My Wreckage: Camp Nanowrimo (July)- In Editing

Chapter 6: The Day I Came Back (Scarlett)

Scarlett

(Present)

"I just can't believe you let all this time go by." Mom cradled her head. The wrinkles in her face were more defined. There were hints patches of gray hairs dark brown hair in tight curls that stopped at the bottom of her neck. Shorter and thinner than when I left. She had aged a lot over the years, more than I had expected.I wanted to blame her husband and possibly my brother who was always in trouble. "I swear I don't know what I could have done. I'm surprised you even came to see me at all."

"I'm sorry, Momma." I said. I didn't know what else to say.

"You just come by, and you've got a whole family that I don't know about." Her body shook, I knew she was probably craving a cigarette but she wouldn't with Danielle in the house.

How could I tell my mother that she had sent me off to college only to get pregnant. I had something to prove to her and her husband who was still around surprisingly. I was still deciding if I wanted my daughter around him or her.

"I can't believe you. This is the most selfish thing you could have ever done."

"I'm going to marry him, momma." I huffed, "I'm not a complete mess up."

"Well, what made you put it off this long?"

"I wanted to finish school." I argued, "I'm allowed to do that right?"

"Why should it have mattered?" She yelled, "You should have..."

"What?! Dropped out of school, became a lonely housewife like you?"

"Don't you talk to me like that. I'm still your mother." She said, "I would have just liked to know that had a granddaughter." She said.

"Tee has tons of kids running around."

"You think I don't keep tabs on all of them?" She countered, "And he has four. Three boys and a little girl."

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to her to make me feel bad about this. Everything I did got in the way of her happiness with her man, and now she wanted to feel betrayed by me because I didn't want to put my daughter through what she put me through.

"So what do you want me to do? Leave?"

"I don't want you to leave, I just don't understand how I could send you to school, you don't even bother calling me, and come to find out you let the first boy you meet get you pregnant. I raised you better than that."

I wanted to counter it, but I didn't bother. I wanted to leave, I needed to get out. I stood up and stormed upstairs to get Dani. I wanted to say at the inn tonight. I brushed the tears away from my cheeks so Dani wouldn't know I'd been crying. She couldn't know anything was wrong. She was five years old and had just met her grandmother and I was regretting it. I never should have come. I never should have let Wes talk me into this.

He had been AWOL all day and I wanted to cut him.

It was too much to deal with. I noticed Dani playing with her Barbie's in the den area and took her in my arms.

"Where are you going?"

"Look, at least you're taking responsibility for your actions now. You're getting married. That's what happens when you open your legs to the first man that tells you you're beautiful. I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner."

I knew who she was talking about and I swear was fuming. I grab Dani into my arms, I hate that I even have to do this. She had no right to judge me. Why did I come back? Wes' big speech on facing my past. My attempt to give Dani a real family and a real home, which was clearly a mistake. This all was a mistake.