We Are Getting A Divorce

 13? 14?

Her mother was sitting in a chair in the living room. The girl was standing.

Her mother was explaining that her father wouldn't be moving into this new house with them.  And, why. 

There was no sadness or sorrow on her face. No anger. More like a giddiness.  

Remember the lady in Michigan that had the cook out with us and she had her husband and little girl with her???  Well, he slept with her.

Your baby sitter?  Yep. Her too.

Lots and lots of women.

Now he is sleeping with his secretary.  

The girl only had one thought. Who was she going to live with?

"Well, me of course," said her mother.  

The girls heart dropped.  She knew that her mother couldn't stand her. She made up a lot of lies about her. She made her feel really bad about herself.  Her dad did too. But, she wanted to know more about how other people lived. She wanted to be like other kids her age. She wanted her life to consist of more than just the church and the church people all of whom whispered about her due to her mother's wild stories about her.

Her mother saw the disappointment in her face and for a second she let the veil fall and she saw the deep contempt that her mother felt for her. It was all over her face. 

She didn't see her dad very much after that. And there was a stretch of time where she didn't see him at all and didn't know where he was. And when she did him it was because he was angry at her. The girl felt very alone in the world. Very, very alone.

...............................

The above was written by the view point of the young girl. She was extremely shy. An introvert. No friends. Living in a home with three very loud extroverts. They couldn't even go out to eat without making sure that every eye in the restaurant was on them. The mother was very turned off by shy people. She felt that there must be something wrong with quiet, shy people who didn't talk. She didn't like people who she felt may have something mentally wrong with them.  She also despised the secretary who she blamed for her husband's indiscretions. So, this is what she did; she found a way to keep the secretary in turmoil which kept the girls father upset and angry and had the girl punished all in one sweeping blow. And she did it in different ways and for a long time. She would make up stories about the girl. Call the girls father and demand that he come over and punish her. This would upset the girlfriend who would become jealous because he would be around the mother of his children and  would have a meltdown causing the father to become enraged before he ever got to the house to confront the girl. The girl would catch all the anger. The problem with lies is that you have to continue the lie. The mother repeated the lies so much that she believed her own lies. And they became truth. Eventually the girl believed that she must be a very bad person. Her life, and the lives of her children, were affected forever after. Unfixable damage.