The problems in our family started more than three years ago. When I had gotten half way through high school I started to think for myself more. I began to question that which I had before simply accepted. When you live in a traditional family, this does not help to create a peaceful environment. I soon completely rejected my family's Catholic beliefs, and this did not go over well with my parents, especially my father.
But that was not the real problem. The real problems began when my little sister began to follow my lead. I had always been very close to my sister, and as younger siblings often do she had a tendency to emulate my behaviors. In this case, however, she took it a step further. Rather than a rational rejection of an illogical belief system, she went into plain rebellion. My parents blamed me for her disobedience, and I soon fell out of favor with them.
When I finished high school I immediately went to an out of state college to get some distance between us, and everyone was happier for it. In fact, I had not even been home to see my parents and seldom spoken to them in the two years I had spent there. Now I sat in my room, quite surprised to be on the phone with my mother.
"So, how are things going Sophie?"
"They're fine Mom."
"Are you still keeping your grades up?"
"Yes Mom, you know I am." I had never had any problems getting good grades, and my mother knew this. It was ridiculous for her to ask, not to mention out of character.
There was a long pause, neither of us speaking. I got the distinct impression that there was something she wanted to say but could not find the courage to do so. This belief was fed by the fact that this was only the fourth or fifth time we had spoken since I had moved off to school. There had to be a reason for the call.
"So, what's up?"
"It's - well, it's Maggy."
"What's wrong now?" I tried to make my annoyance plain. I'd had more than enough of being blamed for my sister's actions. They were her responsibility, not mine.
"Nothing's wrong, actually. Quite the opposite," she was trying not to sound confrontational. "It seems she's finally settled down. She's going to church again, and she's become really good friends with Jennifer Dover."
Jennifer Dover? That made no sense. Jennifer Dover was a good little churchy girl, and Maggy and I had never liked her. Why would Maggy hang out with her? "Jennifer Dover? The short fat girl?"
"Sophie! Don't be so cruel!"
"Life is cruel mother."
We have had conversations in the direction this was leading before. She knew where we were going and bit her tongue. There was another long pause. I had plenty of resentment built up, and I didn't want to make it any easier for her to say whatever it was she was going to say, so I kept my mouth shut.
Finally, she spoke. "Your father is very happy with the way things are going now."
"That's great," I replied, making sure my words dripped with sarcasm. My father had always been far more difficult and angry about the situation than mother, his happiness meant little to me at this point in time.
"He's . . . He's cooled down a bit. I - What I'm trying to say is I talked to him, and we want you to come back home for the summer. It's been too long Sophie."
Now I was really shocked. I just sat with my mouth open, my thoughts racing.
"Sophie, are you there?"
"I'm not changing, mother. Your not going to try to convert me are you?"
"I know! I know! All we want is to see you Sophie. It's not right for us to live like this. Won't you please think about it?"
After a while I reluctantly agreed, though I was kicking myself for it after I hung up the phone. I anxiously finished the last two weeks of the quarter, then prepared for my return home. The trial that I knew that I must face was never far from my mind. While our differences might have been slightly reconciled, the rift was by no means repaired. It interfered with my studies a bit, but as I said I have always had good grades and the impact wasn't that great.
Finally the day arrived and I returned home. As I pulled up to the house, the sight brought back a lot of memories, most of the more recent ones unpleasant. The last fight I had had with my parents entered my mind. They had been trying to talk to me about being a negative influence on Maggy for quite a while, but now they were accusing me of "corrupting" her. That had been the last straw. The next day I had calmly and coldly informed them I was moving out, and we had hardly spoken since.
As I got out of the car my reminiscing was interrupted by the sight of my mother running out to greet me, tears running down her face. Immediately she embraced me.
"Oh Sophie! It's been too long. Far too long!"
As she gripped me, some of my anger finally melted and gave way. I softened, and I returned her embrace. Soon I was crying as well. The stony facade that I had prepared was crumbling. As much as I hated to admit it, I was truly happy to be back home. The welcome I got from my father was not nearly the same, but there was finally some warmth between us again. Maggy was not yet home from school, she still had a few days to go before she was done with her last year of highschool. So mom and dad and I sat in the living room and exchanged small talk. We avoided any deep conversation topics, as nobody wanted to stir up painful memories. It was a little awkward, but at least no one was angry.
Before long Maggy got home, and to my surprise she had brought Jennifer Dover with her. Also surprising was Jennifer's appearance. She was no longer "short and fat". At some point she had gone through a growth spurt and lost some of her girth. While she was by no means skinny, I definitely wouldn't call her fat. Full-bodied is more like it. In her white dress shirt, long black skirt, and knee-high boots and with her brunette braids that reached down to her waist she still looked like a good little church girl, but she was damn cute. I'd bet she made a lot of boys wish she was naughty.
My little sister didn't look bad either. She was still quite a bit shorter than me (but then again I am quite tall), but her body had developed nicely since I had seen her last. Her breasts had grown out. They weren't very large, but had a nice shape; and her hips had also flared out a bit, so she didn't look quite so tomboyish. The most striking feature was her fiery red hair, cut short but still a tangled mess anyway, just as I remembered it. We really didn't look very similar. My hair was relatively straight, and platinum blonde. Where she was athletic, I was more like a model. At times it was hard to believe we were related at all.
My sister and I embraced, though without the tears that my reunion with my mother evoked. She introduced me to Jennifer, who meekly mumbled something I didn't understand and blushed a little, and then they were off to my sister's room to study for a history final. Maggy hadn't seemed as excited to see me again as I had hoped. I wanted to spend some time with my kid sister, but well did I know the rigors of academic life.
For a while things were really not that interesting for a while. Everyone got along fine. Mom and Dad spent a lot of time at work and a lot of time helping out at the local church, so I didn't spend a lot of time with them, but when they were around we got along fine. Maggy seemed to genuinely have been "rehabilitated", and all was going well. She did spend the majority of her time with Jennifer, which I found rather odd, but this seemed to please my parents so I avoided bringing it up.
About ten days after my return home, we got a phone call from some out-of-state relatives. One of my dad's cousins had gotten in a car accident. She was hospitalized, and not likely to make it. She and dad had been very close when they were younger, so my parents immediately flew out to see her. Since Maggy and I had never even met her, we stayed home.
Maggy and Jennifer had just finished school, and both were as of yet unemployed, so they were both home all day. I found their behavior to be more than just a little strange. They both seemed quite a bit more touchy-feely than normal. Whenever Maggy happened to place her hand upon Jennifer it would linger there far longer than it should have, and whenever I had my back turned one of them would end up giggling. When I turned back toward them, Jennifer's face would always be blushed. Knowing Jennifer to be the good girl that she was, I tried for the most part to ignore it.
That night Jennifer stayed over, and I got the surprise of my life. In the middle of the night I got up to use the restroom, and as I was going back toward my room I heard noises coming from the living room. I thought that maybe someone had left the TV on, and so I went to turn it off. What I saw froze me in my tracks.