Page 11 of Oblivion

Tears blurred my vision.“Mom!”

“We were having trouble getting pregnant,” she blurted.

It was like a thunderclap on an iron roof—the revelation reverberated at a deafening decibel despite being whispered.

“Fucking Christ!” Dad bellowed.

“I did it for us, Paul. I gave us the child we so desperately wanted.”

Dad rounded on her, and my world completely fell out from beneath my feet.

“Youwanted, Cynthia.You. Wanted.I would have been happy without a child, but agreed to have one for your sake. And now I learn that you went and screwed around just to get what you wanted?”

“Like you even noticed. You were too busy sleeping with Miriam at the time!” Mom screamed at the top of her lungs.

The room fell silent. Deadly silent. The kind of silence that made your skin itch and lungs burn.

I let out an exhale which seemed much too loud. Both Mom and Dad turned to me with horror, and spoke at the same time.

“Bunny.”

“Penelope.”

With my hands raised, I backed away, shaking my head. “No. Just, no.” I sniffed away tears and rapidly blinked in the hopes of stopping them fall. “I can’t believe this. Youboth liedto me for my entire life. And to each other. You both disgust me.”

Grabbing my handbag from the kitchen counter, I ran to my car and hesitated before sliding into the driver’s seat.

The pretty new Mini was now tainted. I barely had the stomach to drive it. In the light of their truths, the gift seemed just another way to manipulate me.

But I needed to get away. I needed space. To think. To hate the world. To hate my lying parents.

I ignored Mom frantically slapping the windowsill as I reversed onto the street.

“Penelope, stop and come back inside. You’re causing a scene.”

“No, Mother, you are!” I screamed back, wishing the roof was on and the windows were up.

In the space of ten minutes, I’d lost my identity, and was now beginning to question other aspects of my life. What other secrets were they keeping from me?

“Penelope, just stop. We can talk about this!” Mom begged through a stream of distraught tears.

I’d never forget the look on her face as I put the car in drive and hissed, “Ihateyou for this!Bothof you!”

Her stricken cry made me shiver. Haunting, and a sound I’d never forget. She dropped to her knees on the sidewalk with her palms pressed to the curb.

As I eased forward, I met my father’s eyes. He stood at the front steps, one hand braced on the side of the house and a hardened look in his eyes.

It broke my heart to drive away, but there was no way in hell I was stepping foot back in that house anytime soon.

Happy. Birthday. To. Me.

CHAPTERFOUR

Penny

The drive to Lydia and Vivi’s place was a blur. I parked at the curb with my car still idling, and I sat behind the wheel, staring off into space.

Lydia’s excited squeal jerked me from the trance. Confusion then pulled her perfect eyebrows low as she rounded the hood and hurried to the driver’s door.

---