Reality Fanfic, Parte II

Her name is Lily. She is ten years old.

Her mother is nearing forty but she still plays soccer like a teenager. She broke her arm last year trying to block a kick and spent hours in the emergency room trying to get a cast put on her arm.

Lily likes her mom sometimes but then sometimes she doesn’t. Her mother likes to yell at her when she’s out with her friends. And yell at her some more when she’s not out with her friends. She cries at night when she thinks Lily’s asleep. And frowns whenever Lily mentions her father.

Lily’s father doesn’t come around as much as he used to. Last time he did, he called Lily’s mother a whore. Lily’s father has a new girlfriend who’s far younger than her mother. She’s still old, but she’s not real old like her mom.

Her mother always frowns when Lily’s father brings his girlfriend around. Lily’s mother frowns about a lot of things.

She winces every so often and rubs her side. But she never says anything to Lily. Perhaps she wants to make Lily think she’s brave. But more likely, she’s just stubborn.

Lily’s father once took her away from her mother’s place. He picked her up after school one time and took her over to the duplex he shared with his girlfriend. Lily could tell the girlfriend wasn’t all that eager to see her but she pretended to be so that Lily’s father wouldn’t slap her upside the head the way he used to do with Lily’s mother.

Eventually he gave Lily back to her mother and her mother hugged her really tight as if she had thought she’d never see Lily again. At the time, Lily had felt embarrassed. Later, she thought she understood. But then her mother started yelling at her for not doing the dishes and Lily started wishing she was back with her father again. At least her father never yelled at her.

But then her father wasn’t a whore.

At least she thought he wasn’t.