to face the music. My dad had seen me pull up in Zeke’s hunk of junk and he would know the car didn’t belong to anyone he was okay with me spending time with. A swarm of irrational anger rang through me and I jumped out of the car. Why couldn’t he just be social for once? I just needed a reason to not go inside. Was that too much to ask?
“Asshole,” I muttered as I slammed his door.
I heard his laughter as he drove away.
Once inside, I was met with Sydney who was making herself a bowl of ice cream in the kitchen.
“Hey, you. How was practice?” she asked around a spoonful of cookie dough ice cream.
“Good. We have a game Saturday against Fort Dorchester. I’m going to go get a shower. I’ll come tuck you in, okay?” I called out as I made my way to the stairs.
The quicker I got my shower, the quicker I could go see my mom and the quicker I could go to bed.
I stood under the steaming water and let the heat take the tension out of my tight muscles. I’m not sure how long I stood that way until finally my skin started to feel numb. After I dried off, I cleared the foggy mirror and checked my bruise. It was looking much better, but I was sure Zeke knew how I’d gotten it. It was strange that someone who knew nothing about me knew more about the inner workings of my home life than my best friend. I guess it was a good thing Zeke was so uninvolved with other people. Otherwise, he might be tempted to tell everyone the governor was an abusive asshole.
I’d rather him think I got slapped around. I’d never want anyone to know the kind of actual abuse I went through. It was embarrassing for me and I understood how disgusting my situation was.
When I got to my mom’s room, she looked well. For once she had some color to her cheeks and her smile was an actual smile, versus the fake thing she gave Syd and me so we wouldn’t worry. I crawled up in bed with her and she brushed my wet hair while I told her about my day. I left out the fact that I’d spent an hour of my afternoon at a shitty gymnasium full of juvenile delinquents and one certifiable asshole.
“I wish I could make it to your soccer games,” she said sadly after I told her about practice.
“You’re there, Mom.” I smiled back at her and her eyes filled with tears before she continued to detangle my mass of hair.
It wasn’t long until we were joined by Sydney. We sat and watched TV until both Mom and Sydney fell asleep. I didn’t bother waking Syd. If she was sleeping next to Mom, then she was safe for the night and I could attempt to get some sleep. I had yet to see my dad and I knew as I crept down the hallway on padded feet it wouldn’t be much longer before he came and said his peace or did something else.
I passed my mom’s nurse, Patricia, on the way to my room and she smiled at me and mentioned how Mom had a great day. Once I saw her disappear into Mom’s dark room, I knew I was on my own.
I closed my bedroom door behind me and slid under my blanket. I rolled over onto my side and stuck my arm under my pillow for support. It was then that I saw my dad sitting in the chair by my window, looking back at me. What kind of crazy person sat in a dark room and waited? A predator, that’s what kind.
“Who dropped you off?” he asked calmly.
I knew the minute I said Zeke’s name that calm exterior would crack.
I swallowed hard and sat up on my elbow. “Zeke Mitchell.”
I could have lied, but somehow I knew he already knew the answer to his question. Lying would have made it worse, so instead, I was honest.
It was dark in the room so I couldn’t see his reaction, but I’m sure it wasn’t good.
“Why do you constantly ignore my rules, Patience? Where did your mother and I go wrong?”
He sighed into the dark room when I didn’t answer his question. I knew it was a rhetorical question. Anything I said at this point was going to piss him off even worse.
“You used to be such a good