The Writer’s Corner features poetry, essays, short stories, satire and various fiction and non-fiction from SCAD Atlanta students. To submit your own work for the Writer’s Corner, email features@scadconnector.com.
Family Matters by Allison Hambrick
We entered the base when my sister started playing with my door handle. I remember falling, hitting the pavement and waking up circled by a group of young marines. Their sighs of relief let me know I wasn’t dead. When they arrived at my parents’ house, Abby was shocked. She hadn’t realized I was gone.
The next years ran together. I kept my head down, did my school work and gave my parents no reason to concern themselves with me. Daphne did the opposite. Skipped classes. Aborted teen pregnancies. Many more things she probably didn’t tell me. Somehow, we found common ground in adolescence — unlike most teenage siblings. Daphne went from pain in my ass to my closest friend.
“Cam, I have to tell you something.”
The words that came next shattered my existence. My father, who was supposed to protect and love us, took advantage of her, and Abby insisted that she made the whole thing up for attention. Daphne told me not to say a word, but I was always a big mouth.
My sister got no justice. I raised a big enough stink that we had to relocate again, this time to Atlanta. Things were never the same between Daphne and me. Any semblance of trust I had built up with my parents was decimated. I knew I messed up, but all I wanted was to protect my sister.
Not long after the move, Abby fell pregnant. Lucky for the baby, he was a boy, Michael. I wanted to abandon my family at 18. I wanted to leave and never look back. Some things are easier said than done, especially with the ones you love in the mix. I cared about my sister, so I stayed close to home for college. Abby needed help taking care of Michael, so I lived at home. I gave up my scholarships to Georgia Tech because my father didn’t think my education was his problem. I suppose he was right.
I was working job two of three when I met Wynnie. Like me, she was a student. Unlike me, she was an only child, unfamiliar with the pain I knew too well. I loved and envied her. Without her, I didn’t have the strength to move on.
The straw that broke the camel’s back came after I met her parents. I was arriving home no later than usual, but the door was locked. I banged and screamed to no avail. Embarrassed to return to Wynnie’s, I spent the cold, winter night in my car. I ended up with pneumonia, forcing me to confess the truth to my girlfriend about my family.
Now, it’s been about seven years since I saw my family. I miss my brother. He would be 10 years old. I shudder to think what he’s been told about me or my wife. My sister calls, but I don’t answer. I love her, and I wish I could help her. There are some demons that you have to overcome alone. I have a nephew. I don’t know him.
Wynnie and I are happy. We have a beautiful little girl and another on the way. I never thought I’d be a father to girls. All I want is for them to be happy and to never know the pain Daphne and I had. My daughter, Kayley, asks about her, the woman who leaves incoherent messages on the answering machine. I tell her the truth.
“Aunt Daphne is a sad woman with problems. She is not a bad person, just sad.”
Kayley astounds me every day. Watching her grow, watching her learn. All of it reminds me why I gave up my brother and sister. It wasn’t for me. It was for her.
Now, I sit with my daughter in the waiting room. Her sister is coming today. She doesn’t yet understand how her life is about to change.
