Going Home Read online

  Table of Contents

  About The Book And The Author

  Colophon

  Empty House

  Consequences

  Search

  Training

  Routine

  Bankruptcy

  Work

  Threat

  Doubts

  Sport

  Mint Leaf

  Absconding

  Digital Footprint

  Mail

  Friends

  On Step

  Secret

  Found Out?

  Left

  Scholarship

  Love Sickness

  Traveling

  Meeting

  Confrontation

  The Destination

  Accountability

  About The Book And The Author

  About The Book:

  16-year-old Merry comes home from school and finds a note from her mother, who says she left home to start a new life. Merry and her two brothers are alone.

  Afraid that they will be placed in foster homes when someone finds out, Merry and her 17-year-old brother Zach agree to tell nobody that their mother has disappeared.

  While Merry and Zach struggle to lead the household alone, their younger brother’s kindergarten teacher notices something is wrong and she starts to poke around.

  Meanwhile, Merry and Zach discover details about the secret life of their mother…

  * * *

  This book is written as part of the November 2017 NaNoWriMo action.

  National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.

  See https://nanowrimo.org

  About The Author:

  Jan Prins (1946) studied, among other things, Economics. After a career as a Director in Healthcare, he chose to do what he likes best: writing. He did so frequently in his work, but he also wrote all sorts of stories, made Blogs and Websites and held lectures. Winning an essay competition led him to combine his stories in his first book “Stripes”. In the meantime many books and publications have been published, some of which are in English.

  He prefers to write about what drives people: about how they deal with each other, ups and downs, in short: life itself. All that against the background of the changing society.

  Previously Published:

  Pensionado

  Dutch Stories of his most famous region

  The Thinker Tells

  Rituals and Freemasonry

  And much more in Dutch

  More information can be found www.janprins.com

  Colophon

  This book is pure fiction, it falls under the so called faction genre. Fictitious events are mixed and displayed against and in a historical background.

  Insofar as the events described approach reality, this is purely coincidental and does not have the pretension or purpose of describing and / or reproducing that reality.

  All persons in this book have been created by the author. Some resemblance to deceased or still alive persons is based on pure coincidence.

  Credits:

  Release: April 2018

  Publisher: Jan Prins www.janprins.com

  Translated from Dutch by: Eoin Finnegan

  © 2018 Jan Prins (Standard Copyright License)

  Cover image: Fotolia 164233328

  ISBN / EAN: 9781980656289 Paperback

  ASIN: B079WPG41F E-book

  NUR: 338

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in an automated database, or made public, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any other way, without prior written permission from the publisher. This does not include the cases of short quotations for the benefit of reviews and articles.

  All events and people

  are imaginary.

  For Willy

  Empty House

  The city of Bowie in Maryland is located in the northeast of the United States near the Canadian border. The spring sun shone pleasantly over this city and the beautiful region in which it lay.

  The school bell of the Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie went and marked the end of the school day. The teacher quickly gave a final assignment, but the pupils did not hear it: they quickly packed their backpacks and crowded to the door to go home.

  Merry’s group of friends chatted outside and then went to the snack bar around the corner to sip and drink Cola. The snack bar owner saw them go rather than come: he was crazy about their banter, like a chicken coop, but yes, he also had to live so he received them friendlily and took their orders. They talked a lot about the exam that they had just taken in May at their Middle School, about the holidays they were going to celebrate and whether they had a job in September or if they were going to study.

  But everything came to an end, they bid farewell and each went their own way home. Merry cycled together with her friend Anna towards Teal Lane 13 in Bowie, Maryland. “Well until tomorrow Merry, give my greetings to Zach!” Anna called after her. Teal Lane was located in a beautiful forest area with beautiful gardens surrounded by tightly shaved hedges in Bowie. Merry opened the garden gate and rode to the shed in the garden to put her bicycle in there. At ease, she walked to the back door, took off the lock and walked inside. “I’m home, Mom!” She cried.

  “Where are you?” She cried when she heard nothing. Only silence. Oh well, she’s probably doing a message, Merry thought to herself and pulled a bottle of Spa out of the fridge, plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. While she was watching a soap opera, a note on the coffee table suddenly drew her attention. She picked it up to read and the next moment, her heart stopped.

  “Dear Merry, Zach and Ethan,

  If you read this I am already far away to start a new life somewhere else. There are important reasons for me to do that and here I am unhappy despite your love. Later you will understand that. Merry and Zach, you are big enough to be able to look after your little brother Ethan, I’ve been waiting for that moment, yes, I looked forward to it! Your father unfortunately passed away too early, otherwise he could have received you, but now that you are old enough you can do it yourself. I love you very much and will miss you very much, but I have no choice: I have to leave, it is too dangerous here. You may not talk about the fact that I am gone, because I must first be really very far away from running into danger. I wish you all the best and many kisses from your mother forever,

  Carolyn

  PS: money is in the kitchen cupboard”

  Taken aback, Merry dropped into the couch, tears welled up and she stared empty-eyed at the note her mother had left behind. Suddenly she stood up and rushed up the stairs: maybe Mother Carolyn was just upstairs ironing or something. But there was no sign of life anywhere.

