By the time Lance and I made it back to the house, it was time for dinner, but there was someone waiting for me, someone I had almost forgotten. “Tell Ma and Pop that I’ll be right in.” I slapped Lance on the shoulder, sending him on his way. He’d only nag me to death if he knew what all I’ve been up to.“Did you get it?” The other man held out a sack for me to take.“It was easy; she left it in an underwear drawer of all things.”“Thanks.” I took his offering and headed inside and up the stairs to hide it before heading down to the dining room.Ma was in her element, having all these people to fuss over for dinner. It’s the Italian in her, I guess, that finds so much pleasure in having a crowded table. I noticed Gianna had remembered my place and had taken the seat next to mine. I’m getting way too into this sappy shit, but it felt good.The conversation was light and playful. No one mentioned anything too heavy, and there were only a few moments when I noticed a bit of sadness l
“What’s the matter? Can’t sleep?” The house was quiet when she crept into my room later that night. I was up on the computer, which I switched to sleep mode as soon as she walked in.“No, I can’t. I think I want to call my dad.” My face must’ve given my thoughts away because she rushed to explain herself.“I think there might be something going on with him. I can’t explain it; it’s just a feeling I have like something’s wrong.” Yeah, a lot is wrong with him right now, but don’t you dare start feeling sorry for him; he doesn’t deserve it. I’ve turned the situation over time and again, and no matter what angle I look from, there’s no excuse sufficient enough for men like him. It would’ve been wrong for him to have neglected Victoria after marrying her mother and taking on that role, but what he did instead is nothing less than an abomination, and unless he’s a complete moron, there’s no way he didn’t recognize any of the signs of what was going on with his own blood right under hi
I sat in the dingy booth in the rundown diner someplace in New Jersey, listening to the man who claimed to be my father speak. He seemed overly excited, reminiscing about things I’d long forgotten if they ever really happened; meanwhile, I’m just here for information. He’d tried getting me to go home with him, which I staunchly refused. No doubt home for him is a grimy apartment somewhere in the city. That much I remember from my childhood, messy, broken-down apartments and the smell of onions and burnt food in the hallway.A vast difference from the life I live now, and I have no plans on going back. I just need to know why she lied. “Where’ve you been?”“About that…uh, your mom didn’t tell you?”“She told me you were dead.” No, she hadn’t, not exactly, but that’s the story she’d drilled into my head when we bounced, and it kinda became my reality after a while, until now.I was too young back then to know much of anything, but hunger is something that sticks with you no matter
The morning was chaotic, to say the least, due to her newfound popularity. I’ve never been surrounded by so many of my fellow students before and was quickly reminded why. I can’t wait to go back to the way things were because, well, people are stupid. I’d forgotten how much so.Another aspect of her rise to fame that I’d overlooked was the attention from males. I didn’t think of it because I never expected that it would affect me one way or another. Lucky for them, she seemed just as wary of their presence as I was, but I still had the urge to tell them to get bent. All it took, though, was my patented glare to get the point across, and the more daring of the bunch got the message and kept their ass out of my sight.By the time lunchtime rolled around, I’d had enough and only allowed her enough time to eat before dragging her away from the table where Lance and I were the only males allowed. I’d been out of sorts all morning, feeling out of my element a bit. Something was niggling a
I left the house and took a long drive so I could mull over everything that was going on. Something doesn’t seem right about either of their stories. I don’t believe for a second that the Feds had made a mistake, so what exactly is going on? Who’s the man that picked Victoria up from the station, and how can I find that out?I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know the name of Becky’s dead husband; I just never got around to asking as it never seemed important. Such is the way of our relationship, and it has ever been this way. She knows we didn’t get married for love that I was just trying to give my daughter a stable home while she was looking for the same.Intimacy between us has never been an issue; I’m still alive after all, but there was never any great passion between us, and she knows and has been fine with this. In fact, after the crisis bonding period right after Adrienne passed, the guilt had been so strong that I may have neglected my new wife there in the beginning.
I didn’t quite know what to do with my hands when our dance finally came to an end, so I left them resting gently on the curve of her ass. “Don’t ever dance with anyone else like that.” My head cleared after I said the words, but it was too late to take them back. Her eyes were still clouded, so maybe she missed the words and the meaning behind them. Feeling boyish after that little faux pas, I distracted her with the ice cream. “This probably isn’t as good now as it was when I bought it.” It was pretty much a melted blob in a soggy waffle cone, but she didn’t seem to care.Thank goodness I’d had the foresight to have the cone turned upside down in a cup which had made it easier to drive with the thing. She acted like I’d given her gold. “For me? Thank you.”“I wasn’t sure what flavor you’d like, but you look like a strawberry girl to me.” What the hell are these things that keep popping into my head and right out of my mouth?She’d zapped me with the dance; that’s the only explan
I’m extremely nervous to the point I want to back out of going back home this soon. It may have only been days since I left, but it feels like ten lifetimes had already passed for all that has happened since then. I’m not going to lie; part of me wants the three of them to see me looking the way I do now; I guess it’s only natural to feel that way.Part of me is genuinely worried about my dad. I guess it’s not that easy separating the bad from the good; I still recall the way things were in the beginning, and for that reason, I can’t cut all ties completely, though my respect level for him is pretty low.And then there’s this other part of me, the part that remembers the trauma of living under their shadow, of not being heard or believed when it mattered, of being replaced in my own home, having my life completely taken over. That part still feels fear at the thought of facing my tormentors.I had to keep gripping one hand with the other to keep them from shaking. The only thing sto
There were two very pale females in that room, while one adult male looked like someone had goosed him. Come on, jerk, get your shit together for Pete’s sake. “So, you look well; they’ve been taking care of you?” Felix, you are a lost fucking cause. That was my first thought when he dropped that sentence into the silence that fell.No, wait, that seems way off. The words never judge a book by its cover are never actually talking about books. No man is that dumb, that clueless when faced with the truth. So I looked again. I watched him as he spoke to his daughter, and good old Felix was clutching his hands together so tight, they’d turned white. My eyes went back to his face, and no, he wasn’t angry at her, but he was livid about something.I knew when I saw him last night that the tide in his house had changed as well, but this was better than expected. I know he’d talked to the Feds and heard about Victoria’s dad being alive, but I have no doubt these two could spin a spider out of