Every Kind of Way

Family

Mon and I got home and cuddled until we fell asleep. I had nightmares throughout the night and around 2am I woke up screaming, scaring Mon.

Mon: "Hey Sam! Baby, hey, I'm here." She hugged me tightly. I cried onto her shoulder. "What happened? Did you have a nightmare?"

Sam: "Yeah, about Engfa. She was dead. She was saying goodbye, I couldn't reach her no matter how fast I ran towards her. I..." I sniffled.

Mon: "Who's Engfa??"

Sam: "My sister..." I hadn't thought about her in so long. Why would my conscious bring her up now and in such a horrible way? God, I hate my dreams sometimes.

Mon: "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sam: "Not really. I'm sorry for scaring you. Can we just talk about something else?"

Mon: "That's okay, baby. I hope it doesn't bother you, but can you tell me a bit more about your family? All I know are things that I heard from the news. Plus you already know my parents."

Sam: "This is not something else, but ok."

Mon: "You don't have to talk about it now, babe."

Sam: "It's ok, I want you to know." I snuggled into her and inhaled deeply. I haven't talked about this to anyone who wasn't close to the family. Mon kissed my forehead and caressed my hair. "Well, like most kids, I had a mom and a dad. My mom said I got my father's wit and my father said I got my mother's beauty. They were amazing parents. We went to art galleries, we played in the park, we spent weekends together as a family. It was nice. I also had two sisters Engfa and Song. I know you met Engfa the day that we met, I don't know if you remember her."

Mon: "Yeah, she was with this beautiful girl too. I don't think I remember her name."

Sam: "Charlotte."

Mon: "Yes, her."

Sam: "Engfa was in a relationship with Charlotte. For obvious reasons, they hid it from the world. Engfa was the best big sister anyone could ever ask for. She was into singing and pageants. Song was the middle sister and really sporty. Song was dating this girl named Ice..."

Mon: "I see it's a family thing." She giggled and I puckered my lips so she would kiss me. she pecked my lips a couple of times.

Sam: "Apparently it is. Anyways, we all lived happily until mom and dad decided to go the United States to open a new branch of the company. They left us under grandmother's care. They even gave us Singha as a present."

Mon: "Yeah, I heard on the news that they had passed away."

Sam: "Yep, that's life for you. I had everything I wanted with nothing to worry about except school and little by little life took everything from me."

Mon: "Don't say that Sam."

Sam: "It's the truth. My parents died so we were stuck with grandmother and her old timey traditions. Then grandmother found out about Engfa and Charlotte and kicked her out of the house."

Mon: "What?! Where is she now??"

Sam: "I wish I knew. When grandmother kicked her out she never came back for me and Song. She disappeared just like Charlotte. I don't know if they are together or if they are alive. I never bothered to look."

Mon: "Why?"

Sam: "She left me, Mon. Why would I look for somebody who didn't even try to get me out of grandmother's claws?!"

Mon: "At least you had Song." I sighed.

Sam: "Yeah, only for a couple of months before she got killed."

Mon: "What do you mean killed? I thought it was an accident."

Sam: "They closed off the investigation, but I bet you heard on the news that they suspected it was one of our competitors that put a hit on her and they succeeded. I believe that too because Song didn't have any enemies." Mon looked at me with sympathy. "I lost everything. I lost my parents and my sisters in less than a year. All I have now is my grandmother...and now you."

Mon: "And I'm never leaving." She hugged me tighter. "I'm so sorry for all that you went through. No wonder you were so mean when we met again. I didn't understand how this sweet girl that I had met turned so cold."

Sam: "Yeah, at that time I didn't have any reasons to smile. The company was failing, Grandmother was still pressuring me like a little kid and I hadn't found the one person who could turn my world upside down and make it better. But I'm glad that we found each other again."

Mon: "Do you believe in destiny?"

Sam: "No, but I'm starting too." I kissed her cheek, grabbed her hand and started playing with it. I remembered something Mon mentioned before that made me curious. "Hey Mon, what was the name of the woman you were meeting last night?"

Mon: "Charlotte Austin Waraha." No... It couldn't be. I must have gone pale because Mon looked at me scared.

Sam: "W-what did you say?" I felt a strong headache, but I ignored it. I needed to know.

Mon: "Sam, why are you getting so worked up? Do you know her?"

Sam: "Charlotte Austin was my sister's girlfriend. Waraha is my father's last name."

Mon: "No, that can't be possible. Isn't your last name Anuntrakul??"

Sam: "That's the Mhom Luang last name, but my father's real last name is Waraha. It can't be. It would be too much of a coincidence. It's impossible right Mon?" She looked at me confused and scared. I got out of the bed quickly and opened my laptop. "Come on, come on! Load you stupid piece of crap!"

Charlotte Austin Waraha, she wasn't difficult to find on Google. As soon as I saw a few of her photos I recognized her. Engfa's Charlotte. My head felt like it was being beaten by drums. I had forgotten all about her since she disappeared from my life around the same time that Engfa did. I even assumed they left the country together, but never took it upon myself to check. Why didn't you look for her Sam? Why? You know what happened to her was too harsh. Of course she wouldn't come back to grandmother's house.

After scrolling through a few news tabs and photos, I saw her. My sister P'Fa, Charlotte and a little baby in their arms. P'Fa is alive. She's here in Thailand.

Sam: "Is that her?" I pointed to the screen. "Mon! Answer me. Is that her? Is that the Charlotte you met with today?!"

Mon: "Yes! Yes, that's her." Oh my god...

Sam: "Wait! You mentioned something about a wife and a kid."

Mon: "Y-yeah, her wife called her saying their son was sick..."

Sam: "My sister's in Thailand. My sister has a wife and a kid and she's in Thailand."

Mon: "Sam?"

Sam: "W-what? What is it now? Is there more?" Mon looked as if she was debating on telling me something. "Mon, please, I need to know."

Mon: "Your sister manages Diverse Beauty. She's working at Diversity." My blood pressure must have bottomed out because I felt myself faint. Last thing I heard was Mon calling my name before I blacked out.