Georgia's Lies

     Georgia was in the middle of her homeroom when the text came in... 

"Don't bother coming home, your stuff is on the curb."-Dad.

Georgia already knew this was coming. Her father saw the story she submitted to her high school’s online newspaper and the feedback it got. She had written about an instance between them that didn’t exactly paint him in the best light. 

“Lanie’s Father

By: Georgia Walters

Lanie’s father had been pressuring her to move out and in with her high school boyfriend. Her stepmother’s sister, Ceanna, just gave birth to her soon to be adoptive stepbrother. The state had custody of him, and her father and stepmother were in the process of taking guardianship of Ceanna’s newborn. Ceanna had been struggling with substance abuse and had previously lost custody of her two other children. 

     The weeks leading up to the DSS visit to get guardianship/custody of Ceanna’s newborn, Lanie’s father had been fixing their two bedroom one and a half bathroom 1950’s semi-remodel rundown trailer. Lanie had been feeling the pressure of asking her boyfriend and his parents if she could move in from both her dad and stepmother. They had been making small comments here and there “This house is too tiny for all five of us” “I’m not sure we’ll be able to get custody of him since we only have a two-bedroom trailer” “What do you think the right thing to do is? Let him go into foster care?” “Do you think his mom would let you move in?” and on and on. 

     Lanie had been confiding in Thomas’s mom, Terry, about the issues at home. How they had been pushing her to ask about moving in with her so that they could have the room for Ceanna’s newborn and her two infant brother’s. Terry couldn’t believe what Lanie was saying. This was the same man “father” that made her cousin accompany her every time Lanie wanted to see her son. The same man who wouldn’t allow Lanie to go out on dates with her son consistently because it made her look promiscuous. Terry was fed up with her father and him pushing his worries onto his daughter. For his daughter to pay for what he was wanting, so he could be seen as a “saint” for adopting his wife’s sister’s child when he couldn’t even house his own child without pushing her off on someone else to handle. While yes this was a good deed to help a family member in need, that deed should not exempt you from your obligations to your own children.  How could this child focus on the things she needed to like completing her junior year of high school with only two months left. Terry thought

“My dad said that I should ask you to move in so he can change my room into a shared room for the three boys” Lanie explained.

“So, him not having enough room to take on another child means that you need to move out… sweetie that’s not right. Your father shouldn’t be putting that burden on your shoulders.” Terry stated.

“I know...I-I just would feel horrible knowing that me staying would mean another child would be put into foster care, but I don’t want to move. Also, this is not your responsibility to be housing me, so I completely understand and I’m sorry that he’s asking this of me and by extension of you” Lanie sheepishly exclaimed. “Anyways the streetlights are almost on and if there on before I get home, I’ll be in trouble. Bye Mrs. Terry thanks for listening!” Lanie yelled over her should as she jogged to her car.”

“Just Terry sweet girl. And anytime!” Terry closed the screen door and watched as Lanie pulled away. Her thoughts scramble and swirling around her. The anger she had for her father to be putting this kind of stress on his daughter and herself was uncalled for! She marched into Thomas’s room where he was waiting for his game to load.

“This is crazy her father is expecting me to house his child!” Terry stated “He hasn’t even met me, and you and Lanie have only been dating for a little over a year. This is just too much. He needs to worry about taking care of his own before taking on another child in his small trailer. The man won’t even meet you let alone talk to me and he’s going to put his precious daughter in the hands of people he barely trusted her to be alone with 6 months ago…”

“I know mom, I love Lanie and I hate that she’s going through this.” Thomas said. He was a man of few words but loved deeply and endlessly.

Terry had sat stewing for the last three hours about the situation when she couldn’t contain her anger. She took to Facebook where she knew he’d see. “Sad that a father would kick his own blood daughter out. #badparenting #You’renotaSaint” She clicked off and felt some of her anger subsiding. Little did Terry know what this post would set in motion for Lanie to endure the following day, week, month…

Lanie was woken up by her father barging in her room at 6 in the morning. 

“So, you’ve really been going over there spreading lies!” He shouted. “You really been over there talking crap about me to his mother! Do you know how this makes me look! This women doesn’t know me! You need to fix this!” He slammed the door. Lanie could hear him pacing the living room as she was still trying to comprehend what just happened.

The door slamming open again rattling as it reverberated of the wall. “I never said I was kicking you out! You’re just going to let her talk about your father like this– “

“Dad what are you talking about?” Lanie’s voiced cracked.

“Your boyfriend’s mom just put all our business on facebook calling me a deadbeat. Basically, saying I’m a piece of trash! What have you been telling them?” 

“I- “

“It doesn’t matter I’ve got to get to work Lanie… I’m so disappointed in you” The door slammed behind him shaking the old trailer windows. She heard the truck crank and squeal down their road. Lanie gathered herself as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. The world was quiet, and everything was still. She grabbed her phone and called Thomas. She could tell he was still sleeping and woke him. 

