Page 44 of Crossover
“You’ve been keeping something from me,” I accused, my voice trembling with a mixture of anger and disbelief.
Her silence only confirmed my suspicions, and a wave of betrayal washed over me, threatening to pull me under. How much more could I take?
“What is it, Mom?” I laid another segment of my heart on the cutting board.
Two turns and two full minutes of driving later, her voice was barely audible over the hum of the engine.
“I’m afraid,” she started, “that if I tell you, you’ll never forgive me.”
23
IVY
“Why wouldn’t I forgive you, Mom?”
The tires hissed on the wet asphalt as we drove through the night, streetlights illuminating the rain-slicked windows. Inside the car, the air tasted bitter with the poison of my mother’s words.
“Because you’ve asked me repeatedly why your dad killed himself and I didn’t tell you the truth.”
What?
Bile swirled in my stomach as I replayed all the times I’d sobbed to her with words like, “I don’t understand,” and, “Why would he leave us?” Every time, she’d patted my back, playing the part of a woman who was equally confused by my father’s death.
And this whole time…she’d known something?
How could she?!
Angry tears pricked at my eyes.
“His last wish was that I never tell you what happened,” she admitted.
His last wish?
“Why?” I choked.
Mom’s gaze, brimming with emotion, met mine.
“Because he didn’t want your conscience burdened with it.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “But it seems the truth is coming out, regardless.”
The car took a right turn, everything shifting at an angle.
Just like everything in my life—for the second time tonight.
“You were correct,” she started. “Dad did uncover an illegal weapons ring, and he did go to the authorities. That’s when they tried to kidnap you in retaliation.”
That fateful day came crashing back into my mind. The men. My screams. Dad beating one mercilessly. Dad knew who the men were? Or at least why they were doing it?
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I half-shouted.
Maybe it wasn’t fair to be angry at Mom and Dad; they always had my best interest at heart, and I was only thirteen, but honestly. That abduction changed my life, and they knew who was responsible? And kept that from me? How dare they!
“We were trying to protect you,” Mom said.
That’s why they were so overprotective—Dad was getting threatened.
“You guys should have told me!” I decided, because, yes, they should have. Maybe if they’d warned me, I wouldn’t have tried to walk home that day alone!
Sure, they probably didn’t expect a kidnapping, but that wasn’t the point! I trusted them both!