プロモーションを読み込み中...
My Dad Fed His Mistress Sweet Cake While Mom and I Drank Toilet Water
Novelix
完結
I am five when Mom catches Dad in bed with Aunt Claire. After the crash that follows, Mom wakes up with the mind of a child, and Dad promises to take care of us forever. But when Claire says she is pregnant, Dad leaves us locked inside the apartment with no food, no water, and a cake that was never there. I call him again and again. I tell him Mom is bleeding. He calls me a liar. By the time he comes home with strawberry ice cream, Mom and I are already dead. Then the police find the truth.
チャプター (2)
第1章
I am five when Mom catches Dad in bed with Aunt Claire.
She finds him in the same bed as Aunt Claire.
When Mom drags me out of the house, another car slams into us from behind.
When Mom wakes up, her mind is stuck at four.
Dad quits his job and stays home with her every day.
He holds her hand and promises her again and again, "Lily, I'll stay with you forever."
I believe him, until I see the ultrasound photo Aunt Claire sent to his phone.
Before the crash, Mom had a photo just like it. She said it was a surprise for Dad.
Then Claire sends another message: Ethan, I'm pregnant too. If you don't come stay with me, I'll take this baby and jump off the roof.
Dad looks at Mom sitting by the window.
"Lily, Ava, be good and stay inside," he says. "If you get hungry, eat the cake on the table."
The door clicks shut behind him.
He does not know this is the last time he will ever see the three of us alive.
At noon, Mom takes me to the kitchen to look for the cake.
She is wearing an old apron. I tied her hair into two crooked little pigtails.
"Ava," she says, "Dad said there's cake on the table."
"Yeah," I say. "Strawberry cake."
I stand on my toes and find there is nothing there. Only one dirty glass.
Mom stares at the empty table for a long time, like she has forgotten why we came into the kitchen.
I hold her hand.
"Mom, where's the cake?"
Mom blinks. Her voice gets small.
"Dad said there was cake."
"But there isn't."
"Then we'll wait for Dad."
She pulls me back to the window and picks up her paintbrush again.
She draws a crooked person on the paper.
"This is Dad."
Then she draws a little person.
"This is Ava."
Last, she draws an even smaller round head beside us.
"This is your baby sister."
I freeze.
"Mom, the baby is still in your belly. How can you draw her?"
Mom touches the small bump under her dress and smiles like a little kid.
"She'll come out."
Then she draws a line in each person's hand.
"We're holding hands," she says. "So nobody gets lost."
At 12 p.m., my stomach starts making noises.
Mom stands up at once.
"Ava is hungry?"
"Yeah."
"Dad said there's cake on the table."
It is the third time she says it, but now she sounds less sure.
We search the kitchen.
In the fridge, there is half a carton of milk, but the color is wrong.
In the cabinet, there are a few pieces of dried bread with white spots on the edges.
I grab the old phone Dad keeps at home and call him.
It rings for a long time.
No one answers.
I call again.
Still no answer.
On the third try, someone finally picks up.
It is Mom's foster sister, Aunt Claire.
"Ava, stop it," she says.
I hold the phone tight.
"Aunt Claire, where's Dad?"
"Your dad is busy."
"There's no cake on the table. He said he left cake for me and Mom."
Claire laughs.
"What are you two doing now? Ethan is busy. He doesn't have time for this."
"It's not a game," I say quickly. "There really isn't any cake."
"Enough. Don't call over something like this."
She hangs up.
Mom stands beside me and stares at my face.
"Dad said there was cake."
"But Dad won't pick up."
She slowly lowers her head and looks at her belly.
"Dad doesn't lie."
I do not argue.
Because I do not believe Dad would lie either.
But the table is empty.
At one in the afternoon, Mom's face starts to turn pale.
She grips the edge of the table and sinks down, one hand over her stomach.
"Ava," she whispers, "my tummy hurts."
I run over and hug her.
"Do we need to go to the hospital?"
She shakes her head.
"Dad said we can't run around. If we wait nicely, he'll come back soon."
I pick up the phone and call Dad again.
I stare at the dark screen.
For the first time, I think maybe Dad really doesn't want to answer us.
第2章
Mom is hurting all afternoon.
She sits on the couch with both hands on her belly. Her eyes stay on the front door, which has been locked from outside.
Every little while, she asks me, "Is Dad back?"
I run to the door and look.
Then I run back to the window.
Dad's car is not downstairs.
Mom says Dad promised he would bring strawberry ice cream home tonight.
I do not have the heart to tell her Dad will not even answer the phone.
A little after six, it gets dark.
The lights are still on, but the kitchen feels emptier and emptier.
Mom tries to get me some water.
She takes two steps, then grabs the wall.
"Mom, sit down."
"I'm okay."
The words are barely out before her legs give out.
She falls hard onto the floor.
I start crying.
She pushes herself up and wipes my tears with her cold hand.
"Don't cry. Mommy just fell."
But her hand is so cold it scares me.
I run to the kitchen and turn on the faucet.
Not a single drop comes out.
"Mom, no water is coming out."
Mom leans on the wall and comes over. She stares at the faucet.
"Dad shut it off."
"Why did Dad turn off the water?"
"He said he was checking for a leak. He said he'd remember to turn it back on."
I call Dad again.
No answer.
Then I call Aunt Claire.
It takes a long time before she picks up.
"What now?"
"There's no water at home. Mom's stomach hurts."
"Can you two stop driving Ethan insane?"
"Mom really hurts."
I hear a man's voice on her end.
It sounds like Dad.
I shout right away, "Dad, can you hear me?"
Claire moves the phone away.
A moment later, she comes back.
"Ethan says you're just trying to make him come home."
"I'm not."
"Then why have you called so many times today?"
"Because Mom hurts."
Claire sounds annoyed.
"Isn't she always like this? The second she feels bad, she plays helpless. Then Ethan drops everything for her."
Mom reaches for the phone.
"Give it to me."
I put it in her hand.
She presses it to her ear. Her voice is very soft.
"Dad, I really don't feel good."
No one answers her.
Claire sighs.
"Lily, stop it. Ethan finally got out of that house for once, and now you're trying to drag him back."
Mom goes still.
"Who are you?"
The other end of the line goes quiet.
"Lily, you don't even know who I am?"
Mom looks terrified.
She throws the phone onto the floor.
A crack splits across the screen.
The call ends.
Mom curls into the corner with her arms around her belly.
"Ava," she whispers, "does Dad not want us anymore?"
I shake my head fast.
"Dad said he'll come back."
"He said that."
"Yeah. He said that."
That night, Dad does not come home.
There is no food and no water.
I search the whole kitchen.
In the trash, I find half a hard roll and a chicken drumstick with old sauce stuck to it.
Mom shakes her head.
"We can't eat dirty things."
"But I'm hungry."
She is quiet for a while.
I hold out the chicken.
"Mom can eat this."
Mom looks down.
"Mommy isn't hungry. Ava eats first."
"You have my baby sister in your belly. She's hungry too."
Mom pauses.
Then she says in a tiny voice, "Mommy is hungry too."
We sit on the cold kitchen floor and swallow the food little by little.
At night, I am so thirsty I cannot stand it.
Mom takes me to the bathroom.
She scoops a cup of cloudy water from the toilet and gives it to me.
"There's water here," she says. "It never runs out."
I close my eyes and drink it one mouthful at a time.
In that moment, I miss Dad so much.
I want to ask him why there was no cake.
I want to ask him why Mom is hurting and he still will not come home.
But when I call him again, it just rings and rings, and no one picks up.