Page 2 of Diluted Truths
“Nate will keep us safe,” she reassured me.
Just then I turned and watched as Nate stormed out the front door of the house, the screen slamming shut behind him. He was behind the wheel in a second and peeled out of the driveway before I could let out a breath.
The three of us sat in silence. I noticed some papers on the dash. I grabbed them and rifled through to see mine and Theo’s social security cards and birth certificates. We really were leaving for good.
“Nate?” I asked after about an hour of silence. Theo was now asleep between the two of us.
My brother turned to me with a sad smile. “Hey, Jack.”
“What’s going on?”
“I-I… umm… fuck,” he muttered. I watched as he took in one long breath, and then another. “You’re going to live with me now. I’ll take care of you and Theo. It’ll be safer.”
I nodded. I knew he was right. “Where are we going?”
This time his smile seemed genuine. “Home.”
Chapter 1Rebel Child by. Dylan
Jackie
Truth is relative to each individual person. What rings true to one can ring false to another. At least that’s what a professor had told me when I was a freshman in college. My classmates looked up to the man who taught the introduction to marketing course. Many adjusted their schedules around his courses, even if they didn’t need the class to graduate.
I personally thought he was so full of shit it might start falling out of his ass.
But to each their own.
In my mind there can only be one truth when it comes to matters of fact versus fiction. Such as it will always be true that the earth is round or that the moon landing was real. Those are facts and are therefore true. It was this way of thinking that ultimately led to me sitting at the table with those I referred to as my family.
“Earth to Jackie?” Fai laughed as he held the bowl of mashed potatoes out to me. “I swear this girl spends most of her time a million miles away in her own mind.”
“Hmm… I wonder, who does that remind me of? Oh yeah, you, Faizal,” laughed Sarah as she intercepted the bowl in her husband's hands.
“Ha ha,” Fai retorted. “Jackie, Jack,Jacqeline…. Ophelia!”
My eyes snapped up to my friend.
“What? Yeah sorry, just distracted, what were you asking?” I rambled.
“I wasn’t asking anything. You wanted the potatoes and I was trying to get them for you,” explained Fai.
“Wait, then why don’t I have any potatoes Fai?” I said as I dramatically looked at the plate in front of myself. “It seems as though you may have forgotten a vital step in giving me the potatoes, called actually giving them to me.”
“Hey, I tried!” Fai stated as he held his hands up in surrender. “You were the one too distracted to notice Sarah’s thieving. Where were you anyways?”
“Thinking about college. Well, the first round of college I tried.” I shrugged. “Sarah, can I have the potatoes now?”
“I would never deprive you of your sacred mashed potatoes, Ophelia,” Sarah joked as she passed the potatoes over.
Sarah and Fai were the only two people in my life that were allowed to call me by my first name, Ophelia. I always introduced myself as Jackie, a nickname derived from my middle name Jacqueline. Those who did know my full name quickly learned that Jackie was the only one I would respond to.
Fai only called me Ophelia when he was upset with me or when he needed my attention. Which was more often than I cared to admit. Sarah, on the other hand, only called me by my first name. Sarah only called anyone by their first name, hence why the world knew her husband as Fai, but she called him Faizal.
“Are you coming in tomorrow, Fai?” I asked as I dished the potatoes on my plate and poured gravy over them as well as every other item that adorned said plate. I managed to catch Sarah’s grimace at my actions and chuckled to myself. “Goldie said she had some new cases she wanted meto review so I was planning on heading in earlier than usual and kind of need a ride.”
“By kind of… do you mean you need a ride?” Fai asked, rolling his eyes, already knowing the answer.
“My jeep broke down and it would cost more money to fix than it’s worth at this point,” I explained. “So… at the moment I don’t have a car.” I shrugged. I knew what question would come next. They had been asking me about it for months now.
