words because that was never the case. If dad favored me, he could have stopped being the bad guy when I begged him to. Yet he still raised his hand on mom and would not even say sorry.

When we entered the ward, I saw mom sitting beside the hospital bed covered with a white cloth. She was staring into space with her bloodshot eyes as if she was not herself.

Approaching the bed, I knelt on both knees and held dad's hand.

“Dad... I'm so sorry for being such a brat. I'm sorry.”

All I could do was say those words but there was a part of me saying that no matter how much I apologized, he won't be coming back to life. Bailey... she might not be able to forgive me for this.

I felt mom's hand caressing my head and it made me sob even more. Holding her hand, I turned towards her and begged for forgiveness. If I had gone home with her when she came to the campus, this could have not happened. Dad might still be alive this moment if only I returned home that day.

“Don't worry, darling,” mom whispered in my ear. “Your dad is already gone so come home already.”

I felt every hair in my body stood at their ends when mom slightly giggled after she said her last statement.

I pushed her a bit and looked into her glimmering eyes.

“Mom, what do you mean?”

She pulled me into a hug and whispered, “Hush, darling. Mom already got rid of your fears so come home to me.”

It was hard to swallow that moment because not only mom was acting weird but Bailey as well. She was staring at me as the edge of her lips curved into a smile.