THREE

During lunch break, Tory watched the kids in her class play together from the window of her classroom. It wasn't that her classmates refused to play with her, she was just not in the mood. Even though she saw her mother yesterday, she missed her a lot. Besides all they could spend together was two hours, it was all Dad would allow.

She had learnt from Grandpa to be grateful for everything but she just couldn't be satisfied with this. Why would her mother live in a different place? Why was her family not like that of all her friends And her father didn't seem to like her mother very much. Weren't parents supposed to like each other?

The other day, when her mother had come to see her, Joanna, second smartest girl after her in her grade said something very disturbing.

"Go say goodbye to your friends, my angel."

She smiled at her mother. She was always on time to pick her up unlike Dad but she knew he couldn't help but be busy. "Okay, mommy. Be right back."

She walked over to her friends. "Hey Mandy, Joanna, I'm leaving. See ya tomorrow."

"Oh sure Tory. Take care." Mandy said.

"Yeah." Joanna said with a small smile. "And your maid is very pretty, she looks like Cinderella in my coloring book."

Her smile faltered. Had they always thought her Mom was her maid? "No! She's my mommy."

"Really?" Mandy said

"Why is she wearing those clothes? Those are the dresses my maid wears. My mom even asked her to throw them away, that she was going to get her better-"

Mandy clamped her hand over Joanna's mouth. "Oh, our mistake. Sorry. Say hi to her Mom."

She had nodded and walked away but it never left her mind. Why was her mother wearing poor clothes? They weren't billionaires but there were rich, in the sense that they had a huge house with a guest house separate from the main building with a pool and a flower garden. Dad had cars and she even went to one of the biggest schools.

She didn't understand what was going on but she knew her family was unconventional.

To make it worse, Ms Bryant had given them an assignment to make a card for their mothers for Mother's day this Sunday and they had to submit on Friday for inspection. What was she going to do when she didn't have a picture of her mother? She knew because she had asked Dad before and she had never thought to ask her mother before now.

If she didn't submit, people would think she didn't have a mother and her friends would know her mother didn't live with her. Plus her mother loved her a lot and she deserved a present. Tears filled her eyes.

She brushed them away. She would think of a way. Right now, she had to join her friends on the playground or Ms Bryant would ask her why she was moody and tell her Dad about it.

"Hey Tory, where have you been?"

"Jo, I've been in class. Mind if I join you?"

"No." Mandy said " 'sides, I like your dress. Its the newest in the season."

"Didn't know that. Dad bought it last week when we went the mall. And thanks."

"I already bought my glue and cardboard with my candy money." Joanna said quietly like it was the biggest secret in history.

"Really? I'm going to buy mine today. I will tell my driver to take me." Mandy said "What about you?"

"Oh...um I want it to be a secret and Dad never allows anyone else to pick me from school, so I'm just going to find a way very soon."

"Oh. Why don't I buy it for you?"

"Really?"

"Of course." Mandy said.

"Thanks. I will give you some money when we get to class."

"Girls, I have a teeny-tiny problem." Joanna said.

"What's that?" Tory asked with a frown

Joanna took out an envelope from her bag. For some reasons, she never leaves her bag in class. "I have all these really nice pictures of my mom but I'm clueless about which one to use for my card."

She took out the pictures and Tory's eyes almost fell off. "Wow! You have so many."

Mandy and Joanna's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Many?" They echoed

Joanna snapped out of it first. "I have a lot, I mean these are only a few recent ones from new year and Mom's wedding anniversary in March."

Tory closed her hanging jaw. "Oh."

Joanna spread out the pictures and Tory counted fifteen and swallowed the hurt that filled her chest.

"Your mom is very pretty." Mandy told Joanna

"Right? I know. Daddy says she's the prettiest woman in the world. He tells her everyday."

Surprised, she just stared at her friends

Mandy beamed. "Same with my Daddy. He always buys her a present. He told me he'd love Mom for ever for giving birth to me 'n' Nathan. Mom's having another baby soon."

"Wow. That's nice. I pray its a girl for you. I have two brothers and they are total bullies." Joanna giggled

"Your Mom looks like a real Cinderella, Tory. Does your Daddy treat her like one?"

Tears filled her eyes.

So then it was just her family that was weird.

She forced a smiled. "I'll be right back. I need to pee."

Without waiting for a reply, she hurried away and entered a broom closet. The tears rolled down uncontrollably, her shoulders shook with sobs and her heart hurt so much.

She had always thought it was weird that her mother didn't live with them, that they never had a picture of her, that her mother didn't even know where she lived and she didn't know where her mother lived. She had always thought it was weird that it was only on Tuesdays that the driver came to pick her up from the diner she went to with her mother.

Did that mean her father didn't like her mother? No, he didn't. She knew that already. He never liked it when she talked about her mother like this morning. Her mother only ever asked how her father was doing without further interest in the subject.

She wiped her cheeks with her flowery handkerchief and rested her back on the door.

She was going to find a way to go to her mother's tomorrow and she was going to stay with her for days until she could beg her to come live with them.

Then the timer shrilled

Oh no, she needed to wash her face or everyone would know she had been crying.

* * *

That night, Tory wasn't really hungry and the table was as quiet as always as Dad was busy with his iPad, working, she knew. The fact that she knew he couldn't help but be busy didn't mean she liked it. But she couldn't complain because she knew he loved her. He gave her her bath, took her shopping, combed her hair at night, took her to school, spent time with her and even took her to parks.

He just wasn't her mother.

Steve watched Tory turn her food around her plate and frowned. She wasn't chit chatting about school or her friends or projects.

He wanted to ask but he was scared it was about her mother and God knew he couldn't deal with that now.

What had Jody done to his daughter? What did she want? He would send his lawyer to her on Friday if Tory's attitude persisted.

He would make sure that Jody regretted putting ideas in his daughter's head.