I glanced out the window as the bus drove down the dusty, dirt road. I tried to prepare myself for what I was going home to see. The crisp, autumn afternoon was turning into a dark, stormy night. Usually fall was my favorite season, but recent events had bleakened my outlook on life. My mother’s sudden death had broken my spirit. A tear cascaded down my cheek as I thought about her funeral.

“Cally, are you okay?” Michelle tapped my shoulder. She was the only person that I had become close with in the few weeks that I had lived in Kentucky. Even though I hadn’t known her that long, I considered her a true friend.

“I’m okay. I’m just thinking about my mom. I really miss her.” I looked from the window to her eyes. She frowned.

“I don’t want to pry Cally, but how exactly did she die?” I turned back to the window. It was easier to look at something else when I told someone this fact.

“She killed herself. She took my dad’s pistol and shot herself in the head. I was the one that found her when I got home from school.” Another tear began making its way down my cheek, but I cut it off before it was too noticeable. I felt Michelle wrap me in a hug as the bus came to a lurching stop.

“I’m sorry Cally. You’ll feel better tomorrow. We have the dance to look forward to remember. Plus you are spending the night tomorrow night. This is my stop.” I glanced at her.

“You’re right. I feel better thinking about the dance. See you tomorrow.” Michelle stood up and exited the bus. As the bus began to pull away from Michelle’s stop, I started reminiscing on my life before my mother’s death. We were a happy family before my mother killed herself. I remembered the day that my mother let me play hooky so we could shop for a formal dress for a school dance. My father taught me how to ride a bike right outside my grandparents’ house. My mother’s parents were in the same neighborhood as us. That is they were, until we moved. I grew up in a beautiful house in Florida. My grandparents lived about a block away. We were such a close family. I looked up when I heard someone in the back of the bus call out my name.

“Hey Cally! Can I come talk to you?” Jeff was in a couple of my classes and he was definitely cute.

“Sure,” I shouted back. As he was making his way from the back of the bus, I pulled out my mirror and concealer. Not to check my makeup, but to make sure none of my bruises were showing. I had assured myself that I looked okay and put my mirror away as he sat beside me.

“Are you excited about the dance?”

“Yes I’m really excited.” I couldn’t tell from his face, but I knew I was starting to blush.

“So Cally, I was wondering if you might want to dance with me at the dance.” I looked at him. His auburn hair was messy and he just smiled at me.

“Sure Jeff, I’d love to dance with you.”

“Great, well this is my stop so I’ll see you tomorrow at school. Bye.”

“Bye Jeff.” He walked off the bus and waved at me as he walked up to his house. I looked at my arm. One of my bruises was starting to show through my makeup. I whispered quietly.

“At least I’m almost home. Which is good and bad I guess.” I began to think about my mother again. It wasn’t until around a week ago that I realized why my mother had killed herself. It was because of my father. He seemed like such a sweet, innocent guy. But once the doors were closed and locked, he became a different person completely. His need of alcohol was not only the reason he was violent, but since my mother’s death his intake had gotten worse. He was a monster. But nobody knew anything. I acted as though I was the happiest person in the world and no one was the wiser. I covered my bruises and my heartache. One with makeup and the other with smiles. People thought I was just some random girl that transferred from Florida, but I was so much more. I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the rhythm of the bus. Eventually, the bus came to a screeching halt in front of my house. The driver called out my name and my eyes snapped open. I was the last stop.

“See you in the morning Cally.” I smiled and nodded my head as I walked off the bus. The bus began to drive away and I made my way up to the porch. Mist started to settle over the lawn and a thick, rolling fog made its way to my house. This added to the creepy nature my house already had. The old, Victorian house was beautiful in its prime. But decay had slowly eaten away at it and a layer of dirt and dust had settled upon its exterior. I looked at the weather-beaten door and sighed.

