Independence Day

Up until about 18 months ago, I had a step-father. He came into my life when I was 7 or 8 and remained there for 20 years. There were some incidents when I was younger; we weren't close. He never told me he loved me and I reciprocated. I'm gutted as I think about that now. That man lived in my house for 20 years as a father figure but never bothered with the father part.

When I fled my terrible, no-good relationship and moved home, I quickly put together that my step-father was cheating on my mother. No one believed me. My therapist told me I was too traumatized and consequently overly sensitive. My mother said the same thing to that effect. But I knew. And every suspicion I had turned out to be right.

Once again I had to flee. I fled the house I grew up in and moved into my present apartment to avoid witnessing the divorce in person. My therapist told me it would have been too hard on me because my own wounds were still so fresh.

My mom once told me that because I had the strength to get out of my relationship, I gave her the strength to get out of hers. And since then, our lives have run parallel to each other. As I watched my dog recover from my relationship (she would shake and hide while I was being attacked), I learned that animals are affected by negative energy as well. So I wasn't surprised when after my step-father vacated the house, animals started showing up.

My mother lives on a large plot of land with several gardens and a small orchard. First, she started spying turtles, then rabbits. Then one day she stopped mid-sentence on the phone to bang on the bay window. "Damn deer," she muttered. Then a hawk took up residence in a tree behind the sunroom.

"It's like you're Cinderella!" I laughed.

Everyday on the phone, I heard about a new animal that appeared. A coyote. A bear most recently.

"Why are they all coming to dinner at my house?!" my mother exclaimed.

"Easy. It's because he's gone. The bad energy is gone, so the animals are coming out."

My mother didn't believe me. She said it was because she was too busy with the relationship and never noticed before. Then the orchid in the sunroom bloomed. That flower hadn't bloomed in 10 years. It made a believer out of my mother.

***

I haven't seen or heard from my ex-stepfather since I moved out of the house again almost 2 years ago. Since before the divorce. I was angry over the lying and cheating. Home was supposed to be a safe place for me after I was beaten down, but it wasn't. I knew things. I knew things that would get him fired from his job as a school teacher. My mother begged me not to say anything, saying that his time would come eventually. I didn't want to trust the Universe. I wanted revenge just in case the Universe failed me yet again, but ultimately I listened to my mother.

Two years to the day after we got confirmation of his cheating, which ironically was Independence Day. My mother got a letter in the mail. It wasn't addressed to her. It was addressed to him. And it was sent from the county where he taught school.

My mom walked inside the house, hands shaking. Not daring to mess with the letter, she walked over to the lamp she does her mending under—the highest wattage fluorescent bulb. She held the envelope against the bulb. The red letters were illuminated.

NOTICE OF TERMINATION.

He was fired. I asked my mother how hard it was to be fired as a school teacher. She listed all the different ways teachers are removed from schools or pushed into administrative roles. She said something egregious had to have happened to receive a notice of termination.

Her friends had finally picked up on my Internet stalking skills. They looked up the Facebook profile of the woman that my step-father cheated on my mom with. On her wall, she announced that the relationship was over. The same week that he was fired, he had to move out of her house that they lived in with her three children. More damage to more children, I thought. Although two years of exposure isn't as bad as twenty.

I didn't trust the Universe. I wanted to push for the firing years ago. My mother told me to wait for it, and she was right. The Universe mailed the letter to her house, ensuring she would find out. She feels validated in her feelings. She felt like he was a bad person and she received confirmation from both his boss and his girlfriend.

***

I mentioned that our lives have been running parallel lately. The same day that she received the letter in the mail, I received a phone call. From S' step-mom.