Daddy didn’t stick around long. It was obvious that he was still upset with me, but I really didn’t care. After a quick check to make sure that the swelling was going down, he made me take a couple more Aspirin, and then he left out again without saying goodbye. When he and Mom returned from work that evening, they were none the wiser about my secret meeting with AJ. I felt a thrill at the thought of getting away with the whole scheme, especially since I was still so upset with Daddy. It pleased me that I’d done something that I was sure he’d disapprove of. If he thought of me as careless, then I’d be careless.
Dinner was…..interesting. Mom carried the conversation by herself. Daddy stared at his plate silently and so did I. When I finished, I got up from my chair and picked up my plate to take it to the sink.
“Samantha, wait a minute. I wanna talk to you,” my father said sternly.
I stopped, but didn’t look his way. He continued on. “Look. You’re not gonna walk around my house with this attitude. So, I suggest that you get over it. Am I clear?” He asked.
I continued to stare at the wall when answering. “You can’t make me stop seeing AJ.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You’re not grown. You will do as I say,” he retorted.
“I’ll be 18 in six weeks and you’re treating me like I’m still 12! I can’t wait until it’s time for me to leave and go away to school,” I mumbled under my breath as I stormed off. I ran up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door so hard that one of my pictures fell from the wall. I was so mad that I could hardly see straight. I had to leave. My phone was in my hand instantly and I sent AJ a message.
“Can u come get me again?”
He responded more quickly than I’d anticipated. “Same time?”
“Yeah.”
I lay in bed waiting for my parents to continue with their usual evening ritual that ended predictably at 11:00pm. As expected, the living room television went off and they retreated into their bedroom. I hopped in the shower and got dressed as I’d done before. At 11:56 I was on my way. After checking my pocket for my keys, I left the house and didn’t bother looking back to see if I’d awakened anyone. I didn’t even run this time because I didn’t feel any fear. My father no longer had a hold on me.
I felt a sudden rush when I reached the end of the driveway and made my way to the corner. AJ’s car was now in view and it wouldn’t be long until we’d speed away leaving my problems behind. As soon as I climbed in, I forgot that I was ever even mad. AJ was like a breath of fresh air even though I’d seen him only hours before. He reached for my hand before taking off at high speed down my street. We went back to our same spot as before, but didn’t get out of the car this time. Instead we sat there listening to music and both of us reclined our seats so that we could get more comfortable.
Scenes from my argument with my father crept into my thoughts again and I sighed, trying to forget it so that I could enjoy my time with AJ. My frustration didn’t go unnoticed.
“Everything ok?” he asked.
“Not really.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“It’s just more drama with my father. He is so hard to reason with sometimes. I’m sick of it!” I didn’t want to say much more than that. I’d felt bad enough for telling AJ about how Daddy demanded that I end things with him.
“What was it this time?”
“Same stuff as before. Nothing’s changed.”
“Well, you’ll be leaving in less than a year and you won’t have to deal with it anymore,” he replied. Those words were like music to my ears. This summer I’d hopefully be leaving for Charleston and Daddy wouldn’t be able to hold me under his thumb anymore. It almost sounded too good to be true.
“I know, but he’s driving me crazy in the meantime.” I felt myself becoming tense again. “But I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I was hoping you would help keep my mind off of it. Talk about something else. Anything else.”
Before he could respond my phone began to ring. The sound startled me and I fumbled to get it out of my pocket. Who would be calling me at 12:45 in the morning? I looked at AJ with a shocked look on my face “It’s Antonio.”
“Aren’t you gonna answer it?” He asked as he smiled that devilish smile again.
I looked back at the phone and hesitated before opening it. “Hello?”
“Hey. Sorry to call you so late. Were you asleep?”
“No, I’m up. What’s going on?”
“I just wanted to apologize again for the other day,” he said remorsefully.