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Excerpt: A Distant Road

Chapter A

“I’m home” I called out. “Matthew?”
“I’m in the kitchen” He called out. “Where is J Alex?”
“I left him at Iran’s she wants to spend time with him.” I found him in the kitchen cooking dinner. “I thought you said we were having dinner with Amber tonight. What happened?”
“She went to check out a vacation house Jason bought for her in this little old fashioned town.”
“Oh I love that kind of environment.” Then I realized what I had just said and quickly corrected myself. “Not that I have ever lived in a small town but it always looks so good on TV and movies.”
“Annie, we have been married for three years and I’ve noticed that you never talk about your family or where you come from. I know you were married before because otherwise Erika* wouldn’t exist. But baby I won’t get upset I just want to get to know you better.”
“There is nothing to know Matthew, what do you want me to tell you?”
“I don’t know, I wish I knew more about you and Erika*; She barely speaks.”
“She has been through a lot Matthew we talked about this okay? Now please let’s just talk about something else.”
“Alright don’t get upset.” He placed a soft kiss on my forehead. “But just know I’m here whenever you want to talk, okay?”
“Is Erika* home? I hope she didn’t give you much trouble.”
“She is an angel” He smiled. “We actually get along just fine, and she told me that she actually likes me.”
“I’m glad to hear that, I was worried that maybe she was still having a hard time adapting to you.”
“It’s understandable, really don’t worry about it”
I walked up the stairs and knocked on her door a few times before she finally opened.
“Hey mom”
“Matthew told me that you guys finally made a connection and you don’t know how proud I am of you.” I placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “But you really should pick up this room.” Her dirty clothes were all over the floor and the bed.
“I was picking up and Matthew is nice.”
“Then why did it take three years for you to finally accept him?”
“I wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to die on J Alex like dad died on me.”
“Erika*-”
“No mom it’s okay, I just worry about J Alex a lot. I didn’t exactly have a stable home before and I wasn’t sure that with Matthew I would have one either. I explained all of this to him and he understands. You know he respects you so much he didn’t ask me about the places where we lived. Why don’t you tell him mom?
“I don’t want to remember any of that okay? It’s in the past for a reason.”
“Okay, it’s just that I think he should know. He wonders a lot and we don’t have a reason for hiding it from him. It’s not like we did anything illegal.”
That night I was lying in bed next to Matthew. He was doing some work on his compute and I began wondering what he would think if he knew the truth. I had lied to him so many times I didn’t think he would be able to forgive me.
“Matthew…” I mumbled.
“Oh good you’re awake. Amber just sent me a few pictures of the house; do you want to see them?”
“Yeah” I got close to him and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Berry’s Town. I would never forget that town; the trees, the roads, and the surroundings.
“You don’t belong in this town anymore Annie, after what you did I don’t know how we’ll be able to show our faces around. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Amber’s vacation home is in Berry’s Town?” I asked almost breathless.
“Yeah, and guess what?”
“She wants us to visit her?” The tears were almost spilling from my eyes.
“You can’t have that baby! It’s a disgrace to our family and our home! What are people going to think about us huh? Our only daughter slept with a nobody.”
“Yeah this weekend actually. We don’t have any plans right?”
“Matthew…” I had to find a way out of this. I couldn’t return to Berry’s Town.
“What baby?”
“I don’t want to go; I don’t want to be in that kind of environment for a weekend. Plus I promised Iran we would go shopping. Why do we have to go? You can go with the kids I don’t mind.”

“This is a family activity and Amber is preparing a wonderful dinner for the whole family. Plus you said you loved that kind of environment earlier today. What’s the real reason why you don’t want to go back huh? Is there something I should know?”

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