Hard to Break - Bella Jewel Page 0,33
holding on. He’s covered in vomit, his shirt is torn and he has grazed and bleeding knees. He obviously fell a few times.
My shoulders slump and I turn to Jace. “You should go.”
Jace stares at my father, the expression on his face a little broken and a lot horrified.
“Quinn,” he whispers. “I didn’t realize…”
“Jace, just go.”
He snaps out of it. “No, no way.”
He strides towards my dad before I can, and hauls him up straight. “Right, Robbo, takin’ you to the shower.”
“Jace?” Dad mumbles, blinking up at him.
“Yeah, it’s me. Come on.”
“Jace,” I say but he gives me a hard look.
“No, Quinn. Let me help. You clean up the mess.”
He nods towards the front door and I turn to see a pile of vomit on the floor. Great. Jace disappears into the bathroom with Dad, and I gather up my disinfectant and bucket, then I get to work scrubbing the carpet. My phone rings midway through. I push to my feet with a weary sigh and wash my hands, then I pull it out of my pocket and am surprised to see Tazen’s number on my screen.
Why is he calling me?
I press the green button and put it to my ear. “What?”
“That’s not a nice way to speak to your boss, Quinn.”
I sigh. “I’m not in the mood right now, Tazen. Why are you calling?”
He’s silent for a minute. “Everything okay?”
“Don’t pretend you care. What. Do. You. Want?”
“I can’t find my recent projects folder.”
“You’re in the garage?” I ask, surprised.
He laughs softly. “I don’t stop working, angel.”
“Right,” I mumble.
“Quinnie!” I hear shrieked from the bathroom and my back snaps straight.
“Tazen, hang on.”
“Quinn?” Tazen asks, concern etched in his voice. “What the fuck was that?”
“Just … I’ll call you back okay?”
“Quinn…”
“I’ll call you—”
My sentence is cut off when my father comes charging out of the bathroom, stark naked. I scream and spin around, horrified. “Jesus fuck!”
“Quinn!” Tazen barks.
I hang up quickly and drop the phone, calling out, “Jace?”
“Sorry, Quinn,” Jace says, rushing out behind him, his voice sympathetic. “I was showering the old man and he freaked out on me.”
“Quinnie,” Dad protests. “What the fuck?”
Anger bubbles in my chest, but I keep my back to him and my mouth closed.
“Come on, Robbo.” Jace tries for calm. “Get yourself dressed and go sleep it off.”
“Fuck you, Jace,” Dad barks and I flinch.
This is something I’ve noticed has been happening more and more lately. Dad is getting angrier, more short-tempered. This worries me.
“Relax,” Jace warns. “It’s time for bed.”
“You don’t tell me when I go to bed,” Dad slurs. “Who the hell do you think you are? Bring it on, boy.”
“Dad,” I yell, finally losing my hold on the anger bubbling up. “Get dressed and get into bed. I can’t take this anymore. If you’re going to act like a child, that’s how we’re going to treat you.”
“Quinnie…” Dad whispers, hurt.
My shoulders slump and tears burn under my eyelids. “Just,” I whisper, “go to sleep.”
There’s shuffling sounds, and a moment later a door closes. I slowly turn to see I’m alone in the room again. I glance down at the mess only half cleaned on the floor and the phone beside it that is flashing with another phone call. Tazen. Fuck. I reach down and snatch it up, pressing it to my ear.
“Tazen.”
“What the hell, Quinn?” he yells. “I’m coming over.”
He’s … what?
“No, you can’t come over,” I cry.
“I fucking can. You were screaming. Are you hurt? Fuck, angel, are you hurt?”
He’s … worried for me. My heart swells.
“I’m okay,” I say softly. “It was just … a friend stayed the night and he was drunk. It’s a long story but I’m fine, don’t come over.”
Tazen is silent a minute. “You’re lying to me.”
I close my eyes. “I’m your employee, Tazen. You’ve made that horribly clear. I’m no more. What happens here is none of your concern. You rang about a file, it’s under new builds in the second filing cabinet. I’ll see you Monday.”
“Angel,” he starts, but I click the phone off.
I drop my head and let one silent tear run down my cheek.
* * *
By Monday morning, I’m ready for work again. My weekend was slow after Dad’s drunken meltdown, and I spent most of it making sure it didn’t happen again. Jace came over to check on me a few times and Lenny showed up once and kept an eye on Dad for a few hours so I could go to the store and stock the fridge. I know Jace