Ordinary Girl by Pamela Gossiaux

Author:Pamela Gossiaux [Gossiaux, Pamela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tri-Cat Publishing
Published: 2019-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

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The streets that we drive down today are full of causes. There are so many people for Brittney to help, I wonder where she would start.

Maybe she would start with me.

Daddy died when I was ten, just six months after I got Gracie. It was December eleventh. The snow had all melted, and he was going out for a run.

It was a Saturday morning, and I was watching Scooby-Do Mystery Incorporated on television. I had a bowl of cereal on my lap, and Gracie was cuddled up next to me, hoping for a taste. Mom had started a load of laundry.

“I’m going for a run, Heather-bear,” Daddy said. I nodded but didn’t say anything because I was sucked into my show. They were about to solve the crime and reveal who the monster was.

I heard him leave, and Mom came from the basement, where our laundry room was. “Did Daddy go for a run?” she asked.

I nodded.

Mom grabbed a dust cloth and started in on the furniture in the living room, careful not to block my view of the television. Then she moved into the other rooms, and I heard her humming.

My show ended, and another episode started. I finished up my cereal and flipped the channels until I found another show to watch. About halfway through it, Gracie curled up on my lap, and I was cuddling her, watching television and thinking how good life was.

Near the end of that show, I heard the doorbell. Gracie knew the doorbell meant strangers, which she didn’t like. She scurried under the couch.

I saw Mom hurrying back into the living room to answer the door.

“Heather, mute that for a minute,” she said. She was a bit out of breath from cleaning.

Mom opened the heavy front door, and I saw a look of shock on her face. I got up and quietly walked over to stand beside her. She was staring out the front door but hadn’t made an effort to open the storm door.

There were two policemen standing on our porch They had their hats off and were holding them in their hands.

“Ma’am,” one of them said. His voice sounded muffled through the glass.

Mom swallowed and pushed the storm door open. “Can I help you?” Her voice had a tremble.

They asked to come in. She let them. Mom had grown very pale.

“Ma’am, we have some terrible news,” one of the officers said.

And that’s when they told us Daddy died.

He was running and apparently had a heart attack. A driver found him beside the road, near Forest and Park. The driver called an ambulance, but Daddy was already gone. They needed for Mom to come and identify the body.

That’s the day my entire world changed. I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me.

I am crying when Tommy comes to pick me up. It’s only 2 a.m., but I’ve made my quota for the day. He’s drunk. I can smell it on him and see it in the way he staggers to the car.

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