The night went by fast. I was woken up by a noise in the kitchen. It was probably my aunt, hung-over, hungry and looking for a plate of food. I didn’t go and check. I was not in the mood for her. I shut my eyes and forced myself to go back to sleep.

At around 7 a.m. my Mum woke me up and made me breakfast. I ate very slowly and took a bath without fussing about the time. My Dad was picking me up at 8:30 because his beautiful kids had a concert to go to. My aunt waited outside to see me off and to ask for money from my Dad.

We waited for hours, but he didn’t show up. I was happy. I didn’t care much about him not coming. I chilled in my room and watched movies for the rest of the day. Later that night, my Mum woke me up in tears, because my Dad had been in a car accident with his other children. My Dad was not my favourite person in the world, but he was still my father, so for a moment I felt shocked.

Mum hugged me so tight that I couldn’t breathe. She was horrified. Despite what my Dad had done to her, she still loved and cared for him dearly. We woke up early that morning to go and visit him in hospital. We found Natalie – his beautiful perfect wife – in the waiting area. Mum and Aunt said their greetings to her, but I just sat down and carried on with my phone. I couldn’t care less about how she felt.

She hadn’t cared when she took my Dad away from me. She looked so drained, as if she hadn’t slept or eaten for weeks. Besides all of that, I noticed that her outfit was very nice. I wouldn’t exactly say that it was “hot”, because she didn’t deserve such compliments. I had always liked her sense of style. She had good taste, and a nice body too. Everything about her was graceful. That was probably why Dad had fallen for her. She was pretty. Even Mum would say that every time we saw her at church.

The doctor came in and asked for Dad’s wife. Mum and Natalie jumped up at the same time. My Mum was still my Dad’s wife, traditionally. The doctor understood and talked to both of them. Natalie came back looking relieved. Her children were stable, and they would soon allow her to go and see them. We sat in the waiting area in silence, waiting for the doctors to assist us. While Natalie went to see her children, the doctor came in and we all stood up, waiting to hear the news.

“We did everything we could,” said the doctor sadly. “I’m very sorry. He lost a lot of blood.”

Mum let out a loud cry that shocked everyone around us. We had to put her back on her seat to calm her down.

*****

I couldn’t sleep the night before the funeral. I sat on my bed and an upheaval of emotions that I couldn’t even begin to express came rushing in. I cried like it was the last day on earth. I tried praying, but no words came out. It hurt very badly to know that I hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye. Memories of my Dad made my situation worse. Have you ever cried to the point were you feel like you can’t breathe anymore? Well, that was what was happening to me.

Mum was not around to comfort me. She was at my Dad’s place, helping out with the funeral preparations. I was left with the kids. I listened to music right through the night, until it was morning.

We got ready for the funeral and a car came to fetch us. The funeral was a drag, because the two families were fighting. I mean, it was a funeral, but it didn’t look like one. I was so grateful when it was over. We said our goodbyes to Dad, and that was it. I couldn’t wait to get home, back to reality.

Weeks passed. Before things could get back to normal, my Dad’s lawyer came to our house one day.

He took us to my Dad’s house for a brief meeting. When we got there, my Dad’s family was waiting for us. We all settled down and the lawyer started to talk and explain everything. He was there to talk to us about my Dad’s will. My Dad had left nothing for my Mum and I, except for the house we lived in, which my Mum paid bills for. He had left everything else to Natalie and her children. My Dad’s family were left with a few thousand.

I didn’t know why they had dragged us there. It had just been a waste of time. I thought to myself that this surely showed what my Mum and I had meant to my Dad: NOTHING. To be honest, I hadn’t gotten my hopes up, because I knew that I would get nothing from my Dad. I mean, he had left me to struggle with my Mum, without any sort of support. His money didn’t matter to me, even though I knew how badly my family needed it.

***

Tell us what you think: Charlotte’s situation seems to go from bad to worse. What do you think her options are? How can she help her family?