“Hey, I’m sorry to wake you but I guess your mom posted something about my dad?”

“Hey, it’s okay and yeah I told her not to…”

“Can you ask her to take it down my dad just chewed me a new one, please…I’m sorry.”

“Yea yea no problem babe, and don’t worry about it. I’ll see you at school. Love you”

“Love you too.”

Lanie tossed the phone to her pillow numb from what had just transpired over the last thirty minutes. She had no time to process before her dad left. How was this her fault? She didn’t make the post. How was her explaining everything her father told her too her lying and talking badly behind her father’s back? This was too much for it being so early the birds weren’t even chirping yet! She got ready for school knowing that this wasn’t the end of her hearing about her “stabbing her dad in the back”.

 For the next week Lanie was woken up being told what a disappointment she was. The following two weeks were tense quietness, her father was ignoring her. She tried talking to him the first couple of days that he shut her out, but Lanie gave up knowing he wouldn’t break until he was ready. She didn’t know what she could do. On one hand she felt like she didn’t do anything wrong, she hadn’t lied about anything, but on the other hand she felt horrible that her dad was hurt. On the fourth week Terry and Lanie made the agreement that Lanie would try to smooth everything over with her father and if she couldn’t she was welcomed to use Terry’s spare bedroom. Lanie knew her father wasn’t budging from being angry, so she packed her room with trash bags. Once she was finished, she went out to the front yard where he had been working on the porch.

“Can we talk?”

“Lanie there’s not much to talk about.”

“What do you mean? I didn’t post it.”

“It’s not about the post Lanie, I’m not talking about this I’m busy.”

“You haven’t talked to me in weeks and you’re not even willing to try to work whatever this is out?”

“No Lanie there’s nothing to talk about I know who you are now that’s all there is too it.”

“If you really can’t talk to me about this then I can’t continue staying here living like this.”

She could see the words smacking him as she turned to grab her things. Those were the exact words Lanie’s mom said the night of the car accident. He didn’t try to stop he as she loaded her car in fact, he didn’t even bother giving it any attention. He just continued to fix the porch while she finished. 

     Lanie’s mind was racing, and tears stung as the fell down her face. How could he be so cold? She called Terry to tell her the news. Terry’s husband Karl met her at the door and helped her bring her things in and left her to it. Lanie could finally breath, she was hurt, but was now in a place where she didn’t feel unwanted…unloved.

     Summer came and went. Lanie still hadn’t spoken to her father. School started back and Lanie was doing good in school. She heard that the adoption had went through and that they had filled her room with her brother’s things. It was like she was never there.

Christmas was a week away when she received the call. Lanie rushed to the hospital and ran to the receptionist desk.

“I’m look for Marlin James.”

“Room 107 down the hall on the right”

Lanie wasn’t sure what kind of condition he was in, but she knew the car accident had been bad. She made her way down the hall trying to figure out the words to say. She stared at the door “Would he even talk to me?” “Would he be able to talk?” “Is he still mad?” She knew her father was a proud man and would never apologize for what he'd done. He was more of a sweeper. Sweep it under the rug and move on was like his life motto. The door creaked open; she could hear multiple monitors beeping as she stepped in. She rounded the curtain, and her father came into sight. He was okay, banged up, but okay. He had multiple casts on his body and stitches on his face.

Their eyes met as she stepped closer.

“Hey dad” offering a sheepish wave. “You look rough” Trying to break the awkward tension with bad humor was always nervous habit of hers.

“Lanie…thanks for coming. I’m all good kiddo, better now that you’re here...Listen kid can we just forget the last six months and move past all this craziness?”

Lanie was shocked he was being so nice... but to forget the last 6 months of being ignored and excommunicated. Being yelled at for a week about something she didn’t do. “Da- “

“Kid I know there’s a lot that happened and things that were said that shouldn’t have been, but I really need my best friend back, I…I-I can’t say what you want me to but I’m asking to mend our relationship…please. I just -I can’t say it.”

“We’re good dad, let’s just worry about fixing these old bones...”

Lanie knew this wasn't the apology she needed but it was the one she got. She had to accept it. Lanie needed the one parent she had left in her life. He wasn’t perfect that was for sure, but he was all she had…

-submitted 8/12/2016.“

Georgia knew he was mad that the comments were siding with Lanie and saying her father was gaslighting her and emotionally abusing her, and so on. Georgia had changed a few things in the story like the names and the accident, but everything else was true to the fight they had the year prior. She had moved back in after they “made up”. She only had a couple months left of senior year and she had saved up enough for a deposit for a place just in case, as to not burden anyone again. Georgia knew he would be a little upset, but figured he probably wouldn’t even read the newsletter. She had been wrong. “Well…let's see how long I’m ignored this time.” She thought to herself as the final bell rang.