Worth a Thousand Lies

“Mom! I’m home.” Mindi takes off her shoes as the family chug, Franklin, jumps all over her. Mindi drops her bookbag and picks up Franklin, as he is trying to lick her face. It was their daily routine, but seeing Franklin’s pug eyes and chihuahua body made Mindi’s heart melt after a long day of school. She heads from the front door to the kitchen, where- like everyday after school- she gets a glass of water. If she didn’t see her mother burning stuff in the backyard, it would be a perfect day. She puts down Franklin, and watches as he runs to the couch and hops up. He immediately falls asleep on the cushion. She laughed a little before deciding to check on her mother. 

Mindi walks outside and, to her horror, sees her mother burning family photos. “Mom? What are you doing?” Her mother was standing in her bathrobe, which was singed a little from the fire pit. Her new coffee cup from Mother’s Day was completely empty and dry. Her cheeks were stained from tears. Mindi saw the album, and they were pictures with her father. She saw the flames wrap around a picture from her 13th birthday, which was the last time she saw her father. Mindi tried to grab it, but it was too late. Her mother barely flinched. Mindi grabbed her by the shoulders. “What are you doing? Why are you burning pictures of Dad?” Her mother whispered something. Mindi was confused. “What? Mom, I can’t hear you.” She picked up the album. “Dad meant everything to me. He was a hero! Why are you trying to get rid of him?” She sat on a lawn chair, trying to see what remained. There were pictures from father-daughter dances, and there was even a picture of him and his friends in uniform. Her favorite photo of him was still there though. When Mindi was ten, her parents got into a food fight while baking her cake. Her aunt showed up and had to take a picture of the carnage. Everyone laughed, and it was something they could always laugh at. When her father died, she and her mom would see that picture and bring them a little bit of joy. So, Mindi was confused. Why would her mother burn their honeymoon pictures, or their engagement photos, their wedding photos, or even their baby shower photos. Nothing was making sense, and the fact that this was how her mother tried to heal made Mindi furious. “And burning his pictures? He died in a fire, Mom! What were you thinking?” Once again, her mother mumbled something. Mindi was once again confused, so she walked to her mom. “And you yell at me when I mumble? Answer me. Why are you doing this?” Her mother decided to speak up. She sobbed a little and gave Mindi a giant hug. “I can’t believe he would do this to us.” Mindi was still confused, but she let her mom cry. After a couple minutes, Mindi decided they needed to talk. “What did he do?” Her mom wouldn’t say anything. “Mom, tell me. I can handle it.” Her mother took a deep breath. “Mindi… It’s too much.” Mindi reassured her mother. “Tell me.” Her mother said something. Mindi asked her to clarify again. Her mother spoke up and told her to turn on the TV.

Mindi grabbed the photo album and walked inside. She walked to the living room and turned on the TV. The break in silence made Franklin jump, and he ran to Mindi for comfort. As Franklin was licking her hand, Mindi watched as she saw a man making a speech. His face is familiar, but his voice was exactly how she remembered it. Mindi sat down on the sofa and looked at the album. “Dad?” 

It was, without a doubt, Mindi’s father. The fireman. Her hero. The man who ran into a burning building and saved a family of nine. Every emotion possible came flooding into her mind. She, at first, cried tears of joy. Maybe he wanted to reach out to them! Maybe he wanted to begin the family again. Her tears of joy shifted as she watched a beautiful, much younger woman kiss him. “Dad? What are you doing?” She got closer to the screen, trying to make sense of everything. “Dad! It’s me! It’s your daughter. We miss you so much. Come back to us!” As she was staring at the screen, she saw reporters calling him by another name and saying that he was running for Congress. Suddenly, the TV clicked off. Mindi dried her eyes and turned around to see her mother. “Mom… what was that?”

Her mother sat on the sofa and gently placed the coffee mug on the coffee table. She tried to steady her hands, but decided to place them onto the cushions. “Your father… I was fine until you came home... “ Mindi walked over to the couch and helped Franklin into her mother’s lap. Her mother smiled a little, but took her daughter’s hand. “I don’t know what to say, so please give me some time.” She took in a deep breath. “I got a letter from your father the night he died… or… I guess, didn’t die.” She took it out of her pocket. “I guess his buddies at the station each wrote one in case something happened on the job.” She handed it to Mindi. “In it, he says that he loves us and will never forget us.” She took out another note. It was not in Mindi’s father’s handwriting. “This note came in this morning. In it, it states everything.” Mindi opened the second letter and saw an address, phone number, social security number, and other information. “Mom… what is this?” Mindi’s mom squeezed her hand. “I called the number this morning. I asked for that man, and she said that her husband was at a press conference. So, I turned on the news. That’s when I saw him.” Mindi’s mom looked in her eyes. “He never told me he was married, and I never knew we were his second family.”

Mindi’s face burned with rage. She stood up and threw the album on the ground. She started pacing back and forth. “There has to be a mistake, Mom. He wouldn’t just leave me. He wouldn’t just leave us! You saw the body. You identified his dead body. That doesn’t just happen.” Mindi’s mom gave her a hug. “He faked his own death.” Mindi thought about the closed casket funeral they had. The burial that they had for her father. She remembered her mother working three jobs to pay for it because the fire department couldn’t chip in (like they were supposed to). She remembered working summer jobs to help pay the bills. All of this so a stranger can run for Congress? 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. 

Franklin started barking up a storm as a note flew through the mail slot. Mindi went to pick it up, and it was a handwritten note. It was a copy Mindi’s favorite picture. It was her father on the left, her mother on the right, and her in the middle. The picture of the three of them in flour and baking powder. The note said the words “I hope you understand.” It was signed from her father. Not the strange man on TV, but the man that helped raise her. “Honey,” her mom started, “what is it?”

Mindi ran to the backyard to the fire pit. She looked at the note and the photo. She was so innocent. She thought she had the perfect family, but it turns out that everything was a lie to her. Mindi ripped up the thousand lies of her father and threw them into the fire. It was cathartic. She ran back inside and grabbed her mother. Franklin followed them outside. 

“We’re wrong. My father died when I was born. You raised me like no one ever could. You are my hero. You are the only person that matters.” She opened the album and threw in another picture. Her mother joined her. Soon, the once joyous memories of birthdays and anniversaries were left to the flames to decide. They started laughing as they cut out the stranger out of every photo. By the time they were done, the mother and daughter had a bunch of photos of the two of them. They were able to keep their memories without keeping his. Now, they would begin to heal. Mindi and her mother would never let anyone harm them like this again.