Part 1

Ryn

I was happy that my situation with Caleb was finally settled. I was also happy that we were giving each other another chance. I had missed him so much that it hurt. It was indeed time to make amends. But I had to talk to my parents first, to draw the blinds between their respect for me as a capable individual, one who was sure able to decide what's good for her and what's not and a child of their bearing who was pampered up not able to identity between wrong and right.

" You wanted to talk child." My father approached me in the sitting room looking somewhat appalled.

"Where's mother. I wanted to talk to you both." The tension in the room was palpable. His eyes were inarguably questioning and the look he gave me was of pure curiosity and a little dread.

Did they by any chance know that I would approach them on the matter?

I remembered what Caleb had told me. My parents kept tabs on him, perhaps they already had any idea of his presence in town. Had they been keeping tabs on me as well?

I couldn't refrain from asking myself those questions. I still  couldn't believe my parents would do such a despicable thing. One of the many characters that kept a home happy was trust and openness. We didn't have both in our home, perhaps the results were expected.

"She's coming. What's this about?" He couldn't keep his curiosity at check. He was tapping impatiently at the table as he aggressively tugged at his hair. I guess I got that habit from him after all.

When my mother finally managed to grace us with her royal presence, I didn't see the point of making them wait any longer though I relished in the thought of them being uneasy in my heated gaze.

" Now that you're all here, I'd love to have started with a word of prayer but you all know am not as religious. First off, I love you all because what you've done for me, I know couldn't have managed it by myself. I know I cannot say the same about you, I mean the extent of your love, but surely you can't blame me for that. I wanted to talk to you about something so important to me, or rather someone. " The confusion in their faces was getting stronger by the minute but by the look of things they seemed to have a slight idea of what I was talking about.

" I know I may come off as a jerk sometimes, disrespectful, unruly or even the epitome of trouble but you are partially to blame for it, I'll take responsibility for the rest. You both can't expect me to not be the above mentioned things if you keep playing God in my life. So I'll just ask you this simple question, how many things have you manipulated in my life without my knowledge, because you and I know you have."

" You lost me minutes ago. The only thing I got was you being rude, unruly and trouble the others was only your mouth blabbering.

"Dina!" My father warned. Sometimes I wondered how the two fell in love. Or if they did at all.

"What?" My mother defended not sorry about a thing she said. Where was the maternal love women possessed because I wasn't getting the vibe, even on a one metre radius.

" I know I deserve partly the attitude you're giving me mother, but have you stopped to wonder where it all began? I wasn't like this from birth to the entire of my childhood. Did you ever think to yourselves what triggered this?" I was hurting seeing as she only regarded me as another human being, not as her daughter, her own flesh and blood.

"Adolescence, what else could have. A lot of people went through it but still turned out better than that Ryn, look at your sister, She's older than you but you don't see her whoring around!" Any hope of ever mending my relationship with my mother vanished into thin air. If she was capable of causing that much harm to me without even raising her hand to strike me, how much more pain can the outside world inflict on an already broken, shattered soul.

"That's enough Dina. She is still your daughter. Think about the harm you're causing right now. This could traumatize her for a lifetime." My dad came to the rescue, but it was too late, the destruction had already been severed.

"It hurts to know that not an effort I make will be appreciated since you guys keep on comparing me with my sister every other time. You fail to see me for what I am or what I could become because within you, you already have a picture of the person I ought to be. This is worse than any kind of pain a person has to go through. But I came to terms with that already, that I can never be enough to you no matter what I do. The only thing that I am striving yo do is be enough for myself, but you're taking that away from me too, bit by bit. It fucking hurts."

By now tears were flowing swiftly and I didn't have an ounce of energy in me to wipe them away. They said tears washed the pain away, I hoped mine were enough to make me forget the whole thing.

"Anyway, that's not what I'd wanted to talk about. But I am glad everything has been put out there, I now know where I stand with you guys. I just wanted to ask you, if at all there's still any love left for me in those hearts of yours, please let me drive my life in the way I think is best for me. Playing God in my life is going to just complicate this family more than it already is. Like how I found out you two went behind my back to ask my boyfriend of almost two years to break up with me. Do you have any idea what that did to me? I won't be surprised if that's not the only thing you've been controlling behind my back."

"I knew this had something to do with that military boy. You could have just said so from the start, to spare us all the drama." My mother piped.

"I'm glad to know that my life is a drama to you mom." I knew, no matter how much I hated her, she was still going to be my mother. I didn't see the point of keeping unnecessary grudges. One good thing about me was that I was quick to forgive, but this trait has always been my undoing, my downfall. I always saw the good in people, even when their bad side was the only thing to see.

"Child, your mother and I thought it was better to end things between the two of you so you could focus on your studies, become someone in the future." My dad knew how to counter an argument to his advantage. He was good at making a valid point in every wrong thing he did, to justify himself.

"Did you think for a moment that maybe you should consult me and see what I thought about the whole thing? If you made sense, I would have even broken up with him myself. It would have saved me the messy nights and the indecent days."

" Now that I know you will not consult me in any decision you make, here's what I have to say. Caleb is back in town and he told me everything you guys did. I can't believe you went to the extent of offering him money, how despicable can you be. We sorted things out and we are getting back together so please stay away from him, from us. If I hear that you attempted to even look at him, I will leave this house and go live with my Nana and see how the media would love the juicy details. I will ruin this marriage and this home, you would wish you never gave birth to me. And don't tempt me mother, you know I am capable of it. With all the secrets I have within my grasp I wouldn't dare if I were you." I knew it was terrible of me to go to such boundaries but I had long lost my patience, together with the respect I had for them.

"What is she talking about Dina." My dad queried.

"She is blabbering, you know how she can get when she's upset." My mother quickly replied.

"I see where you're coming from Ryn and I understand. What we did was unforgivably wrong and it was selfish of us to do it. But you also have to understand, we love you no matter how hard it is for you to see that, we couldn't allow you to go down the road of destruction in our watch albeit the method used was dumbfounding. We're truly sorry you felt alone and not enough, but you're all grown up now and we'll try and give you the opportunity to decide for yourself what's right and what makes you happy, right Dina." My mother only grumbled in response.

"If this certain Caleb makes you happy then so be it, but if he breaks your heart were going to kill him for real this time, not just scare him away." My father could make light of any situation and I was glad we came to an understanding on the matter. Even my mother seemed touched, to the point of letting Caleb and I be.

Now that the coast was clear, it was time to explore beyond the boundaries Caleb and I had. I loved the fact that he was a bit older than me, it made my adoration towards him escalate. Caleb never went to college, after high school he straight went to join the army, he told me he had wanted to be a Navy Seal. Within him, I always felt safe.

This was going to be one hell of a ride.

Buckle up fellas.

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Edited. Enjoy!