Tora (The Tora Trilogy Book 1) Read Free Page B

and simply move on. Hell no. She’d been through this a dozen times before. She heard variations of the same devastating news that crushed her deeper every time.
    Eva had stopped counting how many friendships she had lost. She’d never fit in.
    She remembered the expression that lingered on her mother’s worn face that day. A slight timid smile crept up on the crevices on her painted pink lips as she said in a calm voice to Eva, “next time honey, why don’t you start a fresh leaf.” But beneath the mask that she wore, she could read the disappointment and fear in her sad blue eyes. It made Eva feel guilty and manipulative when she reflected on the pain and suffering she had caused. She had promised her every time that she would try to fit in, but she was always getting into trouble for things she couldn’t avoid and couldn’t begin to explain herself.
    Through the relatively short course of her life so far, Eva had faced situations that no other ordinary kid had experienced. She’d gone the full mile. Her parents had died in a car accident when she was a small child. Although Michelle, her foster career had loved her like she was her own daughter, she longed for the genetic bond that any other child and their parents had. She’d lost them when she was too young to understand who they were and what they were like. Too young to remember their faces clearly enough to paint a portrait. Her vague memory of her parents reminded her of a thick fog that lasted an eternity, where you could never see to the other side.
    Eva had cried like there was no end to her pain. A waterfall of salty tears cascaded down her face. Her tears summed up her life, punctured with sadness.
    After she showered, she threw on her paisley cotton dress and slipped on her beige sandals. As she reached for her satchel, Eva noticed a red light blinking on her answering machine. Eva hesitated.  She knew it would be her mother wanting to check in on her. But right now, she couldn’t talk to her. She needed time alone, to figure herself out. Break free from her raging emotions.
    In a hasty rush, she combed the locks of her dark silky conditioned hair into a twist, picked up the mail from the mat and threw it on the hall table. When Eva stepped out into the bright sunshine, the sweet scent of spring flooded her lungs as she slammed the door behind her.
    ~
    In reality, Eva wasn’t looking forward to her appointment with Dr J.R Smith. It had taken her the first hour to feel comfortable about talking to her.
    The brown stone building was well kept. She pressed the intercom and the buzzer allowed her to gain entry. Apprehensively, Eva climbed the stairs to the third floor.
    Seated on a large sunken uncomfortable reception couch, Eva noted the stillness of the small vacant waiting room. A pile of used magazines scattered the retro table competing for attention. Eva reached for latest celebrity goss mag in an attempt to distract herself from what she was here for, the unbearably quiet lobby room, the bare stark white walls that made her feel nauseous and empty.
    Across the room, a doorknob turned. A lanky woman with a white blouse, an olive green skirt and a mop of blonde tinged silvery wire hair appeared in the lamp lit space.
    “Evangeline?” Her low voice was dull, like the white washed walls of misery that reminded Eva of a mental institution. The woman’s beady eyes panned around the waiting room inquisitively even though the lobby room was empty.
    Eva looked around the vacant lobby, wishing to invoke some other, invisible Eva to take her place for the hour.
    “ Eva .” She corrected as she got up, feeling a slight pang of annoyance stab at her. No one ever called her by her full name. It sounded foreign to her now. The name brought up memories she wanted forget. No one had called her that since she was an infant. No one other than her mother.
    The woman who looked middle aged, frowned briefly, then nodded in acknowledgement before returning a