Known Stranger

Chapter 36

I felt free out of the clutches formed by the plaster. A light twirl after opening my plaster was what I did to express my joy.

I visited my mum's grave that I never thought, I would be going alone. The bus journey back was all occupied by questions like, how could he? All the memories that flashed back, he was never like this, he loved me, he loved my mother, we were a loving family only before that woman intruded in our family.

I shrugged off these thoughts cause evertime I think of it, it makes me feel just how much venom I am carrying with myself cause at some point, you have to stop being so angry, you have to stop being sad, you have to stop killing yourself. At some point you have to let it go and happy. You have to love yourself and everyone around you before it's too late.

Tuesday, 2:00 PM

Taehyung:
Heyy!

Me:
Hi

Taehyung:
What happened?

Me:
Nothing. Why?

Taehyung:
Idk, that hi seemed
sad..

Me:
Haha

Taehyung:
And that smile seemed fake.
Am I an overthinker?

Me:
I don't know what should I be
saying... But I am not sad.
I just feel empty.

All of a sudden I feel so
tired as if the world has
drained everything out of
me
.
I want to be happy but all
I can think about is sad things.
I am such a paradox.

Taehyung:
Have you heard about the
movie, Constipation?

Me:
What? I guess no.

Taehyung:
Ya you didn't cause it didn't
come out yet

*a smile crept my face. I wanted to laugh out loud but I was still in the bus*

Me:
God dammit! 😂

Taehyung:
Feeling better?

Me:
I don't know how, but it
kinda worked. 😂

Thanks

Taehyung:
Anything for my baby😁

Me:
😑😑

I could feel the blood rushing from my cheeks to my ears, I tried to hide it behind my timid smile as I glanced over the beautiful sceneries that passed, this world is beautiful and we are all a part of it.

Author's POV

Kaylie was looking out the window, her eyes were set at the scenes that passed by her, face aglow with the orange rays. Her lips bear the semblance of a smile, just enough to show that she is enjoying her thoughts, whatever they may be.

The bus screeched and halted at her stop. And she took a cab from there to further 'home'. It was 3:30, noon and a kind of silence prevailed over the house except from some noises from the kitchen where her 'mom' was preparing the lunch.

"The lunch is ready, please come at the dining table" she yelled.

Kaylie swiftly moved towards her room to change, there she found shattered pieces of glass that belong to the photo frame, she carried for years. Tears filled her eyes, threatening to come out as her trembling hand picked up the broken photo frame of her family, the only family photo she had, the time when she was five.

She was taught young how to be stone-cold, self reliant, to hold herself high and poised, with a ready smile and a subtle charm. So she learned from early on to only cry behind close doors, on dim lights, without sound, to howl in pain silently, to break down without anyone knowing, and to never ask for help. Because when no one sees you suffering, do you really suffer? Much like, when a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? She can always just pretend that whatever pains her never happened, and she can always go back and face the world pretending she's okay.

She hugged the frame, regardless of the fact that it could hurt her. Warm tears fell down as all memories of her mother came as a reel of pain.

"Kaylie, you better come out, we already don't know where you have been hanging around by this time. I think, you owe an explanation why you were not on the shop today?!" came a clear voice from her stepmom's side.

Anger flashed in her veins as she moved out of her room to question everyone who dared to question her. Everyone was seated on the dining table, peacefully having lunch. "How could they?" she whispered to herself.

Her teary eyes bore nothing but fury and sadness.

"Can someone tell me who broke this?" she said lifting up the frame a little.

"I did it" said his dad, without even sparing a glance. No apologies, no reasoning, not even a hint of regret.

"H- how could you.. Dad.. You remember what day it is?" she said, her lips quivering. Her father didn't bother to answer her.

"If I did something wrong, communicate it to me dad." a tear fell down her cheek with the speed of light owing to the weight it carried. She looked down at her feet,

"If I hurt your feelings, make me aware. If I didn't listen well enough, tell me again in a way I'll understand. If I'm insensitive to your needs, to your desires, or to your thoughts, tell me so I can consider them.", her tone was calm but it carried the same pain, the same heaviness.

She finally looked up to face her father and raised her voice a little,
" But don't hold an attitude with me because you haven't clearly expressed yourself. I'm human, not a mind reader."

"Watch your tongue, girl" said her stepmom making Kaylie look at her.

"Just don't interfere when I am talking with my father." her anger answered on her behalf. It was time, she wanted answers, she wanted to know what ever she did was so wrong that her own father leave a little child by herself.

"Don't talk to your mother this way. She already has the weight of an ungrateful child."

"All.. All you care about is her. Why don't you give a damn about me! This woman doesn't even let me call her 'mom' and you want me to respect her?
Because of her, you left us, you left me, is she the reas-" her speech was halted by the sudden gush of blood that reached her cheek as it stinged due to the unexpected contact of his dad's palm on her face.

She looked back up at him with a more endearing look, ever so infuriated. It was the first time, she hated him, for the person he was. She screamed not knowing what she could have done.

"Why?" she screamed continuously as if a mantra to her concealed happiness.

"CAUSE YOU.  Are NOT. My daughter!"

Suddenly the world halted for her, the clock stopped ticking, the illimited thoughts fogged her brain, "wh- what?" she said in a foreign voice, as if a part of her was broken and lost.

"Dad!! What... are you saying?" Patrick intruded the fight on examining the situation getting worse.

"She is NOT my daughter!" he yelled, his face all red, his nerves more visible.

"Th- that doesn't make sense.." she said, her head moving to defy what she was hearing, on the verge of breakdown.

"I am under no obligation to make sense to you." he said, sitting back in his seat.

Lost a couple of pieces, she was afraid of all she was, mind wandering on a foreign land, silence was ringing inside her head, no questions at all, only answers. She was seeing the end, all she knew was she had no one now, no where to go. The world was no longer the same, she quitely turned around, out of the house, not knowing where she headed to.

"Kaylie.. Wait!" Patrick screamed.

"Patrick settle down here." his dad commanded which he did not had the courage to reject.

What resided was icy numbness in everyone's heart... Everyone, I say.