Promises

The Big Move

 "Wait!" I yelled, calling after my family. The day was just beginning, and my mind was a jumbled mess. Today was the day we were moving. I almost had everything in the moving van, but all I had left was a box I had left sitting in my bathroom closet.

"Gees, Delilah. You have less stuff than anyone here, but it seems as though you have the most boxes!" Aaron called back. He was my little brother.

"It's not my fault! My dad may not be rich, but at least I like to keep my stuff organized!" I rolled my eyes and ran into the house, grabbing my cell phone from atop the box and grabbing the light book-filled box in the process. I put the box in the back of the trailer and shut its door. Mom and my step dad stood there talking about where to go to get to the new house.

"You think you can remember that, or do you need to follow me up there?" Jeff asked, knowing Mom was horrible at directions.

"Umm... I think I got it. If not, I'll pull over and let you pass so I can follow you." She kissed his cheek as I got in the back seat of the car. Shiloh was sitting up front on the passenger's side, and Aaron was sitting behind Mom's seat. Of course Shiloh was up front. She was my older sister (so obviously Aaron's, too), so she always called the front seat, never letting us have a turn.

We all had different dads with different heritages. Aaron had a rich southern dad that bought him everything under the sun. He was strict, but at least he was fair- most of the time. On the other hand, Shiloh had an African American father who absolutely seemed to worship ghetto-sounding heavy rap music. He didn't visit often, but whenever he picked Shiloh up for the weekend, that was all she would talk about. Me on the other hand, well, it's a long story. Let's just say I'm Native American.

"Everybody buckled up?" Mom asked, getting in. Her long, black hair spreading out over her shoulders. "You guys are going to love this place. Shiloh, you and Delilah will still have to share a room, but it'll be bigger and better than the last. It's a nice sized three bedroom. Try to agree on what color room you want." Mom was really excited for a new start. She was a stay at home mom with too much on her plate. Moving here would make it easier on her, therefore making it easier on me.

"Please tell me it's not out in the middle of nowhere," Shiloh whined, turning the rap music up louder on the stereo. "I swear to God I'll die. And does air support know I'm moving? Or are they going to call again? They annoying as fuck."

"They're," I corrected her grammar, letting her know how annoying the way she talked was to me. She was on house arrest for multiple things, such as sneaking out to have sex with guys, heroin use, a fight after she had just gotten off a 9 month probation period last month, and more. I just don't care enough to list them.

"Whatever, keep your mouth out of it. No one asked you!"

"Hey! Stop fighting, and watch your language! Now listen, it's only about two minutes away from in town, so not too big of a deal. It's got a nice little woods behind it, so I figured we could have nice bonfires in the summer and fall. And yes, they know. They said when you get there, you have to stand outside 5 minutes, and press the button. Then go charge it. It's great! You guys will love it. It has two bathrooms, and yours has 2 mirrors and sinks in it for makeup."

"At least I'll get something to myself," Shiloh mumbled. "When is dad coming over? I wanna see him."

"I don't know. I tried to text him, but he didn't text back. He's probably at work." Mom had that look on her face. That look that exposed her worry and concern of her dad not coming back.

I popped in my earbuds to tune them out. This was always how the conversation went. Shiloh complains about missing her father, and Mom tries to contact him. He never answers until he runs out of people to party with, and he's bored. That's when he'll contact her, pick up Shiloh to keep her for a day, and drop her back off the next morning before work.

He was usually a good father until they got a divorce, and he wasn't forced to take responsibility for a family anymore. That's when he stopped. No matter how good of a dad he was to us kids though, he was never a good husband. All he could do was chase after other women at work and cheat with the neighbors (aka. Mom's ex best friend). She never really loved him, but she kept him around because he was good for us kids.

I watched the trees pass by in a swirl of green hues, watching the leaves and bark whiz past as we drove down the back road. We were almost to our new house. Minutes had flown by as I day dreamt, looking out the car window, scanning for something that wasn't there. I looked back, noticing the truck wasn't behind us anymore.

"Mom," I said sounding more like a question. "Where's Jeff? Wasn't he right behind us?" I pulled an earbud out, listening desperately for an answer.

"He was, but I guess he got lost. I'll pull over to see if he's coming or not." She pulled over to the side of the road, waiting five minutes, but seeing no sign of him. She got back into the car and pulled her door shut. Worry was displayed across her face, but she tried to keep calm. "We're gonna go back and see if he's on the side of the road. Maybe the moving van had some complications."

We turned around, and started heading back. She was driving at an alarmingly fast speed. "Maybe you want to slow down a little," I said demanding it more than suggesting it adding, "Especially with that sharp turn coming up."

"You're right. I hope we find him soon." She slightly slowed down, but at least that was good enough. As we went to turn the corner, all I saw was a silver light, and then I saw black.