This Is Hope (Chapter Two)

The Reveal- Chapter Two

I spent my entire two days of punishment locked up in my room and reading that book. I snacked on leftover potato chips and a day-expired box of chocolate biscuits. The bathroom was only used when I really needed to; I came up with any possible excuse to not go downstairs. I was actually surprised by this novel. It was all about magic and how to perform its procedures. Throughout my life, as I had mentioned, magic was never something that inspired me but this book was one of a kind and it had definitely caught my attention.

When I had completed the book, I had a new vision and understanding about my surroundings and the world around me. Things that I was familiar with seemed different because I started looking at them from a different angle. Deep down inside me I wanted to confront my father about my mother's final words, but I could never pull myself together and do it.

A year later and Nancy didn't leave. I was getting worried she would stay forever and replace my love with my father. On the thirteenth of June,1941, I was awoken from my midday slumber with an agonizing shriek. I knew it was Nancy because she was the only one in the house who had such an annoying scream. On one hand, I wanted the worst for her and on the other, I wanted to see what pain she had caused for herself, so I rushed out of my room to check it out. I was utterly confused when I saw our dinner table nicely covered in a white silk covering with candles and an amazing looking meal of sushi and caviar plated neatly in an orderly fashion. On the other side of the room I saw Nancy in a very long red linen dress and her blonde hair up in a bun. My father was also dressed nicely in a navy blue suit while kneeling down on one knee. He was holding a small box in his hands. He opened it and a shiny object reflected the light. Nancy's hands flew up to her mouth and she wiped her tears.

"Nancy Finnegan Mayfield, would you do me the honor and make me the happiest man alive?" my father asked enthusiastically.

"Oh my, Miguel. I-" she stammered, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course." Nancy and my father both hugged each other and gave a long, uncomfortable kiss. I was furious and confused. I couldn't believe it. My father had completely forgotten about me. I slowly made one step closer to the stairs. I stepped on a loose tile and the wooden floor creaked.

The awkward silence broke and all the attention turned to my direction. My father and Nancy both looked at me, shocked. I stared into my father's eyes with disappointment and anger. He was speechless. I looked at Nancy with hatred. Finally, another silence was broken. "What is going on? Dad?" I asked, desperately.

"Harley, I..didn't want you to find out like this. Just let me explain--" my father replied.

"Explain? What is there to explain, Father? That you are getting married to this slut? I can't believe you!" I yelled. "And you... how dare you think you can come into my home and steal my mother's position! You will never be like her!" I slowly walked down the stairs with nothing but fury in my eyes.

"Harley, I will never take your mother's position. I love you and your father dearly, and I would never want to jeopardize your love for him," Nancy calmly said.

"I am not done talking so shut up!" I shouted. As I got closer to them, they both backed up. I felt an uncontrollable force pulling me and letting all my feelings out. Slowly, my feet left the floor and I screamed, "You don't know anything! Mother told me something was inside of me! What was she talking about?" Things around me were levitating and a couple of objects were vanishing and reappearing in other places.

Nancy was scared out of her wits but my father stood there mesmerized. The woman seemed to have had enough. She removed the ring, threw it on the floor, and ran out of the building. My father was devastated. He also seemed like he had enough as well. I wanted to stop and bring myself down but I couldn't. I was scared and angry all at once. "Harley! Stop it! Come down!" my father yelled over all the clanging glass and wind.

"I can't!" I cried. My father placed his hands in the air and started waving them around. He began chanting something familiar. It was an incantation from the book I had read, "Spiritus O Spiritus! Demittere te et passi sunt eam levi somnum suadebit!" After a couple seconds of chanting, everything that was floating fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. I remember seeing my father's face before I collapsed. Everything was blurry. I saw my father's distorted feet and he knelt down to look at me. He rubbed my head and whispered, "I'm sorry, Harley."

Everything was starting to make sense, now. I realized things will never be the same again, and I had to live with a burden to fulfill my mother's hopes. My biggest problem was I didn't know a single thing about magic. After all, I was just fifteen.