Jamie arrived home and Travitha stepped outside. “Oh look, you came back,” she said pointedly.
“I thought you said you’d never leave me.”
“Travitha, if you won’t come with me, I have no choice. Sometimes I will have to leave.”
“But I promise you, I’ll always come back.”
“Oh LUCKY me. You can just take off whenever —“
“But I’m stuck here because I won’t come with you?”
“Well yeah, Travitha. If you refuse to come with me, what else am I supposed to do?” Jamie said flabbergasted.
“I might as well just flunk out of school so someone can come and take me away from all of you.”
Jamie cried into the palm of her hand. “Travitha, I can’t keep doing this.”
“Exactly what I thought. You don’t care about me,” she said. “You’re just like everybody else.”
“You take one look at me and you give up.”
“You say you care but you — Daddy — Chloe… you all couldn’t care less about me. I know it would all be easier for you if I just went away.”
“I tuck myself into bed every night ALONE anyways…“
“And then I close my eyes and I can’t stop being afraid. I can’t stop this dumb nightmare where I’m being pulled into Mommy’s basement. She says ‘Travitha’, I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
“And every time I scream ‘No! Please don’t take me, I’ll do anything you want.’ But she throws me in there anyways until she decides to let me out…and then I hug her and tell her I love her because if I don’t, she’ll throw me back in.”
“And that’s all any of you want from me. You want me to just be okay. To hug you and love you… forget if you actually love me. It doesn’t matter. It’s all about YOU.”
Jamie sobbed. “Travitha, no. That’s not what I want. I just want you to stop yelling at me… but I’m not giving up on you. And you know what—“
She looked up. “If you need to keep yelling at me, and keep telling me that you hate me. That’s fine. Because one day, Travitha. One day, you’re going to wake up and you’re going to realize that I do care about you.”
“But why? Why would you?” Travitha said with tears welling in her eyes.
“Because, you’re my sister and you deserve to feel loved.”
Jamie pulled out her phone. “That’s it. We’re going out tonight whether you like it or not.”
Travitha growled. “Grrrr!! Really Jamie?!”
“Really,” Jamie said walking away. “Now go get ready.”
Jamie headed towards the house determined. She knew as hard as it was, she had to keep helping Travitha.
As she headed towards the house, she spotted Don. “Wow, I’m surprised he’s not watching the game,” she thought.
Don sighed. He had overheard the entire conversation.
“What is up with Travitha and these tantrums?” he thought.
Inside, Jamie decided to do a few dishes before heading out.
“Jamie? What are you doing? You know we can just throw those out in the bin. Why bother doing chores?” Don said. Jamie continued to wash the plate. “Dad, sometimes it’s good to actually clean up your mess,” she said pointedly. Will Jamie and Travitha have a good time going out together for the first time? Keep following.
