Racing for Freedom - By Bec Botefuhr Page 0,42
my name down to save his own. Once I’m in that championship, I’ll get my own sponsors and I will be able to flick him off.”
“Do you really think it’ll be that easy?”
Slade nods. “It will be, because I will fight back.”
“Slade…”
“I will Dash, one day I’ll fight back and he won’t dare touch me again.”
“I can’t bear to see you go through this, it’s wrong.”
He strokes my cheek. “I know Dashy, but it’s life, for now.”
“It’s unfair,” I breathe.
Slade strokes my cheek. “I know baby.”
“What about us Slade, are we…”
He smiles, leaning down to brush his lips across mine.
“Oh babe…we are…you just wait until I’m feeling better.”
I giggle as he wraps his arms around me. Right now, in this moment, at least one thing feels absolutely perfect.
Chapter Twenty Eight
I stand outside of my father's house for long, long moments just staring at the front door. How do I approach him about this? How do I tell him I know? How do I do any of it, without breaking him further? I've thought a lot about it, in fact, it's been the only thing on my mind for the past few hours. I don't know how I feel about it. Part of me blames him for drink driving, but part of me knows he's all I have left. If I lose him too...but how do I forgive him and be angry all at the same time?
When I finally gather my courage, I take the door handle and open the door. I see my father right away, it's hard to miss him. He's in the kitchen and he's smashing every plate, bowl, and cup against the counter. My mouth drops open. I've never seen my father show so much emotion since my mother died. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing. When he realizes someone is in the room, his head snaps up and he glares at me. He's crying, big, hot, angry tears are rolling down his cheeks.
“Dash, where have you been?” he rasps. “And what the hell happened to your eye?”
“I…it’s nothing. I was out.”
“I’ve been calling!” he barks.
“Well I didn’t want to talk,” I say, trying to keep my temper under wraps.
His gaze burns into me and his tears begin falling harder. “I know you know, John rang me and he told me what Michael told you. I have been ringing you…”
“Why didn't you tell me?” I say in a small voice.
I'm crying now too, but I don't care. This has been a long time coming.
“Because it wasn’t my fault! It wasn’t me Dash!”
My mouth drops open. “It wasn’t your fault?”
“That boy stopped, he was drunk and he stopped. I crashed the car but...it was his fault!”
“How dare you!” I scream, my anger bubbling to the surface. “I expected a lot from you today dad, but I didn’t expect you to lie. How dare you lie to me? I know you were drunk dad, I know you didn’t stop!”
His face drops and his eyes widen. “Who told you that?”
“SLADE!” I bark. “He told me everything and now you’re trying to lie to me. You’re meant to be my dad and you’re still trying to lie!”
“Why are you talking with him? How could you after what he did? If he never got in his car...”
“NO!” I yell, cutting him off. “Don’t you blame him. Yes, he shouldn’t have been in that car, but you shouldn’t have been either and you damn well know it, so don’t you try and throw all the blame on him.”
“How could you say that?” he whispers.
“I’m saying the truth. You’ve wallowed in this house now for years, dad, if you didn’t feel guilt you would have come out and faced the world again!”
“You know nothing Dasha,” he roars.
“I know everything,” I scream. “And I’m still here. I’m still here because I want to fix this. Don’t you dare lie to me, I deserve so much more than that and so does mum!”
He crumbles now and slowly sinks to his knees, his words come out as a whisper. “I thought I was sober enough to drive, I didn’t realize I’d let myself go so much. I didn’t see those cars, I didn’t see them and I ran right into them at full speed. I saw her head slam so hard onto that dashboard, it’s my fault Dash, it’s my fault she’s dead!”
My heart cracks a little and I rush over, dropping to my knees in front of him. I take his face