Part 1

It started with a letter. A letter that came in a very unordinary manner from a very unordinary person. It had no fancy, flourished handwriting on the front, and no attractive stamp. It was written in a plain black ballpoint pen and had only one word on it.

Now, before I go further, I was nobody special. I had straight brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin, a few freckles; nothing out of the ordinary for a small town girl. But the day that the letter came on was the special factor in this retelling. I was only a girl. Ten to be exact. It was the day my mom was coming home for a month from her four-year service in the military. I was only seven when she left. My dad, older step-brother, and younger sister were all there. My step-mom was too, but she didn’t matter. I didn’t care for her.

We were all dressed up for the occasion. Dad was wearing a navy blue pinstriped suit and a yellow tie and brown shoes and belt. Sean (my fourteen-year-old step-brother) was wearing a green button-up and jeans and his black hair was all slicked back in a silly manner. Amy, my little five-year-old sister was wearing a pretty little white dress that had purple spots on it and a silk ribbon going around the waist that was the same color as the spots. I was wearing my nicest jeans and a black-and-white stripy sweater and a black bow on top of my ponytail. I don’t remember what Lauren (my step-mom) was wearing, but I didn’t care. It was probably something too tight and short, and she probably had more makeup on than clothes as usual.

I was sitting on the couch, holding Amy in my lap and playing with her long red hair as Dad paced in front of us trying to tie his tie. Sean was looking up how to do it on his IPhone but got distracted by Twitter as usual. Lauren was nowhere to be found, probably putting on more spray tan. Amy turned around and slapped my hand away from her hair, looking at me with her big green eyes. She was lucky; she was different. She had Mom’s red hair and Dad’s green eyes, but I got Moms brown eyes and Dads brown hair. Yes, I was jealous, but not enough for me to dislike my little sister. She was my life pretty much. Her and Dad. I don’t even remember much about Mom. I had seen pictures and been told stories, but I didn’t know her for myself. The day that the letter came was going to be the first time I had saw her for myself, and I was excited beyond belief. I hid it well, though. I didn’t like to show too much of anything to anyone, especially with my step-family around.

At half-past eleven AM we piled into Dads old Ford and backed out of the driveway. Lauren had been huddled up tightly in the passenger seat, looking at the dashboard like it could kill her. She didn’t like Dads truck: She said that it was too dirty and old. I didn’t mind the dirt and bugs, though. Dad had told me that the truck was what Mom got him for their first anniversary at the same time she told him she was pregnant with me. The truck was my safety blanket. Whenever I was scared, or lonely, or just didn’t want to deal with Lauren, I went into the garage and lie down in the back seat and fell asleep. I would always wake up the next morning in my bed, but I never knew who carried me there. My fist guess was Dad, but whenever I asked him he just shrugged and continued eating.

At exactly eleven forty-two we pulled into the airport and piled out, Amy jumping into Dads arms and me grabbing his hand. We went into the lobby, waiting for Mom to come out. Men were looking at Lauren greedily and she smiled and waved, occasionally blowing a kiss their way. I was disgusted by her. She wasn’t even loyal to Dad, and she was married to him. It wasn’t just once that she had come home the next day, or even the next week. She was always friendly to Amy and me, thinking I didn’t know about her scam.

I sat down, still holding Dads hand. Amy was in his lap and was giggling as he bounced her on his knee. I smiled, happy to be with the family I actually liked. Dad rubbed my hand with his thumb and smiled down at me happily. I smiled back and leaned against his arm, closing my eyes and waiting for my Mom to come home.