Page 123 - Reason To Sing by Kelita Haverland

Chapter Twenty One

one that I have grown so aware of. It’s creeping all over me.
It begins in the pit of my stomach. Shame on behalf of my
departed mother. And then the shame quickly multiplies and
twists into a trio of fear, pain and betrayal.
Why? Why so soon? Why did he not cover his tracks?
Who is this woman he is seeing? Who is she, really? Why is he
lying? Does he think I’m stupid?

~~~

It doesn’t take long before Mike and this new woman are in
a full-blown relationship. Soon it is out in the open and their
love affair is moving quickly. They marry in a private ceremony
fifteen months after my mother’s death. The bright side is now
Vian and I have a stepmother; someone else to help with the
cooking and cleaning.
We have more siblings too. Yes, this crazy family grows
again! First there are the five of us kids. But my brothers are
long gone and living on their own. Jimmy is married and now
living in Alberta, Frankie has escaped to Australia and Billy
has been travelling somewhere in Southeast Asia. As soon as
Mom passed away Billy and Frankie were gone. Far away gone.
Mike’s two daughters and son are living on their own. Our
new stepmom has three girls and one son. The two youngest, a
boy and girl, have come to live with us.
With all the different families coming together, there
are now twelve kids in this convoluted menagerie! There are
stepbrothers and sisters, half-brothers, deceased parents and
divorced parents. And then there’s alcohol abuse, babies up for
adoption, multiple abortions, drug abuse and even prostitution.
You never really know what is going on behind the doors of
this so-called family. So many secrets and lies. Everything

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