Page 22 of The Moment Promised

Mom and Dad are getting a divorce. I smile to myself in my bedroom mirror.

They haven’t told me yet, but they’re fighting downstairs. It started like every other fight they have: Something small made my dad mad, and each sentence that leaves his mouth gets louder and angrier by the syllable.

“I’m getting a fucking divorce, Marsha!” His voice chills me down to the bone, but the words attached lift me up.

“Okay, Jason, just calm down?—”

“Fuck you! Adeline?” Angry footsteps stomp up the stairs.

I rush to my bed. My eyes widen as my door swings open. Jason stands in the doorway, visibly shaking. “Get your fucking shit. We’re leaving.”

“No!” My mom steps into view, tears stream down her face. Her body trembles, but her voice is strong with conviction I’ve never heard from her before. “You’re not taking my daughter. Adeline,don’tmove.”

Jason’s face turns bright red. “You really think you’re gonna sit there and tell me what I can and can’t do with my own fucking kid? Get out of my house!” he shouts, foam spitting out of his mouth.

I can’t move.

I can’t speak.

He’s getting closer.

His hand grasps my arm so tightly, tears sting my eyes and my entire body tenses. “Let’s go.” His voice is so strong it could kill me right now with the way it wraps around my throat and cuts off my airway.

I can’t breathe.

I’m going todie.

My heart beats so rapidly I fear it will explode.

I don’t have a say in what my body does because it stands up and follows Jason to the open doorway, and past my mother.

“Where are you going?” She sounds how I feel, like she can’t breathe.

I turn my head to see her, her knees bend like she can’t hold herself up. Her expression would make my heart sink if I could feel my body. But I can’t. I look down at myself from above, wishing so badly to be anywhere but here.

In this body, in this moment, in thisfear.

“Your mother’s fucking crazy. Don’t listen to that bitch,” he seethes.

I want to disagree with him, but I’m too scared to be on the other end of his anger. I simply nod my head and don’t look back.

The car ride is a blur of honking horns and sharp corners. I have no idea how long we drive or where. I choke back the taste of bile and the urge to scream, knowing I’ll likely get backhanded if I do either.

I don’t remember pulling into this strange neighborhood, or unbuckling my seatbelt, or watching my dad ring the doorbell to a house I didn’t realize we were standing in front of. I’m a shell, a zombie, moving without my control.

The door swings open and a woman I’ve never seen before smiles at me. “Hi, sweetie!” Her voice sounds forced, like she’s doing an impression of an annoying cartoon character.

“Um, hi.” I shy away from her, slowly stepping back.

Jason walks through the door, giving her a kiss on the way in.

Oh—

Jason is cheating on my mom.

I’m burning from the inside out. Red is all I can see, and it’s in this very moment I decide to hate Jason.

“I’ve heard so much about you, Abagail!” The woman holds out a welcoming hand, but I hate her too.

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