Living In The Past

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

“A cup of coffee,” Yasmine’s dad ordered.

“Coming right up.” Rhea jotted down the order in the notepad and sent Yasmine a ‘what’s-going-on’ look before heading to the kitchen.

Yasmine turned and stared down at her hands. She had taken her thirty-minute break when she found her father sitting down at her workplace. Listening to James’ advice, she decided it would be best to let her dad explain about the whole situation going on.

“So,” Yasmine started, “what happened?”

Mr. Hamilton frowned, making wrinkles form on his face. “A lot has happened, but always remember I loved your mom.”

“That doesn’t change anything,” Yasmine whispered. “What happened between you two? Why do I have a sister? And out of all the people, why is it Lily, the person getting married to Aaron?”

“Aaron’s getting married?” her father asked. “With Lily?”

Oh yeah, he doesn’t know, Yasmine thought. She nodded slowly, and kept her eyes on her fingers. “They are.”

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry,” he apologized, reaching across the table to pat Yasmine’s cold hands.

She pulled back. “It’s fine. I’m not angry. I’m okay.” She gave a little smile to show him. “I even have a boyfriend.”

“Really? Who?” Mr. Hamilton had on his ‘over-protective father’ face on.

“You know James?” Yasmine said. “We’re kind of together now.”

“Really?” Her father shifted in his seat. “Good, I like that boy.”

“Me too.” Yasmine smiled thinking of James. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. He told me to let you explain. I’m staying over at his house for now too.”

“What a nice boy,” her father commented.

“Dad, we’re getting off topic,” she told him. “Tell me what happened. I have about,” she brought up her wrist to look at her watch, “twenty more minutes left.”

“Alright, honey,” Mr. Hamilton sighed. “Well, it all started when we got a new neighbor, Mrs. Porter. She had just divorced with her husband and had moved in with her older son, Peter.”

“Lily has a brother?” Yasmine interrupted. Even that was new information for her.

Her father nodded. “Your mother had started getting the symptoms of her brain cancer. But, it was caught very early on. This was before you were born. Your mother was in the hospital almost everyday getting chemotherapy and what not. I had lost my job, and got involved with my gang. Everything was just such a mess.” Mr. Hamilton grimaced.

“One day,” he continued. “I had gotten drunk to try to get rid of the stress. I somehow wobbled my way back home, and Mrs. Porter had seen me. She took me to her house and gave me some tea. I told her everything going on and she listened. It felt so comforting, and then things . . . just happened.”

Yasmine gasped, tears brimming her eyes. “Mom was fighting to stay alive and you were prancing around with another woman!” Her father reached for her, but she shrugged him off. “Don’t touch me!”

“Listen, sweetheart,” her father said. “Let me finish.”

Just then, Rhea came back with two mugs of steaming coffee. “Enjoy your drinks!” she chirped. Rhea glanced at Yasmine’s expression and frowned. She knew it wasn’t her right to butt in even if she wanted to help. Rhea decided to walk away to give Yasmine and her father some privacy.