When I was eight years old, my mother was sent to the hospital. She was really sick, and my father took me to visit her every once in a while. But one day, he came home with sad news. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Josh, your mother is gone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I cried inconsolably that night, but Dad told me that we had to pack. \u201cWhere are we going?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t stay in this town any longer with so many memories of your mother. We have to move and get a fresh start if we have a chance at getting over this loss,\u201d he answered. So I helped out while crying for my mother and got in the car a few hours later.<\/p>\n
We drove for what seemed like the longest time and eventually reached a house that wasn\u2019t that different from the other one. \u201cYou\u2019ll love it here, and you\u2019ll make tons of new friends around the neighborhood,\u201d he told me.<\/p>\n
But a few days after moving in, a woman started showing up all the time. \u201cJosh, this is Erika, a great friend,\u201d my father introduced us.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to meet you, Erika,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh, yes, sure. So Owen, what are we having for dinner?\u201d she answered, barely paying any attention to me and addressing my father only. I was confused, but my father was smiling. I wanted him to be happy.<\/p>\n
But their happiness went really fast. They got married only a few months after my mother\u2019s death, and Erika moved in with us. After the wedding, it became clear that she hated me. She yelled all the time and gave tons of chores.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t a rebellious kid by any means, but nothing I did was right. \u201cGod! You\u2019re useless just like your mother!\u201d she exclaimed one day.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t talk about my mother! Did you know her?\u201d I asked angrily.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I knew her! Her sickness was bringing your father down, and he had to leave,\u201d Erika yelled.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosh! What are you doing upsetting your new mother?!\u201d my father suddenly walked in. He whispered something I couldn\u2019t hear to Erika and continued frowning at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe started talking about my mother,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t talk back to me. Go to your room and finish your homework now!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine!\u201d I answered and went to my room. Years passed, and Erika never wanted me around. As soon as I was old enough to take care of myself, they even went on long vacations without me. But I no longer cared. I didn\u2019t want anything to do with that woman. However, she crossed the line one day.<\/p>\n
I came home from school and saw her in my room. I was 17 years old and saving to leave this hell house. \u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d I asked her irritably.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m cleaning up this mess. Also, this picture has to go immediately. I will not tolerate another woman\u2019s photo in my house. It\u2019s been years. You have to move on,\u201d Erika answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you dare touch that picture!\u201d I threatened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll do whatever I want in my own house! You\u2019re just a brat as always. I can\u2019t wait until you\u2019re gone,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to leave either and never have to deal with such a harpy like you again!\u201d I yelled, finally losing my temper. But my father heard our fight and joined us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is going on here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs always, your son is causing trouble, and now he has insulted me,\u201d Erika said smugly. She knew that Dad would take her side.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosh! How many times do I have to tell you to respect your mother!\u201d he bellowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is not my mother! She\u2019s an evil witch sent from hell! I hate her!\u201d I yelled with tears in my eyes. I saw the look of anger on my father\u2019s face and thought he might hit me. But before he could do anything, I moved fast.<\/p>\n
I grabbed my mother\u2019s picture frame from Erika\u2019s awful hands and ran off. I got to the bus stop and decided to hop on a bus. Without noticing, I arrived at our old hometown. I walked these streets that I barely remembered and wondered if I could find our old house.<\/p>\n
Luckily, I remembered the neighborhood and saw our place. But a new family was living there, and their kids were playing in the yard. Seeing them running around only reminded me how awful my childhood had been, thanks to my stepmother.<\/p>\n
So, I walked into town and wandered around until I saw a homeless woman. I would recognize those eyes anywhere. She looked just like my mother. \u201cHello, ma\u2019am,\u201d I said tentatively.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can I do for you, young man?\u201d she answered.<\/p>\n
I couldn’t help but wonder if she was actually my mother. The resemblance was hard to miss. But how could she be my mother? My mother’s been dead for years. \u201cAre you Emma Fraser?\u201d I dared to ask. She finally looked at me, and her eyes widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know me?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Josh,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosh! Is that really you, son? Wait, of course, that\u2019s you! Oh my god!\u201d she said and hugged me fiercely. We cried for a while, holding each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, what happened? My father said you died,\u201d I asked when we had calmed down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat evil scum! I can\u2019t believe he said that you,\u201d Mom started. \u201cI remembered when you visited me at the hospital. But after a while, you stopped coming, and Owen didn\u2019t answer any of my calls. I thought something had happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe moved us away,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat horrible man. When I got out, I discovered that Owen had taken all our savings and filed for divorce. He also arranged so that he would have full custody. But lawyers handled everything through lawyers. I had no way to find you,\u201d Mom continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t believe he did that, especially get custody of me. His new wife hated me from the beginning,\u201d I added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspect it has something to do with lineage. Owen was obsessed with passing on his last name. But anyway, I had to sell our old house, which was the only thing he left me with, to pay for lawyers and private detectives to find you. But none of them could,\u201d Mom explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so sorry, Mom!\u201d I cried.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not your fault. You were a kid. I shouldn\u2019t have given up, but I ran out of money. No one wants to help a homeless woman. But all that matters is that we found each other,\u201d she comforted me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry. You won\u2019t be homeless anymore,\u201d I said. I had saved for years to get away from my father and stepmother. They don\u2019t rent to 17-year-olds, but my mother was an adult. We got a place together and started our lives again.<\/p>\n
I got a job after graduation and started taking night courses, while my mother finally returned to her career which she had to give up when she got sick.<\/p>\n
I also changed my last name to \u201cFraser,\u201d my mother\u2019s maiden name, to cut off anything related to my father. He took me away from my mother for many years, so he had no right to call me son anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was eight years old, my mother was sent to the hospital. She was really sick, and my father took me to visit her every once in a while. But one day, he came home with sad news. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Josh, your mother is gone,\u201d he said. I cried inconsolably that night, but Dad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tales"],"yoast_head":"\n