She stood by the fresh grave wondering what she would do now.Her
mother's body in the casket,now being covered over with dirt.She
watched
till she could no longer see the casket. She turned and walked toward
the funeral car that was waiting for her.She told the driver that she
would walk home,it was only a few blocks. As she walked she remembered
the events of the day. Her mother was not a well liked
person,the only other person at the funeral had been her
nieghbor,Mrs.Johnson,and she was there only to support,Annie,in her
time
of need.She had left,telling Annie,that "if she needed anything she was
right next door".
Mrs Johnson had always been a friend to Annie.When
Annie was a child,Mrs.Johnson cared for her when her mother worked.And
she was the only person at the time,to show Annie any affection.She was
very important to Annie,she hoped Mother remembered her in her will.But
knowing her mother she doubted if she had.
Her thoughts returned to her mother,Mother had been a successful
business woman.While she had been well respected in the community, no
one really liked her.She was shrewd and ruthless when it came to
business.She had been the cause of several small businesses failing,so
she would have no competition.
Annie was the product of
her mother's first and only,marriage.Her father left after less than a
year with her mother.He could no longer put up with the verbal abuse.He
tried to take the new born Annie with him,But her mother got a
restraining order,And he never saw her again. But Annie never forgot
him.her mother constantly reminded her,how much like him she
was.Whenever her mother was in one of her rages,she would inevitably
start damning her father,and Annie.When Annie was 16,through the use of
a high school computer,she had located her father,only to find that he
died a year earlier.He remarried,but produced no more children.When she
told her mother what she found,it sent her into a rage,She slapped
Annie
in the face so hard,you could see the hand-print for three days.It was
the only time she ever hit Annie,but the verbal abuse left her with no
self-esteem or confidence in herself.
As tears
formed in her crystal blue eyes,the cold air stinging her face,she grew
angry for allowing her mother to control her for so long.She missed a
lot of the things people do when growing up.She had no friends,male or
female.She was'nt allowed to go to school functions,she had a few
acquaintances in high school her mother never knew about.But Annie
would
not make close friends,her mother would only drive them away.And going
to colege was not even thought about.She would miss her mother,but the
tears shed were not for her.
When she reached
the house she shared with her mother,she stood and looked at it,"Maybe
I'll sell it,and find a small apartment". she thought to herself.She
walked up the front steps and unlocked the door.As she stepped
inside,the first thing that hit her was the smell of her mother's old
perfume.
With the chill of winter still in the air,and
tears streaming down her face,she opened every window in the house,as
if
to rid the house,and herself of the final remnant of her mother.