I Was About To Understand What The Word Evil Truly Meant! (42/73)

I spent the remainder of the week in Morinville splitting my time between my stepmother Dot and Vicki. It was nice spending time with them. My days with Dot were when my Father was at work and Vicki and Lawrence were at school. I would spend time with Vick when she got home after school. On Friday, Dot and I went to watch her volleyball tournament. I enjoyed watching Vicki play. She was a beast on the court. I was proud to watch her crucify the other team with her hard-hitting spikes across the court to score the point. It looked like so much fun.

Before I knew it, Sunday was here and it was time for me to go home and get ready for school the next day. I was dreading the thought of going home, but it was what I choose. I had talked to my Mother a couple of times over the week and she assured me that Jack would not be around the house. She did not intend to let him back into our lives. She wanted me to feel safe to come home. Truth be told, I did not really feel safe anywhere as long as Jack was out of jail. What would stop him from coming to the house? This thought echoed through my head on the drive home. If it happened, I would run away again. I would keep running until it stopped. The thought terrified me but there was also strength in that fear. Knowing I had to the power to run.

The house had been reasonably put back together while I had been gone. You could see that the all the kitchen cupboards were in the middle of a face-lift. Grandma Lois obviously took the opportunity to upgrade the cupboards after they were destroyed. New curtains were hung in the dining room and living room. The holes in the walls had also been taped up and were ready to be painted. However, no renovations or paint could wipe away the stains that covered this place. The stains that nobody saw but me.

I settled into my room and unpacked my bag from my Fathers. I was not quite sure how to feel about being back in my bedroom. It was comforting to be around my things but there was an underlying nervousness about being in the house. Many evil things had taken place here. No matter how hard I tried, I could not wipe the memories from my mind. In that moment, I wondered why I choose to come back. Why didn’t I stay in Morinville. A part of me felt like the choice was never mine. It was if the choice had already been made for me, as if something had a hold of me, a hold of my soul. I had been claimed by this evil darkness that was not going to let go of me without one hell of a fight. I was somehow destined to come back to this house. To come back to hell.

You could feel the darkness in the house. Even in Jacks absence. Like he left a trace of his actions in the air. An evil that I was only beginning to get to know. In this moment, I had no way to know that things were only going to get worse. Everything I had endured up to this point was nothing compared to what laid in store for me. I was about to understand what the word evil truly meant!

Things would be quiet around the house for the remainder of November. The trial was set for some time in the beginning of the New Year in January. In the meantime, my Mother had to attend mediation to see if things could be resolved outside of the courtroom. I hated knowing that she had to be in the same room as Jack. I did not want him to be anywhere near her. I was worried that he would convince her that he was sorry and find a way to wiggle his way back into our lives. She had no will power with him. It was as if he had some sort of control over her.

It would soon be December and we were going to have the entire family over for Christmas this year. My entire mother’s side. Aunts, Uncles, cousins… everyone. We had never all been together for Christmas before. I was looking forward to having a nice time without Jack being around to interfere with it. But I was always scared that he was coming back. It was as if I somehow knew that all this hell was not over yet. Then on a cold Thursday night in early December after my mother returned from mediation my fear was about to become a reality.

When she walked in the door, I could tell something was different. Her mood seemed lighter, happy even. She sat me down and explained to me that her and Jack had been talking and that he was getting help for what he did but that he wants to come home. She expressed that she wanted him to come home as well. Especially considering it would soon be the holidays. She did not want him to be alone over Christmas.

I was completely shocked as I heard her say the words. I knew there was a chance she would take him back but I never thought she could so easily look over what he did. So quickly. Boy was I was wrong, he was coming back. Jack would be returning and there was nothing I could do to stop it!