A Family Affair

Persephone

Persephone watched as her children ran around the playground. The crisp fall air cooled her breath as she let out a deep sigh.

“Such a lovely day,” she said. Her pocket buzzed, then vibrated. Persephone hated her phone. She called it a necessary evil.

“Hello, this is Seph.”

It was her sister, Aurelia. Aurelia never called; unless she wanted something or unless someone was dead. Persephone hoped it wasn’t the latter.

“Yeah, uh…Dad died.”

“What?” Persephone couldn’t have heard her right. She had just visited her father earlier this week and he appeared to be fine.

“Dad. Died. He kicked the bucket. He bought the farm. He has entered into eternity. Dead.”

She hated her sister’s crassness. Seph knew Aurelia and her father didn’t get along, partly because she was his stepdaughter. Unfortunately, he treated her as such. Aurelia resented Seph because according to her, everything was going fine until she showed up.

“How can you be so cold and callous, Relly? He was our father.” She wished she had a regular phone right now. Then she would be able to slam it down to hang up in Aurelia’s face. Pushing a button to end the call was way too nice.

“Well, he was your father. And you were his favorite. One more thing…he died in bed with another woman. So, what do you think of your perfect father now?”

Seph could tell Aurelia was relishing every moment. She was carefully biting off every juicy morsel and spitting it back in Pesephone’s face to chew on and digest like a momma bird feeding her baby.

“What do you have to say now Seph? I always hated that man and now this just shows my gut feelings about him were right,” Aurelia gloated.

Persephone sat silently. This can’t be true. Her father was a loving husband, devoted father, and a friend to many. At least that is how is obituary would read. She refused to allow her father’s name to be sullied by this one indiscretion.

Was this the only time he had stepped outside of his marriage? Her mother could be a handful at times. She quickly erased the thought from her mind. No woman deserved to be cheated on, not even her mother.

“Seph? Are you still there?” Aurelia had been railing on and on about their scumbag father. Seph had not heard most of it.

“Yeah. I…I…I have to go. I am at the playground with the kids. I need to get them home. I don’t know how I am going to break the news to them.”

“I suggest reading the Wizard of Oz, and when you get to the part where the house falls on the Wicked Witch of the East, tell them Dad died. Easy peasy lemon squeezy,” Relly cackled.

Persephone hung up the phone. A sharp pain seethed through her chest. The crisp fall air, once giving her relief, was now stifling her ability to breath.

Aurelia

“Mom, calm down. What happened?” Aurelia’s mother was talking a mile a minute while crying and screaming at someone. “I’m on my way,” said Aurelia, hanging up on her mother.

Her mother was always calm, never frantic. Persephone and her mother were exactly alike in personalities; however, Aurelia and her mother looked alike. There was no denying, she was her mother’s child.

The ambulance blocked the driveway. As she approached the house, she saw the EMT’s roll out the gurney. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest as she ran and pulled the sheet back revealing her deceased stepfather.

“Ma’am, you have to step back,” said the EMT pushing her to the side. Aurelia’s mother leaned against the doorpost while the coroner patted her hand and spoke softly in her ear.

“Ma! Wha..what happened?”

Her mother collapsed in the coroner’s arms. A scantily clad tall blonde woman tried to ease by her mom. Aurelia could tell this woman did not work for the coroner.

“And who are you?” asked Aurelia, forgetting about her mother.

“Um…I…I…I was here with your father when he died,” she said.

“And what exactly were you two doing?”

The woman knew it was too late to be discreet. A man was dead and she was the cause, though unintentionally. “Your father and I were engaging in a little…well, you know. And he had a heart attack and died.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Aurelia felt her knuckles connect with the woman’s face. Her mother and this tramp were both down for the count.

Persephone

The day of the funeral was a blur. The world around Persephone carried on while she stood still. Unable to grasp what her life would now be like without her father.

Her grieving mother was now a woman scorned, betrayed by the second man she had ever loved. Relly’s father had married her for her millions. She was his bank; he made several withdrawals which left her destitute and he only made one deposit, Aurelia.

Aurelia sat with her gossipy cousins, sipping on red wine and cackling like it was a girl’s night out. Persephone could feel the rage building within her. She would not allow the memory of her father be denigrated.

“Stop it!” she screamed. “How dare you disrespect my father like this!”

“Disrespect? Disrespect? He disrespected our mother. I can’t believe you are here mourning for him after what he did to her!” yelled Aurelia.

“Our father…”

“Our father? He was your father. My father left a long time ago.”

“Relly, he was our father. Whether you like it or not. He was the one who was there for you when you graduated from high school. He was the one who fronted you the $20,000 to start the business you bankrupted due to mismanagement. He was also the one who walked you down the aisle not once, not twice, but three times to low down dirty men he disapproved of. He was also the one who took care of you when mom was not there. So yes, our father,” rattled Persephone.

Her emotions overwhelmed her. The room was eerily silent.

She continued, “And yes, what he did was wrong. I am not excusing his behavior. But I will not allow this incident to permanently mar his good name. We have all made mistakes and, in most instances, it was dad who was always there fixing ours. Dad has helped everyone in this room. I don’t think you all would want me to run down your tough situation tabs. He never asked for anything, he always gave. The least you could all do is respect him in death.”

Her mother, now standing beside her, clasped her hand.

“Seph is right. We must not disrespect my husband. He was not perfect, but I loved him. I have forgiven him for the affair. Rell, it is time to let go of the past,” her mother said.

Persephone embraced her sister. Aurelia tried to fight what she was feeling, but something was forcing the hatred, bitterness, and sorrow to the surface. She could no longer bury her emotions. She let out a primordial wail as the tears flowed.

It was time for the family to heal.