Page 40 - Reason To Sing by Kelita Haverland

Reason To Sing

“Your father has been receiving all these letters from
someone he met when he was away in the hospital.” Daddy
had gone to the States for treatment and was away for a long
time, that’s all I knew. Mommy held out a handful of letters
to prove her point. “Just look at them all!” I could tell she was
hurt. And she was angry too.
After that she started making more trips into the big city.
And as soon as she was gone, Daddy would dive into his secret
drinks. I never saw him pour the vodka, not once. But all of
a sudden, he would become withdrawn and sad. Then came
the crying. That’s when I would get scared. I couldn’t wait for
Mommy to come back home. For everything to be normal
again.
Today is not normal. Today is confusing and upsetting. It
feels like we are running away. We are leaving our beautiful
new home, our school, all our friends and our ranch. But worst
of all we are leaving Daddy. I’m only 11 years old. I still need
my Daddy!
Nearly two hours later I can see the big city on the horizon
as we come over the last hill. This part of the drive has always
been my favourite. There are beautiful sprawling ranch houses
with freshly painted white fences. I see horses playing with
their colts and red and brown cattle spotting the fields. When
we get closer to the city limits, the traffic gets heavier. Today
the highway is super busy (at least busy for us country folk).
We pass the gigantic grain elevator in Midnapore and then
turn off the main road. Mommy seems to know where she’s
going as she navigates a maze of smaller streets. We enter one
last avenue lined with two-storey townhouses and Mommy
pulls the car up to the curb and parks.
“Okay, kids. Let’s get out and everyone help unpack, okay?”
She searches in her purse as she heads towards #12. Standing

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