"Now talk to me. Why would your mum be getting half or nothing?"
I heard Dad say as I turned to face him.
"Because she is cheating too. In fact she is worse off than you. I am sure If you got a good lawyer, she would be the one that will end up penniless." I rambled, breathing hard.
"Sit." He ordered and I quietly returned to my seat and settled into it. That was when I discovered that I was shivering.
"Tell me everything." He said with a gentler voice.
No way I was telling him everything, so I took a deep breath and picked up my spoon again. I started playing with my abandoned food while many possible approaches raced through my mind. Any way to say it without saying I got raped would do but nothing was forming. Sometimes it would be easy to tell a complicated lie and sometimes, it would be hard to tell a simple lie. But this was one of those times when the lie was as complicated as the truth and I had no time to fine-tune it. I started sweating.
"Catlin, I can't hear you." He said. I haven't even said anything yet so there was nothing to hear. I needed time to organize my thoughts, old man! Chill. Okay… here goes nothing…
"I found out she is cheating with Uncle Ron. They have been cheating before I was born." I blurted out.
Silence…
No thunder, no hailstones, fire didn't break out. Dad had turned the world upside down for less. So why the calmness? Wonders shall never end
I looked up and I saw Dad seated in his chair. I didn't even know when he took it. He was very quiet. Too quiet.
"Dad? I am not lying. They are really cheating on you. Sophia knows. I heard it from her.." On hearing that, his head suddenly snapped up.
"Sophia told you?!" I nodded, hoping he would stop asking questions I have no idea how to answer without getting in trouble.
"I guess she doesn't want her brother to marry you. But you have nothing to worry about. Riley also knows about your Mum and his father. As long as you are okay with it, the wedding will hold."
"What?! Wait! Riley knows?Dad? Are you sure?"
"It's not a secret Catlin." He stood up and tried to leave so I stood up too. This discussion was far from over!
"If it wasn't a secret, then why didn't I know?" I choked on my words as unplanned tears started rising to the surface.
"Caitlin…" he said then hurried to me. He held me in his arms and just that alone was all I needed to come completely apart. I cried and cried. I didn't know I was carrying such a heavy load until the knowledge that I had nothing to hide came to me. The load was lifted off and relief washed over me. But at the same time, I felt a sort of disgust, a kind of anger and a type of embarrassment. How come everyone that shouldn't know, knows and I am the only one in the dark? How was that fair? And Riley knew too? He knew yet he was okay about us getting married? I felt betrayed and fooled. With so manying hurting thoughts racing through my mind, it took me some time to calm down and when I did, I removed myself from Dad's embrace and looked into his cloudy eyes. It felt good seeing that look of worry for me back in his eyes. These past few months, he had only looked at me with anger.
"So why are you fighting over Joseph?"
"Because she was cheating with him too." Dad said, gritting his teeth.
what?! She slept with Dad's lover?!
"Now put yourself together and be an adult. Myself and your mother always find a way around our problems. And we will never get a divorce so you have nothing to worry about." He patted my shoulder and briskly walked out of the room.
Put yourself together and be an adult? What does that even mean? Seeing how everything is wrong with this family and everybody pretended that all was well, I guessed that was what being an adult meant. But that didn't occur to me at that moment. I was hurting. Hurting in a way I have never hurt before. All I could think about was that Riley knew about my mum and his dad and he never told me and even agreed to marrying me. What sort of a man does that?
Long after dad left and I heard his truck as it drove away, I sat in my chair at the dinning, going back in time, trying to figure out how everyone knew but I didn't. I checked my memories but nothing came up that suggested that I should have known. Then I heard a clicking sound and almost jumped out of my skin. It was Uncle Liam getting Dad's plate from across the table. When did he even come in? "Did you know too?" I asked in an accusatory voice.
"Know what?" He replied nonchalantly.
"About Mum and Uncle Ron?" I stood up and hurried to the door to block it because something told me he wasn't going to answer my question before walking out on me.
He raised his left brow at me but I rolled my eyes back at him and repeated the question.
"What about them?" He asked. Good. There was someone that didn't know. I wasn't the only fool.
"That they were cheating on Dad with each other." I concluded, a little relieved that I could tell someone who didn't know.
"Oh that. Of course I know."
Wait! What?! I really was the only one who didn't know. It was like a slap to my face. Not knowing what to say again, I just turned and left for my room. When I got there, I picked my phone and called Sylvester. He said he was at home as it was his day off. Not waiting a second more, I grabbed my keys and left.
I got to his gate before remembering that his grandparents could be at home and he wouldn't want them to see me. But I really needed to talk to him before I went mad. I don't even know what talking will do. Everybody that should know or shouldn't know knows. I was the only one that didn't know. Now that I know, all I have to do is pretend that I didn't know. Or that it is okay. But how could this be okay?