Home Song by Spencer Lavyrle

Author:Spencer, Lavyrle [Spencer, Lavyrle]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9781101219300
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 1996-03-01T08:00:00+00:00

*****

Robby had gone to school early to work out in the weight room, so Chelsea rode the bus, speaking to no one, staring out the window for minutes at a time, registering nothing but sad memories of home while the seat jiggled and bounced beneath her. When the bus stopped, she filed off and headed for the building, buffeted along by a surge of students, seeking out her father even through the plate-glass wall. She swam through the wide front doorway and there he stood, same as always, at the junction of the two halls. For a moment she was reassured by his presence in the place where she was accustomed to finding him every morning. But over the weekend everything had changed. A pall hung over every simple movement that used to make her happy. Terror lodged in her chest.

“Hi, Dad,” she said quietly, stopping before him, hugging a yellow portfolio.

“Hi, honey.” The words were familiar, but his smile was forced. She felt like a stranger in a foreign land where customs were different than those she knew. Already she hated picking her way so carefully through the tangled family tensions for which no protocol was available to guide her. She, who had always been so blithe in the exchange of conversation and affection with her parents, no longer knew how to approach them, what to say or do.

“Dad, what’s ... I mean ...” Tears spurted into her eyes. “When are you and Mom going to make up?”

Tom put his arm around her and drew her away from traffic. He turned them to face a wall and bent his head to her.

“Chelsea, honey, I’m really sorry you have to be caught in the middle of this. I know it’s asking a lot, but could you please just go on as you were? Just concentrate on school the way you always have, and enjoy it without spending your worries on us. We’ll work it out, I swear we will, but I don’t know when. In the meantime, if Mom doesn’t act the same, please forgive her. If I don’t act the same, forgive me, too.”

“But, Daddy, it’s so hard. I didn’t even want to come to school today.”

“I know, honey, but the danger of something like this is that it draws all the vigor out of us as a family, but I want us to be the way we were just as badly as you do.”

She put her head down, trying to keep her tears from spilling and ruining her makeup. “But we’ve never had anything like this happen before. Our family was always so perfect.”

“I know, Chelsea, and we will be again. Not perfect. No family is perfect. I guess we’re finding that out. But happy, like we used to be. I’ll try really hard, okay?”

She nodded and her tears fell onto the yellow portfolio. They still faced the wall, Tom with his arm around her shoulders, both of them aware that curious students were passing behind them, probably gawking.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.