"You look so gorgeous in that! Do you like it?"
"Sure. We can get this one." Chloe didn’t even smile. She wanted Becky to take the dresses back to the store.
"Sweetie, this is your big day. You should wear the gown of your dreams, not just pick one to get it over with. Here, try on this."
"Let's just get the first one. It fits fine; we won't have to get it altered."
"Chloe, talk to me."
"Actually, I was going to go take a quick nap before Matthew comes home. Take my card out of my purse over there and buy it when you return the others." Without waiting for a response, she walked out of the room and closed her bedroom door.
Becky returned all the dresses to the store. She wanted to talk to Matthew while he was out of earshot of Chloe. After she handed the dresses to the sales lady, she went to the parking lot and sat in her car.
"I'm really worried about her, Matthew. The wedding is in less than a month, and she doesn't even have a gown picked out. She loves you to pieces, I know this for a fact, so you're not the cause. This has everything to do with her parents. A mother is supposed to be out shopping for a wedding gown with her daughter. A mother is supposed to be helping to plan the big day. Her mother is here, but missing all at the same time. I'd go shake the crap out of Sylvia, but the last thing the guards would allow is me back on her property. I'm trying to get her to talk about it. I know she's sad and everything, but is there something I don't know?"
"She wrote a letter to her parents but didn't want to mail it. I don't know what I'm going to do. Something has to happen though or there won't be a wedding, and I'm afraid there won't be a Chloe. She's very depressed. I've respected her privacy regarding that letter, but now I think it's best if I read it."
"Part of me wants to argue with you because she wanted that letter to be private. But I think it's time we found out."
"Can you get her out of the house?"
"Yeah, I can get her to leave, just as long as where we're going doesn’t have anything to do with the wedding."
When Matthew got home, Chloe was gone. Becky convinced her to go to a bookstore and promised him to have her out until nine that evening. At first she wasn't going to go, but when Becky started to beg, she went just to get her to hush. Matthew didn't even shower or change first. He went right to the bedroom and opened up the tablet. He sighed in relief when he saw the letter sitting there. It would be just as difficult for him to read as it was for Chloe to write. He took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of the bed and began to read:
Dear Sylvia and Earl,
I feel funny calling you by your first names, but 'Mom and Dad' feels even more out of place. I don't think those titles are there to describe what someone is, but rather what they do. You're either a mom or dad, or you're not. It sounds complicated but it really isn't. I'm your biological daughter, which makes you my mother and father. But you're not my mom and dad. I'm sure you don't mind though, Sylvia. The few times I got to see you, you always asked me to call you by your first name in public. I guess it's okay, because we're strangers anyway since you abandoned me at birth, right? I'll try not to be angry while I write this, but I can't promise you anything.
I would like you to tell me what my favorite color is. What makes me laugh the most? What do I eat every morning for breakfast? What's my favorite food? When did I begin to ride a two-wheeler? What was my worst nightmare or best dream? What did I sleep with every night growing up? When was my last cold? What did I want to be when I grew up? What word could I never pronounce correctly? What was my favorite subject in school? Do I wear makeup? How much do I weigh? How tall am I? Did I sleep with a nightlight? What size shoe do I wear? WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON IN MY LIFE FOR TWENTY-FOUR YEARS?!?!
You know nothing about me, isn't that sad? When was the last time you called me or gave a damn? Who taught me to drive? WHAT HAPPENED IN MY ACCIDENT?!?! What were my injuries? Did I almost die? Was I afraid to get behind the wheel again? What kind of car was I driving? WHAT'S MY ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER?
What kind of parents think that money can replace being a mom or dad? Do you find me ugly or my personality despicable? Did I do or say something that led you to believe that material objects meant everything to me? I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but my guess is, you know the answers to none of them. Just like I don't have any answers. The most important question for me, however, is why? What did I do to be so unworthy in your eyes? Why was I less important than a trip, a job? Why would you talk to your associates more than you do your child? I bet you know what kind of flowers your secretary likes. What are my favorite flowers?
I managed to get by in life by lying. I lied so people wouldn't know that I was so horrible, even my parents didn't like me. The shame and humiliation you've made me endure all my life was too much for anyone to handle.
I fell in love. I knew you wouldn't approve of him right off the bat. The fact that you were so mean to him, Sylvia, proved me right. He stayed at my side while I was in the hospital. And you…did you touch me? Kiss me? Did it affect you at all seeing me so close to death? How about you, Earl, did you care? I love Matthew with all my heart. He's so good to me and loves me unconditionally. We're getting married in a month, and I haven't even shopped for my dress. That's something I was supposed to do with my mother. Becky invited you to my shower and you couldn't bother to show up? Why? Is it because it wasn't going to be a black tie affair in a room full of photographers? You shouldn't look down upon such a wonderful man like Matthew. You should be looking down on yourselves. I wanted my father to walk me down the aisle. But who is my father, anyway? What's your favorite color?
You busted my heart. You've done irreparable damage to me, and each time I think about the two of you, the knife just stabs in deeper, and I think about you all the time. Do you think about me? Do you miss me?
Regardless of all the things you've done, or refused to do, you're my parents and I love you. I just wish you were able to love me back. I'm really not that bad once you get to know me.
Matthew closed the notebook and picked up the phone. "Becky, it's me. I'll be gone when you bring Chloe back. I'll tell you about it later, but cover for me."
"Should I be worried?"
"No, but answer your phone if you get a call from the jail."
Chapter 15
Matthew tore out the letter and stuffed it in his pocket. He hopped in his truck and headed for the other side of the tracks, getting more ticked off with each mile he drove. He didn't even know what he was going to say or do, but he couldn't just sit back and watch the woman he loved wither away. The guards might try to stop him, or maybe Sylvia and Earl would refuse to answer the door. One way or another, he was getting inside that house.