“I’m not ready to unlock you yet. I might be lucky and not have to deal with him, or I could be unlucky and get the crap beaten out of me. I think I’ll sit on the porch for awhile instead.” Cally sat down on a dilapidated rocking chair that belonged to her grandparents. Just after her mother had committed suicide, her father’s parents both died, leaving the house in her father’s care. Since he was inclined to leave Florida, they did. Cally picked up her entire life and moved all the way to Kentucky. She rocked back and forth, recalling all the memories of her mother that she could think of off the top of her head. She closed her eyes and swayed with the motion of the chair. She remembered when her mother made her a blanket with teddy bears on it when she was four; her father accidentally ripped it one day when he was drunk. Cally then remembered when her grandparents got her a trampoline. She frowned as she remembered that her father had sold it to get more money for his liquor stash. Cally flicked open her eyes and stared at the door.

“I can do it. I can just open the door and see. Yes, I can. Yes, I can.” Cally stood up and grabbed her bag. She walked over to the door and placed her hand on the doorknob. Suddenly, her heart rate began to pick up and she started shaking her head.

“No, I can’t. No, I can’t. How can I do this?” She sat down on the porch, wrapped her arms around her knees, and began rocking back and forth. The air had become damp and crisp from the drizzle and fog. The cold waft in the air forced Cally to start shivering. It then seemed as though the cold draft had awakened her senses.

“Why am I being so pathetic? You are the pathetic one. You cause everyone around you pain and anguish. Why should I suffer for your problems?” Cally was becoming angry. She was breathing heavily and her eyes flashed with anger.

“I hate you. I wish you had died and she had lived. How could I ever be your daughter? You are a poor excuse for a human being. You are a horrible person and you deserve to die. Wait, I can’t go in there acting like this. If I treated him like this he would beat the hell out of me. If he’s awake anyway.” Cally sat back down and closed her eyes. She quickly fell into a deep sleep. Cally didn’t wake up until her phone began to vibrate.

“Hello?”

“Cally is that you? It’s your grandparents.” Cally sighed in relief. If there was anyone that would make her feel better right now, it was her grandparents.

“Hi you guys. What is the call for?”

“Cally is your father there?” Cally frowned.

“I don’t know actually. I was just hanging out on the porch. Why?” Cally was getting more confused by the minute.

“Cally we’re in town to visit and we got a call from your father’s boss. We’ll tell you the rest later. We’re on our way over there.” Cally was mystified as to what was going on, but she had nothing better to do.

“Okay, I’ll wait until you get here.”

“Okay, bye dear.” Cally hung up the phone and glanced up at the door. She shrugged her shoulders.

“Whatever is going on I hope I’m not in trouble.” Cally then closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Her nap was interrupted around ten minutes later when her grandparents’ car, accompanied by a cop car, pulled into the driveway. Cally grabbed her bag and stood up. Her grandparents got out of their car and ran up to her.

“Cally are you alright?” They embraced her in a hug.

“Well you’re cutting off my air supply, but otherwise I’m fine.”

“Oh thank God.” Cally watched as the police got out of their car, pulled their guns, and entered her house. For around five minutes she regaled her grandparents about what had been going on with her father. Finally, one officer came out and asked Cally to come inside with him. She walked through the narrow hallway and finally came to the living room. Her father was lying on the couch, drunk as usual.

“What is the problem, officer?” The officer gave her an odd look.

“Cally, doesn’t he look any different?” Cally gave him a once over. She didn’t see anything out of the norm.

“He looks like he always does to me.” The officer put his head down.

“Cally, he’s dead.” Cally’s grandparents shuddered and Cally just looked at the officer. After a few minutes, the officer spoke up. “Cally, don’t you have anything to say?” Cally took a deep breath.

“Better to have two dead parents than one drunken one.” Cally then turned around and walked out the door. She got outside and told the other officers she needed a moment to herself. She wandered around two hundred feet and pulled out her phone. She dialed the number she wanted and waited while it rang.

“Hello?” Cally smiled at the voice at the other end.

“Hey Michelle.”

“So what happened?” Cally smirked.

“It worked he’s dead. They don’t suspect a thing. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work but it did.”

“Good, so I’ll see you tomorrow right?” Cally laughed.

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that Cally hung up the phone and began her way to a better life.