The Unsolved Diaries: People Talk About Their Life’s Lingering Mysteries

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Leaving a Trail of Questions

My parents were in an abusive relationship and when I was a little kid in grade school, they got divorced. Soon after, my mother started seeing someone, and suddenly my life was really good. My mom’s new boyfriend, whom I’ll call Tony, was a mysterious man. My brother, sister, and I knew nothing about him except he was pretty d*mn rich. We knew this because my mother suddenly got a new car, bought us all cool gifts, and took us out to expensive restaurants almost daily.

Every month or so, we would hang out with our dad and he would take us to eat somewhere. He’d ask questions about my mom like, “How’s she doing… etc.” My gut feeling told me he knew my mom was in a relationship, my dad, who was in the military, was a pretty sharp guy, and he’d ask investigative questions of that sort.

But every time my dad came around to pick us up, my mom would make sure her boyfriend was not there. Actually, for any family member for that matter – whenever a cousin would come, and Tony was there, Tony would hide in the car. Tony didn’t live with us, but he’d be in the house every two days or so.

Then about a year later, my dad calls home and says he cannot take it any longer and needs to live with us, his kids. That day was the last time I saw my mom. But I didn’t care that day. I was too enveloped in computer games and didn’t notice her packing her bags. Didn’t notice my brother going in there, talking to my mom for the longest time ever about God knows what, and like that, the next day, my mom was gone. Tony was too, obviously. That’s when the truck of feelings hit me.

Then my dad came home. He talked about how he knew my mom was seeing someone, despite her lack of communication with him and that she ran away with Tony, back to her home country. I haven’t seen, talked to, or heard from my mom since. My mom’s closest friend who went to the same church as us, stopped going to the church soon after my mom departed. My gut tells me she knows my mom’s secrets but it’s too late to give a sh*t about that anymore.