Later that afternoon, she and Misaki returned with a bag, each, full of canned food. Inside, she watched her mother and father carry their packed bags to the car. Before they left, they asked Starr to walk outside with them.
At first, she refused, but then Michael and Misaki gave her a stare that clearly communicated that she was being a jerk.
They walked slowly down the front driveway.
“So, uh, are you going to be okay?” asked her father.
“Yeah, of course,” said Starr.
Her mother turned and looked at her awkwardly. “I’m sorry for how things played out. I wish we could have been better.”
Starr’s eyebrows rose. It was in interesting apology, full of denial as usual.
“But, I love you,” she said tearfully, and then leaned in for a hug. “You’re still my daughter and I hope you’ll come home, soon?”
Starr shook her head and looked away. “It’s not that I don’t want to come home, but I have responsibilities, now. I moved on.”
“What do you mean by ‘responsibilities’ and ‘moved on?’” she asked spitefully. “You’re nearly seventeen years old. What about school and college?”
“I took passed the GED test and enrolled in college, before all this happened. Anyway, I have to look after the kids. It was a promise we made when we took them in.”
After a few moments of silence, where they looked at each other, her mother said, “Okay, well I guess we’d better get going. Why don’t you hold onto that cell phone? Just in case,” she said.
After one more round of hugs, they got in the car and drove off.