"Today, however can change things for better or worse. The outcome depends on you."
When a marriage fails the residue trickles down to everyone in the family. Sixteen-year-old Daya Nicole Johnston must fight to understand what is happening in her li...
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* Dennis Johnston *
"Denny, what's the plan," I asked as I eased my grip on his body, and to my "surprise" he didn't have a plan, per usual. The last time Denny and I discussed things and really talked, was the night before Thanksgiving break.
We talked for hours as we acknowledged the hope we had for our family, a hope I was quickly running out of. I went to bed that night surrounded by love, a surplus of family and an overwhelming amount of support.
However, I woke up with a broken heart, a fragmented family and an overwhelming amount of hurt. I believed that the pain I felt from not knowing what happened would be ten times as unpleasant as the ordeal that caused my father's departure, but that wasn't the case.
We had no idea as to why the separation happened but not knowing was tearing me apart. Of course, we had heard them fight but they always made up, and every couple fights.
The last one was just too much. I would've done the same in my mother's situation given the nightmare she experienced while awake. I asked Denny, "How do you feel about everything?" As I sat on the end of his bed, I looked at him as if he was my life preserver, and in a way, he was.
He looked at me with heartbreak written on his pupils like a storybook as his tears welled up in his eyes before he forced them back in.
When I saw his reaction, I gently encased my arms around him and pulled Denny into my tight clutch, clinging on to his person as he allowed himself to emote.
Together we hugged in a comfortable silence and I rubbed his back to give him company, so he did not feel alone. I needed to let him know that he didn't have to walk this road with only loneliness on his side.
Dennis is a very emotional human being like me, but he expresses his anger whereas I express my fear. We had that in common as well as the fact that we both feel alone at times, before we had each other. He was all I had at that time.
Denny pulled back from me, wiped his eyes and filled my ears with the beautiful memories he had of our father.
"Do you remember when we went ice skating a while back? You were seven and I was nine. Dad looked like a professional ice skater and the rest of us were struggling not to fall on our butts. Thinking back on it now, he was not the best in the world, but I couldn't help but feel that way. I was too scared to leave the railing until he came to help me. He showed me the ropes and helped me improve. Then, he showed you and you cried and cried," he laughed at the memory of me.
"I get it, I cry a lot," we shared that laugh as we have shared so much in the past.
"Eventually, you realized that the blades weren't going to kill you and the three of us skated around the rink for hours."
"We got ice cream after that even though it was super cold outside. Imagine having a brain freeze in twenty-degree weather. Mom was upset with us, saying that we could have gotten sick, but it was the most fun I had in a while," I added to his story.
"Do you think that they were fighting that day? Was that the reason why she was not there with us?" I could see on his face that the memory was turning sour.
I turned on my side, "It seems likely at this point. I think we tried so hard to see past it, that we blocked those fights from our memories. They were always there," I spoke honestly even though I was sure that wasn't the answer he wanted to hear.
Together we reminisced, and together we laughed, reminding me of a happier time. When we were younger, Denny and I locked ourselves in rooms together, hiding from our parents as we talked for hours. He was my big brother, my comforter, my protector, and the closest thing I had to a dad.
In return, I told him the wonderful memories I kept in my mind of our father. I told of the time dad helped me with getting the courage to talk to my crush, Timothy Wellgreen, at the park when I was 10. In addition, the time we had hot chocolate after we came back from my failed attempt at snowboarding. Our parents were a residing force that kept everything together, our glue.
Collectively we laughed at my failed attempts at life, and I saw Dennis' face grow sour in front of me.
"I miss him too, Denny," I lamented as tears drizzled down my face as Denny nodded in agreement, holding my hand to console me.
Gently, Denny wiped the tears forming clogs on my face away, and chuckled before saying, "I'm surprised mommy dearest hasn't come to visit her offspring yet."
I chortled in glee, missing his sarcastic tongue, even though I was curious of this too.
"Denny are we going to sit here all day or -," I started to ask as Dennis cut me off by saying that he had no idea.
As I looked down, I saw a text from my best friend Jay asking why I wasn't at school. To which I simply replied, 'Family trouble,' and left it at that.
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