Alyona

[1]

"Mom! I'm home!" I hang up my bookbag on the coat rack and I kick off my shoes, wandering through the house, trying to find my mother.

When I walk into the kitchen, my mom is sitting on a bar stool, on the phone. It seems like a pretty heated argument. It also seems like a private conversation, but since I'm nosey, I try to find an excuse to stay in the kitchen. 

"Hold on... Hey honey, can you go upstairs for a little bit?"

"Yeah, let me get a snack." 

I raid the cabinets, but I try to be as quiet as possible so I can hear the conversation.

"Wait is that her?" The voice on the other end of the phone kind of sounds like my dad...

"No Dom- No. It's not her." Dominic is my dad's name.

"Mom? Is that dad?"

"Dominic, I'm going to have to call you back."

"Don't you dare hang up on me. I need to talk to her." Oh my god! That's my dad.  I look over at her, my eyes are about to pop out of my head and my jaw was practically on the floor. If an insect wanted to fly into my mouth it could.

Neither of us moves. Mom just glares at me. Probably debating whether or not to give me the phone.

"You have five minutes," My mom puts the phone on speaker and slides it across the island, and out of all 19 years of living, I don't think I've ever tried to grab a phone with as much passion as I have right now.

"Dad?"

"Ally..." That used to be his nickname for me. No one has called me that since he's left.

"H-How are you calling us right now?"

"I've had contact with your mom for the past eight years. She said you knew." I did not in fact have any fucking clue about this.

"I had no idea." My voice wobbled as I looked at my mom. She looks over at me with an ashamed look on her face and I just glare at her. I could've had contact with my dad this whole time.

"Well now is the perfect time to talk to you, and we'll have to catch up later, but right now I need to tell you something important." He has a thick Russian accent, but it's not steady. He'll go from talking clear English to speaking with a heavy accent.

"Okay... what is it?"

"Are you sitting?" There's the Russian accent again.

"Uhm.. yeah?" I grab a barstool that is next to my mother and I take a seat. I try to scootch away from her though.

"There's no easy way to say this, but I'm uhm in this...business. And I'm the leader or owner of the company and I'm retiring. I need you to come to Russia and take over my business."

What. The. Fuck.

"I haven't seen you for eight years and you want me to just up and move and pretend like you've known me all my life? No thanks. I'm not leaving Collinsville. This is my home! Not some random part in Russia."

"It's called Sochi. It's very nice. You'll love it." 

"I'm not going." I don't care how 'nice' or 'lovely' this place is, I'm not leaving my home like he did.

The man I call my father clears his throat and he starts talking sternly. "Alyona. This isn't an option. You're getting on a flight to Russia tomorrow and you're going to be the new leader."

"Does mom approve of this?" I look over at her and she can't even meet my eyes. She's known about this too!?

"Yes, she's known for a few months now. I'm sorry you had to-" I hang up on him without letting him finish his sentence. Maybe if I were to live with my dad, my mom would make more of an effort to speak to me.