Finally Sisters

It had been two weeks since Rhonda said goodbye to her sister Sonya and her eightteen month old son, Brandon as they headed out for New York. The fact that she misses Sonya is such a foriegn notion to her. Rhonda actually cried as Sonya pulled away. Not in front of Sonya, mind you, but she cried. Not to many years ago, even going more than one would be going to far, it wouldn't have bothered Rhonda. You see, they weren't close. Not even remotely, ever.      Rhonda was born in 1970 in Frankfurt, Germany. Her father was in the Army and shortly after Rhonda was born he went for his last of three tours in Vietnam.      When he came home Rhonda was afraid of him; she wasn't use to being around men. That along with other things made a bond between them impossible.        Rhonda's first five years were an emotional roller coaster. Her father was very abusive towards her and her mother. By the time Sonya came along in 1975 Rhonda was a very with drawn, quiet and shy little girl.      Sonya was a very demanding baby with an extreme temper. Which required a lot of their mothers time. A big blow for Rhonda was the fact that their father, when around, liked being around Sonya. He played with her and held her.      It was terribly confusing for Rhonda. She didn't know which was worse. Being jealous of the attention Sonya recieved or being hurt by it. Rhonda wanted and needed her fathers love. So far all she had recieved from him was a whole lot of stress. She had bloody noses in the day time and vomited in her sleep. And Sonya, well, she was willful and bad tempered and loved.      Rhonda always wondered what was wrong with her, why she was the one forgotten. Why her? Day by day she grew to resent Sonya.      When Rhonda was six almost seven the Army sent them away from her father and Germany because of his abuse. The saddest part was that he didn't want Sonya to leave, he tried to keep her. Not the same for Rhonda though and she never heard from or saw him again.            Being a child herself, Rhonda didn't understand that it wasn't Sonya's fault. So the Anger towards Sonya continued to grow like a wild fire out of control.      When Rhonda was nine her mother met and married another man. Rhonda wasn't quite sure about him. He always gave her the creeps for some reason. Later that year Rhonda was roller skating and broke both of her wrist. Her mom had to do almost everything for her. Rhonda was happy for the extra attention because her new stepdad along with her sister took up most of ehr moms time.      Sonya and their step father got along famously. They always played together tickling, laughing, fishing, chasing each other around the house. She even started calling him daddy. Rhonda on the other hand had already stopped believing in the word daddy.      When Rhonda was ten and Sonya five, they moved to Fort Bliss (their stepdad was in the Army too) in El Paso, Texas. Rhonda made several good friends there. Even a boyfriend or two. She played outside a lot and tried to always get out of having to watch Sonya while they were playing.      Rhonda an Sonya fought like cats and dogs. Sonya loved to bug Rhonda. Whenever Rhonda would be going to the bathroom especially. Finally this one time Rhonda had enough. Sonya was sitting on the edge of the bathtub next to the toilet and Rhonda pushed her backwards into it. Sonya lost a front tooth.          The next year the whole family moved to Germany. Rhonda was excited about it. She loved Germany. They moved into a great apartment and began life again.      The next door neighbors had two boys that were the same age as Rhonda and Sonya. They were John and Jimmy. John and Rhonda became very close, as well as did Sonya and Jimmy. The two famalies spent a lot of time together. They went camping, hiking, all kinds of trips.      Rhonda blossomed with all of John's attention. She was only eleven in years but she was much more mature than the average eleven year old. Her life had made it so. About six months after they got to Germany, Rhonda and Sonya's stepdad started a new nightmare.      One night when they had all gone to bed, Rhonda heard Neil, her stepdad, tell her mom that he was going to get a glass of milk. What he rally did was go into Rhonda's room. He walked up to the and bent over. Rhonda was laying on her side, she felt him slide his hamd underneath her and cup her breast. Everything seemed to go black from there. Her heart had started racing and she felt panicked. She couldn't understand what was happening. It was just so black.      The day after was just like being stuck in a fuzzy dream, walking and talking from sheer reaction, habit. Nothing seemed the same and the days passed on to days. In the beginning Rhonda resented Sonya's age. She thought that if she was younger and undeveloped it wouldn't be happening to her.      Her mother had talked to her a couple of years before about good touch bad touch. Rhonda understood that this was a bad touch and even though it was happening at least every other night, her fear made her unable to say anything.      Her mom and Sonya loved Neil. How could she say something; those were the thoughts that passed through her mind at least a hundred times a day. He was Sonya's 'daddy'. Rhonda's thoughts and feelings were a jumbled mess.      Rhonda finally told a year later. After all was said and done her mom stayed with him and things were different, but not in a good way. Sonya was angry with Rhonda. She blamed Rhonda for all the problems and stress in the family from this incident.        The drift between them became even worse when several years later, when Rhonda was sixteen, her mom and Neil divorced. Rhonda was no longer living at home at this time but in Sonya's young mind, it was all still Rhonda's fault.      As Rhonda and Sonya went through their teenage years, there was communication between the two but no noticable love or bond of any kind.      Rhonda got married and had kids by twenty, and Sonya was doing her own thing. Rhonda never missed Sonya let alone thought of her.      Sonya moved to New York in 1996 when Rhonda was twentysix. They had much more than miles seperating them. But when Sonya moved back home in 2001 with a new baby boy it was like as if the past hurts and resentfulness, the big drift between the two of them no longer existed.      Rhonda then realized that she had been missing Sonya all along. Missing a sister. Needing the bond that sisters share.        It was a miracle. It had to be. They talked on the phone everyday. They spent at least three out of seven days of the week together doing something. They had all the sudden became friends. Rhonda enjoyed Sonya's company and looked forward to the time they shared.      For a year they spent time getting to know each other. Their children bonding as the sisters never had. And then, it happened so suddenly. Sonya and Brandon, her baby, moved back to New York. Rhonda's girls cried. Rhonda cried. They were gone and they were missed.                             ~ ~ ~ ~ ~        It has been almost three weeks now and things have changed so much. No more phone calls. No more hanging out. No more spending the night. Rhonda knows now what it is to have a sister.      Never has she had a better friend and never has she learned a bigger leason in life. None of the differences in their life styles or the miles between them mattered any longer.      They are sisters.....Finally