UNEDITED
Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path.
Those are the words that Justin McCallister has been repeating in his mind since the day he was diagnosed with a non-cancerous brain tumour that's been causing partial...
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Justin
Tonight's the night of the Winter Formal and after a quick stop at my house to pick up my clothes, Addie and I go to her house. The event doesn't start until six, meaning we've got time to simply hang out.
As Addie puts together a snack for us – fresh spring rolls – I watch her closely. She's amazing. Her cuts on the carrots and cucumbers are precise and even, and she has no problem rolling everything and getting it to stick together. If I tried to do something like that, one end would end up loosening and everything would spill out, causing a huge mess.
"Do you cook a lot?" I ask.
Addie shrugs as she stirs together some type of sauce she's making. "I like to help out in the kitchen, and Dad has helped me learn a lot about the culinary arts. He went to one of the best culinary schools in Canada."
"That's really cool," I reply, "that you can help out and do all this."
She smiles at me. "What about your dad? What does he do?"
I feel my own smile falter. I knew at some point this was going to come up. Addie doesn't know the details about my parents' divorce – very few people that aren't family members do – and I don't want to go into depth about it. About that day and the chain reaction that followed. That still follows.
When I don't reply, Addie's smile falls and she looks away. "Sorry," she says softly. "I should have thought about that more before I spoke." She looks up at me through her lashes. "You don't have to tell me if it's too hard to do so. I understand."
But she's wrong. She could never possibly understand why I don't want to tell her. She would never understand the betrayal, the backstabbing, the shock, the lies – any of it. No one ever could. And, I don't even know where to start. How do you explain a perfect family's downfall when you can barely understand it yourself? Not to mention the way I react whenever I do attempt to tell the story. Memories of all the counsellors, police officers, and court appearances make the tension in me almost unbearable. There's a reason why I legally changed my last name from Karvonen to McCallister.
Yet it feels wrong for me to not answer her question. "He works for the RCMP back in Cache Creek," I reply cautiously.
Addie's eyes widen in surprise. "Really?"
I nod my head, doing my best to keep an unimpressed look off my face.
She squints at me. "You don't like that though, do you?"
Damn it. Maybe I've been spending too much time with her, or maybe I just suck at keeping the look of disgust away. "It's not the job. It's him."
Addie cocks a brow.
I sigh. Might as well tell her. If she knows a quarter of the reason why my parents divorced, then maybe she won't ask anymore questions. I trace the rim of my glass of water. "He cheated on my mom for three years. While they were married."