  Merry ran into the bedroom: empty! She tore open the wardrobe and stared desperately into an empty space: all clothing and shoes were gone! Unbelievable! Systematically, Merry searched the rest of the house: the bathroom, the other bedrooms, yes even the attic and the cellar, but not a living soul was there, let alone a mother.

  She read the note again and more and more questions arose: what danger did she have? Why was she unhappy? Why so suddenly and why had she never said anything? More and more questions…

  Merry grabbed the phone and called her mother’s best friend, maybe she was there. But no she had spoken to her yesterday, but not today. “Why?” She asked. “No, but then she definitely went to the shops, I think I already hear her” Merry answered, suddenly remembering the warning from her mother that she was not allowed to say anything to anyone.

 
She put the phone down and burst out crying: where the hell was she going? How was she supposed to be with them? Why can no one know what? What would Zach say? And then Ethan, that little child of just five years, who was put to bed every night by his mother and first a story had to be read. How should we explain that?

  Crying she lay on the couch, thinking of all the problems that suddenly had come, suddenly: she was just at school and now literally her mother has left her alone! Wait where was that mobile number? She will call in a moment, this is not possible!

  She turns angrily and calls Carolyn’s mobile number, but unfortunately she doesn’t hear anything. She tries a few more times, but it does not work, even the voicemail does not work. It seems like the phone is just dead! Unbelievable: mother runs away and she does not even pick up her phone! Just scandalous!! And she calls herself a mother! Just leaves everything behind and leaves us alone, leaving her three children behind alone!

  Increasingly, she calls her older brother Zach, he is already seventeen years old, who is at baseball training. But -how is it possible- he does not take it! He is certainly busy with his training. It must not get any crazier! Always playing baseball, he does nothing else! And just when you need him he is not there, again. Angrily she kicked the couch and wished baseball to hell.

  She grabs another can of Coke from the fridge and looks furiously around the room. What a situation, she thinks and does not know what to do. Suddenly her eye falls on the clock, which stands in the corner of the room, and sees that it is already four o’clock! At that time, Ethan is to be collected from the Bowie Preschool! Quickly she pulls on her jacket and runs to the school that fortunately is not that far away from their house.

  Panting she arrives and sees her brother sitting on the Bowie Preschool fence with an angry looking lady, Megan, next to him. “Girl do not you know that the school goes out at four o’clock? Fortunately I saw Ethan standing here, otherwise he might have walked away or worse-he would have gone with someone. Who knows what would have happened then. This may not happen anymore!!”

  “Apologies, ma’am, it will not happen again” Merry said with difficulty. Now she got the blame too! But she better go home soon and keep silent about it, otherwise she might get suspicious, and that shouldn’t happen!

  “Look Merry what a beautiful drawing I made for mommy” exclaimed an enthusiastic Ethan. “Wonderful! Let’s go quickly”. Slowly they walked home and Ethan enthusiastically told about what he had done, played outside and made a nice drawing.

  “Why did you come to get me and not Mama?” He asked, looking up at his sixteen-year-old sister. “Mama called me, she has to work a little longer and come home later. She asked me to pick you up” but it did not come out so credibly. But little Ethan, at only five years old, did not notice that something was wrong.

  At home she poured him lemonade and gave him a bowl of chips, he was crazy about them. “It is so quiet, weird that mommy is not there yet,” he said. Merry looked at him quietly; what did she say? “Come on, let’s build a castle from the Lego” “Yes, nice!”

  And so time went on. But where was Zach? And what were they to eat?

  Finally she heard his bike rattle as it was thrown into the shed. Boys! A bag was thrown into the hallway and her big brother Zach strolled in at one meter ninety. “What are we eating today?” He asked and looked expectantly into the kitchen. But it was empty… “Where is Mum?” He asked and looked surprised at a Lego-playing sister. “Ethan” asked Merry “do you want to get more Lego upstairs? Then we can make the castle even bigger”. Ethan nodded obediently and went upstairs.

  “Zach, please come and sit with me and read this”, asked Merry, and amazed he met her request and sat beside her on the couch. He picked up Carolyn’s letter, read it with ever more astonished look, and looked at his sister incomprehensively. “Is this a joke like that?” “If only it wasn’t true, no, it really is. Mom is gone, she has taken all her clothes and shoes with her. She does not answer the phone either,” Merry said crying.

  “Yes, that will be beautiful…” He grabbed his cell phone and pressed her number, but no answer, the line was dead. He looked at the phone screen with a surprised, but also angry look, and when the truth finally came to him, he threw the device furiously through the room. “What does she think! Does she have a lover or something? This is not normal? What should we do now?”.

