Under the Stars

34: Parents

Caleb

"Huh? Letting Rose go through surgery?"
Rose's dad lets out a laugh
that isn't a laugh I recognize
as amusement.

He's taunting me.

My jaw clenches but I stay silent
staring at the man who tells me
he's Rose's father.

Staring at the man

who made Rose so miserable
along with her mother.

"I'm thinking about not doing it,"
Rose's mom said with a shrug.

She's sitting on the same exact couch
where her husband is sitting on

but a cushion apart.

Rose's mom smooths out

a strand of her hair
and gives me a polite smile.
"It'd be much better that way."

Why am I even here?

"But the doctor said
it'd be better for Rose
if she went through the surgery,"
I tried.

Rose's dad leaned foward
giving me his father stern eyes.
"Listen kid, I decide what's best

for my daughter,
not you."

I suck in a breath.

"Don't you want your daughter
to be able to hear
and to be able to see?"

Rose's mom leans against the couch
as if this entire conversation is boring her.

"Let me get this straight,"
she said as if she's talking to a little kid.
"Rose will get much more attention
if she stays blind and deaf
while being a prodigy."

Rose's dad nods.
"She'll be invited to TV news
and I can even imagine the headlines,"
he grins confidently.

Why the f*k am I even here?
They won't change their minds
because they're too damn selfish.

I clench my fists in frustration

because I couldn't stand how disgusting
their greed for fame has controlled them.

I think back to Rose's smile.
To her silky brown hair.
To her rosy sharp cheeks.
To her beautiful gray eyes.

I can't let them do this to her.

"Anyways, why are you even here?"
Rose's mom asks me.
"Aren't you supposed to be at school,
or is it already Winter Break?"

The both of them
will shatter her dreams.
The both of them

will make her hate herself
make herself shut away from the world.

A bird shoved into a tiny cage

locked into it
until it dies.

"Hey, is this Rose's boyfriend?"
her dad asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Rose's mom looks at him.
"Why do you care?"

The dad glares at her.
"Rose is way too young to be having a boyfriend

especially one selfish like this."

Rose's mom scoffs at him

like he just told her a terrible joke.
"Talk about you, where the he**

were you last night?"

I stand up

and leave
not wanting to hear

not wanting to see
these people
fighting over stupid things.

I want to see Rose.
I want to touch her warm
thin hand.

"Hey kid, where are you going?"
her dad shouts behind me
but I ignore him.

I hear him stand up
I don't know why

but I finally turn around.

I look into his eyes
dark and gray
stern and selfish.

I stare at them

and plant my feet to the wooden floor
looking at him as if I rule the world.

"One day
you will see Rose
in a white dress and a crown.
Watching me slide a diamond ring
on her finger
and regretting
ever making her miserable."

I jab a finger

to his broad chest
I wasn't afraid of him.

"One day
you will recognize me
as your son-in-law

and I will recognize you

as my father-in-law."

And on that one day

we will see Rose

as the happiest woman
to ever live on Earth.

"I promise you," I said

before turning around

and heading out the door.

I need to convince them

to let her go through the surgery.
I know how much she hates

her disabilities.

I want her to see me.
I want her to hear me.

And I want to believe it will happen

someday in the near future
but not now.

Not when everything is f*ked up.