“Oh come on now, I’m daddy, remember? Which one are you again? Any who, I can see my daughters any time I damn well feel like it.” He staggers towards me and I take steps back.
He’s drunker than I remember he used to be. It’s in his eyes, speech, posture, and the way he stumbles as he walks. My heart starts to race and my blood starts to boil. I don’t know what his plan is, but Momma says when it comes to Ted, it never ends well. If there is one thing she taught us about this man, it’s when the rage starts, there is no getting away. She instilled it in our brains since he left that we must stay away from our father at all costs.
“I don’t have to call you my father, you lost that privilege a long time ago. You, TED, are nothing but scum. No better yet, you are the horse shit that people try to wipe off their boots. You have no right to be here nor to be called father by any of us. You need to leave!” I scream the last part.
Ted’s head snaps back with a rage roaring in his bloodshot eyes. Oh shit, there it is the rage that I remember seeing too many times for any little girl. Only it’s not directed at Momma, it’s all for me because my mouth can get me in trouble. With a speed I didn’t think he would have, Ted’s hand reaches out, grabbing ahold of my arm.
He is in my face with his filthy, alcohol breath, too close for comfort. “You little bitch! You will not talk to me in that tone! Do I need to show you respect like I did your mother?”
Once he is done speaking, I brace for what I know will be next, but not before I get my last few words out of my mouth. “Like hell I will! You fucking piece of shit!”
I hear my sister Cayden screaming my name just as Ted’s palm lands hard across my cheek. Sonofabitch, that hurt! I will not give him the satisfaction of one single tear though. This fucking bastard has done enough damage already and I am tired of living in fear of him. He gets another blow in and another and another. I will not give up!
Damn it, it’s time for me to stand and fight like our momma couldn’t. It’s time to take advantage of his drunken stupor and put him down. I do the one thing that I know will bring a man to his knees. That’s right, I fight back by taking my knee to the bastard’s balls. As he drops to the ground, I bend down, punching, kicking, clawing, and scratching as screams rip from my throat. Cayden pulls me away as my own emotions of anger and rage begin to surface. To hell with this man that has hurt us so badly.
Tears cascade down my cheeks as I continue screaming. “Cydney. Cydney, are you ok?” my sister yells in my face. “Take a breath, babe. He is down and the guys are carting him off,” Cayden informs me as she checks the swelling I can already feel. She grabs me in a tight hug, calming me down by running her hand up and down my back and telling me it’s okay.
As I look at my sister, all I could think is never again. No man will ever lay a threatening hand on me or my sisters, I will kill before I let that happen. My face fucking hurts and my head is pounding. “Where’s Callie?”
“I don’t know, that’s why I came looking for you. She took off with Roger and has been gone for a while.” Cayden looks worried.
“Roger?” I question before asking, “Why would she take off with him?”
“We were dancing and he came over asking her to take a walk so they could talk.”
“Okay, let’s walk around and see if anyone has seen her.” We take off in separate directions, searching for our missing sister.
Callie
Dancing around and around with Cayden has me forgetting all about the future in this moment. The alcohol swims in my head and I laugh at how ridiculous we look, but I could care less. Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I spin around and stop at the sight of Roger.
Roger was a boy that I tutored this past year, but we never hung out outside of school so I’m a little curious as to why he would be coming over here, tapping me on the shoulder. “Hey Roger.” I give him a kind smile.
“Hey Callie. Will you take a walk with me? I wanted to talk to you about something.” He returns the smile.
“Yeah, I’ll walk with you.” I turn back around and tell Cayden that I’m going to go with him. She gives me a nod before dancing away from us.
We walk to the edge of the woods before I stop and ask, “What did you want to talk about?”
“Come on, just a little further and we can sit,” he responds, still with the smile on his face. In my drunken state I don’t think anything about it so I continue to follow him.
He grabs my hand, leading me into the dark trees away from everyone. I don’t know how long or how far in we are before I start feeling funny. “I think this is far enough.”
“Just a little farther, I promise.” I can’t see much of anything. I’m starting to get a little scared.
“No! This is far enough. Just tell me what you wanted to talk about.” My heart starts to beat faster as my pulse races.