  Ethan stepped into the room, dragging a bucket of Lego blocks. “Why are you mad? Have I been naughty?” Zach grabbed his brother and tried to reassure him: “Come on, then I’ll help you with your Lego.” He said “And Merry, we’ll talk about it later on “.

  Ethan looked at his brother strangely. “But you never help me. Why now? What happened?” and as if he felt it, he became very annoying and listless and kept asking for his mother. “Mommy still has to work and she asked if we would only want to eat a pizza, do you want to do that?” “Yes, yummy”, Ethan snapped up that idea. But he kept looking at the tearful face of Merry and why was Zach so angry?

  The pizza delivery arrived at half past seven and Merry paid with the money that her mother had put in the kitchen cupboard. She had already covered the table and there they were, without a mother. “Is it nice Ethan?” It came out somewhat forced. Ethan again put a piece of pizza in his mouth as an answer. They washed everything away with the last Coke cans that were in the fridge.

  Sesame Street was turned on TV and Ethan was completely absorbed in what happened to Bert and Ernie, his favorites. Zach and Merry looked at each other uncomfortably and continually looked at the clock to see if it was already bedtime for Ethan. But it seemed like the clock was running slower tonight, but at last it was eight o’clock.

  Merry went upstairs with Ethan, undressed him, brushed his teeth, let him pee and put him in bed. But he did not give up easily. “Mom always reads,” he said to Merry and she could not escape reading the famous Disney story about the three pigs. Finally his eyes fell and she could quietly sneak down where Zach awaited her with sorrow to discuss the situation.

  For lack of a better idea, they drank Spa and had some chips. They looked at each other sadly and at the same time asked the frightening question “What do we do now?”.

  “Will we inform dad’s parents, our grandfather and grandmother? Mom’s have already passed away a long time ago. Maybe they can take care of us, “said Merry. “Hold on,” said Zach, “I must not think about it. Do you remember the fuss that happened when Dad died? You can not expect anything from that kind of people. They are old and no longer of this time. That will only be a fight”. “Was it so bad?” “You were too young to realize it, but it was awful,” said Zach shuddering.

  “But apart from that, they would quietly put us in an orphanage. And the question is whether we can stay together,” he added. “An orphanage, do you mean that?” “Yes, I mean that. We are minors and they would do that”. Merry wiggled her arms around her, looked anxiously at her brother, and began to weep softly, “But what then?” she murmured.

  “There is only one solution: we have to keep it secret that Mom is gone and take care of ourselves, no matter how difficult it is”. “Agreed”, see Merry “fortunately, mom left some money in the kitchen cupboard, we can get around the first few days. But then we have to find a solution to get money to live on”. “Say what! It is really unbelievable that she left us in this situation! Dad is no longer there and then she also just goes!!” furiously, Zach kicked a chair through the room. “Just shameful!! “

  Merry looked at him “And what do we say to Ethan? That mom is on a long business trip?”. “Agreed, it can not be any different”, Zach replied and wept to his sister crying and buried his face in her long blond hair. Shocked with grief and anger, he cried bitter tears, the big tough sportsman broke. Merry put her arms around him and so the two sat on the couch for a long time, crying with grief and overwhelmed by a powerless feeling.

  What will their future be?

  Many words were still
being spoken and it was already near three that they fell asleep together on the sofa. They did not want to go upstairs, not to their own rooms. Above was emptiness, no dad and now no mom either. There they had nothing to look for, the thought of going there paralyzed them. They stayed together and in their sleep -for what it was worth- innumerable thoughts haunted their heads.

  Consequences

  The morning light shone in his eyes and slowly Zach awoke from a terrible sleep, he felt tired and dirty. He looked down at his sister Merry who lay close to him, as if seeking protection from her big brother. He looked at her for a long time, and at last he cautiously unhooked from her embrace and looked down at her: what was to become of her? He quietly crept up the stairs and walked to the bathroom. He took a cold shower to get back to his positives. He brushed his teeth and shaved off his flabby beard. Put on clean clothes and walked down gently. The smell of fried eggs met him, and he found his sister in the kitchen welcoming him with a warm smile and she kissed him good morning. “She had to stand on her toes to get to him!

  “You are up early. I thought you would surprise me with fried egg with bacon. That was the only thing left in the fridge! “Zach looked at her and his face spoke volumes. “Why would she have done this?” He asked, “would she have thought it too difficult to educate us? Dad has been dead for years now and she was there alone and we do not always make it easy for her. Or would she have a secret lover, whom she does not want to know for us? Or would she have something on her mind, would she have committed a crime? Money stolen from her boss or something? “.

  Merry looked at him strangely. “You think very bad things, but yes you are right it can be anything. The strange thing is that she never talked about anything. I have never noticed anything “.