Death let go of my hand, and we were back in the In-Between.
"Are you ready?" Death asked.
I nodded, and from the abyss of darkness that is the In-Between, colors started morphing to the familiar nude shades with the faintest red. I could already guess where the next memory would happen.
The core memory that ruined my childhood. Until now, I didn't know if it was my fault.
"Are you okay?" Death looked at me with his red eyes with… concern?
I laughed nervously, shaking my head. "No, it's fine. I know where this is going, and I'm terrified of experiencing it again."
Finally, the explosion of colors formed a concrete image: We were now in our living room.
It was Emman's birthday, so the living room was livelier than usual. The walls were decorated with balloons and a banner in capital letters, "H A P P Y 1 4 T H B I R T H D A Y".
Emman was four years older than me, so if you do that math, during this timeline, I was ten years old.
Mom was out and about in the local baking supplies shop to buy ingredients so the whole family could bake Emman's cake together.
Dad and Emman were in the kitchen right now, preparing all the utensils they needed, while I waited for Mom by the door to help her carry the ingredients once she arrived.
'I wonder what's taking her so long,' I thought simple-mindedly.
As if on cue, the door swung open.
"Welcome back!" I beamed brightly at Mom, excited to start baking the cake already. But then, I noticed a stain on her red long-sleeved turtleneck. "Mom? What's that on your clothes?
"Hi, baby," Mom greeted back with her sweet tone. She was holding an insurmountable amount of shopping bags that seemed too much for a woman of her stature to carry. "Can you get your Dad for me, please? I believe all these shopping bags might be too much for you to handle."
I obediently did as I was told. I called out Dad, and he immediately went out of the kitchen. When he saw Mom, he started cackling like a madman.
"What happened to you?" Dad wiped happy tears from his eyes as Mom shoved the overflowing paper bags at him.
"Someone accidentally spilled coffee on me." Mom sighed while rubbing her temples in annoyance with her now empty hands. "Luckily, I was already done shopping, or I'd be angrier than I already am."
"Alright, you want to take a bath first?" Dad motioned at Mom's clothes. "I can throw these in the wash while you do"
"Aren't you a sweetheart?" Mom batted her eyelashes at him.
Dad bowed at her. I made a face at both of them. Seeing Evangeline's reaction, Mom couldn't help but laugh.
She had the most beautiful laugh, and it wasn't too high-pitched like a monkey screeching nor too low that she sounded like a drunk old man. It was a laugh that made you laugh while feeling a sense of satisfaction that you made her do it.
Yes, Mom and Dad seemed like a perfect, happy couple. They were always sweet with each other and always got along.
I never saw them fight in front of us siblings. If they did, senseless bickering would cause one of them to laugh at their small arguments. Not until this day.
"Yes, please. Thanks." Mom said to Dad before turning to Evangeline. "And you're coming with me, darling."
I curiously followed Mom to her and Dad's bedroom. It was on the second floor of the house and right next to Emman's room. My room was at the end of the hallway.
I rarely went there because Emman and I treat this part of the house as sacred for no reason.
Once inside the master's bedroom, Mom handed me her phone, an old, popular keypad model back in the day.
She whispered. "Daddy and I prepared a gift for Emman, which might arrive while I bathe. The delivery man will text me on this phone when he arrives. Can you show my phone to Dad when it gets a message?"
"Okay, I can help with that!" I thumped my chest, proud to be assigned to such an important task.
"I know you can." Mom smiled as she ruffled my long, brown hair.
Mom headed towards the bathroom, preparing to take a bath. I followed suit and stood guard in front of the bathroom. After a few minutes, her hand popped out of the slightly opened door, holding the coffee-stained turtle neck.
"And please give these to Daddy."
I nodded and headed downstairs to do as I was told. After handing Dad the clothes in the laundry room, I joined Emman in the living room, who was bored out of his mind while watching TV.
"When are we starting?" He said impatiently. "I said I wanted a ready-made chocolate cake from the bakery. Why do we even have this stupid tradition of baking our cakes?!"
"It's not stupid," I pouted. "It helps us bond together as a family–"
"Family, shmamily," Emman grumbled. "I don't give a fuck about shit like that–"
"Language!" We heard Dad shout from the laundry room. Such an impressive hearing he had.
Emman rolled his eyes and continued watching the show on the TV. I couldn't help but giggle that my brother got reprimanded. This earned me a warning glance and an impending punch from him if I didn't stop.
So I did.
A little while later, Mom's phone started chiming in my hand.
'Looks like the delivery guy is here!' I thought and ran to where Dad was.
I found him whistling a familiar tune to himself. Seeing me looking excited, he stopped whistling and offered a gentle smile.
"What is it, Evangeline?"
"Dad, Mom told me to inform you if the delivery man messaged her!"
The phone oddly continued to chime as I handed him the phone. Dad looked at the phone, alarmed.
"Why is the delivery man spamming her with messages…?" He thought loudly to himself.
He opened the old-modeled phone and read the messages. Evangeline looked at Dad questioningly, but seeing his face made my stomach drop.
He was in shock. He was fuming. It was an expression I had never seen him make in my entire life. I was terrified.
"Do you have any idea what the messages contained?" Here in the In-Between, Death also looked curious about what was happening.
"I was a nosy kid, so I checked the phone out later," I said. "My mom was sexting another man, and those messages were provocative about wanting to sleep with her. Of course, the 10-year-old me didn't understand the gravity of the messages, but now that I'm a bit older…"
"Your mother cheated." Death finished for me, and I nodded.
I called out to my father. I was scared of how his whole mood changed to one so foreign to me.
Dad locked the phone before looking at me with a pained smile. I didn't know that this was the last time my family would be complete, but I already had a gut instinct that something terrible was about to happen.
"That wasn't Emman's gift yet, Evangeline," Dad answered stiffly, "I'll wait for the package. Go play with Emman for now."
"But–" I tried reasoning with him, but Dad cut her off.
"Evangeline." He spoke sternly, signaling that it wasn't a request but a command. He rarely used this tone to them, so when he did, I immediately complied.
Nodding reluctantly, I conceded and left the room.
My stomach started to churn like I did something wrong, something irreversible, but I put on a brave face and tried to be strong. It's Emman's birthday, and Dad's not feeling okay.
I didn't want to ruin things any further.
"Here it comes," I said here in the In-Between.
"What will?" Death raised an eyebrow.
"Let the party begin."