Chapter Four: Always Comes Home

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful after those two men left, the normal vibe of the boring coffee shop sinking back to what it was like. But through the normality, I couldn’t help but think of the man I had made the smoothie for, there was just something about him which caught my eye, and that wasn’t his drop-dead gorgeous looks. There was a hint of mystery about him, he has many layers to his life which I can tell not many people get to see or understand.

With that being said, the day soon rushed by and before I knew it, I was turning off all of the lights and locking up the doors. With a little sigh, I slip the keys to the café into my purse and begin my short joinery home, the streetlights shining down on me as I went.

But now I was out of the shop and the prospect of what I may find when I get home filled my mind, I soon remember what I had told my father when I left this morning, but I had neglected to do so. I had been so busy with the thought of that mysterious man from before that I completely forgot to get some money to give to my father. Straight panic begins to pulse through me when I wondered what kind of reception I was going to get when I walked through the door, this isn’t the first time I have said I’d get him money than didn’t. I thought the way he treated me after those times would force me never to forget again, but it seems as though that wasn’t the case.

With this in mind, I soon rush over to the nearest cash point and withdraw the money my father would have wanted. In my mind, if I told him I was so busy at work that I didn’t get the time to leave, he wouldn’t be as mad when I hand him the money. My heart pounded in my chest as I approached the front door to our apartment and pulled out my door key, the shaking of hands prevented me from getting the key in the lock on the first try. But after a little struggle, I managed to turn the key and push the door very slowly open.

My breathing fast and full of worry, I push the door even slower open where the creek from the broken planks at the bottom filled the very quiet and strangely dark house. With a gulp, I take my first step in looking around my surroundings in case my father jumped out from somewhere. But once I reached up and switched the light on, he was not sat in the kitchen or laying in a heap on the floor for that matter.

“Dad! I’m back!” I call out with the front door still open just in case he jumps out of somewhere and I have a chance to run, but the longer I waited by the front door, the quieter the house seemed to get.

My father is always home when I return from work, whilst I’m hard at work, he’s at the pub getting blinded with alcohol before the barman kicks him out once he gets all his money and my father causes trouble. But to see the house empty and no sign that he had been back since I left, I couldn’t help but grow a little worried at what may have happened.

Closing the front door and hanging my things up, I walk deeper into the house arriving in the kitchen, where I spot my fathers keys on the table but nothing else. I pick them up in my hands and look around the house, my father is always sure to take these with him so when he’s blind drunk, he doesn’t have to wait outside the door. Could this mean my father hadn’t gone out to get some drink after I didn’t give him money?

I couldn’t help the feeling of hope which pulsed through me as I place his keys back on the table and head for his bedroom, could my father have decided not to drink after all? Once I reach his slightly opened bedroom door, I knock softly and push the door open. But to my disappointment, I find his bedroom also empty letting me know that the thought of my father turning his life around wasn’t meant to be in that moment.

With a sigh, I leave my fathers bedroom closing the door behind me as I went, my head rested on the door behind me as I close my eyes. It shouldn’t be me worrying about my father and if he’s being safe out there, that isn’t the job of a daughter of my age. My father should be the one worried what his young daughter was getting up to as she leaves to engage in a night of partying with her friends! Instead, I’m left in this empty house wondering if my father had finally, done it this time and something bad had happened to him.

I did begin to wonder if I should phone around the different hospitals and see if he had been taken in, but when the overwhelming feeling of tiredness takes over my emotions, my body begins to beg me to take this opportunity of the house being quiet and go to sleep. With that in mind, I allow my body to walk over to my bed and fall forward into the soft sheets. Within a matter of minutes, I was fast asleep still wearing my work clothes.

I soon jump awake suddenly, due to the sun blinding me from the curtains I had forgotten to close last night. The tightness of my work clothes irritating me as soon as my eyes were opened, where I soon remember about my father not being home and jumped out quickly to see if he had returned whilst I was asleep. But when I rushed into the kitchen area with a look of anticipation on my face, I couldn’t help but sigh a little once I found the house was still empty and my father was nowhere to be seen. What could have happened to him last night? No matter what happens, he always comes back, even if he’s violent or throwing up on the floor, at least I know he is safe.

Looking over at the clock which hung on the kitchen wall, I discover I’d had my first lie in, in years, 9am. I didn’t have to be in work until 12, so jumping in the shower and placing my work clothes into the washing machine, I have a slow start to my day hoping that my father would walk through the door somewhere in between.

But as the time creeped closer to me having to leave, I waited by the door in my coat wanting to wait as long as I possible in case he returned, I know I won’t be able to concentrate at work if I didn’t see him. With a sigh, I open up the front door and leave for work, the money which my father wanted was left on the kitchen table for him.