SHORT STORY
Aftermath Part 1 of 2
A young woman returns to her estranged mother after leaving a cult.
‘After all you’ve done, after all the pain you’ve caused, do you honestly think you can put everything right with a phone call?’
Jenny’s heart sank as her mother’s words pierced her from the other end of the receiver. But as she stood in the phone box, staring out at the drizzle, keeping an eye on her six-year-old son Luke in the back seat of her nearby parked Ford Cortina, Jenny forced down the guilt squirming in her stomach, for his sake. She had to swallow her pride.
‘Mum, I’m sorrier than you can possibly know. I’m aware I’ve caused a lot of pain. I know I don’t deserve to be welcome in your home. Believe me, as soon as I can get back on my feet, I will find my own place. But unless you let us stay, Luke and I are sleeping in the car tonight. We’ve nowhere else to go.’
Jenny listened to the heavy sigh from her mother. ‘Why didn’t you call earlier? Before you were kicked out?’
‘I’d been building up to telling you. I knew how angry you’d be. But I hoped to be able to call you without also having to beg you for a roof over my head. I was ashamed.’
