Vacation Blues

Chapter 33- You Don't Threaten Someone I Care About

"Cam! Wait a second." I heard Andrew's voice because of the ongoing call.

The voice brought more memories to the fore. But I was also reminded of how Andrew had thrown me away without a care. For the first time in all these years, the memories of Andrew didn't have tears flowing down my cheeks. They hurt, yes, they hurt a lot. But that longing feeling in me wasn't that strong now.

"Yeah?" Cameron asked.

"Hi! Where were you yesterday? I kept waiting for you to turn up, but you didn't." Andrew said.

"Well I was hanging out with a bunch of friends."

A minute passed before Andrew asked,

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, perfectly fine." Cameron answered and then added, "Why are you asking?"

"You just seem a bit different."

"Okay." Cameron replied, monotonously.

I could sense Cameron's hostility from his talk. I wished he could hide his animosity towards Andrew better.

"Well I wanted to talk to you." Andrew said, his voice giving me the impression that he thought he was treading on thin ice.

"About what?" Cameron asked.

"That girl you were with yesterday. She's from Michigan, isn't she?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Just thought she looked familiar. Even I was in Michigan sometime ago."

"I didn't know that. When were you in Michigan?"

"Right before I shifted here. By the way, her name is Skye, right?"

"Yeah. Skye Miller."

"Miller? Are you sure its Miller?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You do ask a lot of questions, Cam."

"Actually I should be saying that about you. Why this sudden curiosity? Mom told me that even yesterday you had been asking about Skye. Why?"

"As I said. She just looked familiar."

"Just drop it, man. I know everything. She told me." Cameron snapped.

"What is this 'everything' you refer to?"

"How you left her all alone. How you abandoned your own twelve year old child when she needed you the most."

"I didn't abandon her. I knew Beryl was going to take care of her."

"Your sister was forced to make that decision because you had shrugged off your responsibility."

"Bullshit. I had told Beryl to adopt her. I didn't have a penny in my pocket. Melinda had demanded an outrageous alimony. I didn't even have enough money to support myself, much less Skye. I couldn't keep her in those circumstances. You think I don't care about my daughter? She's my own flesh and blood, goddamnit! I did all of that for her. It was hard for me as well."

Lies. Lies. And more lies. All of what Andrew had said were just lies. And I was afraid that Cameron might believe them. Because he didn't know what I did.

"Why didn't you ever tell her all of that? She would then never have thought that her father abandoned her." Cameron said, his voice no longer retaining it's hostility.

"I-I couldn't tell her. I just couldn't. I had to leave her with Beryl. It was the most difficult decision of my life."

So now Andrew was not just a heartless father, but also a dishonest friend.