Only one person called me from a different phone every time. Dad was probably scared I would contact him if he held onto the same number for too long. Actually no, that wouldn’t be it. Dad most likely changed his phone for some reason totally unrelated to me. He didn’t think about me unless he was demanding money.
‘Mo. Mo mo mo,’ Aster slurred. He spat his mouthful of cupcake onto his plate then leapt up and braced one hand on the table. He careened forwards, grabbed my phone, then hurled himself back into his seat.
No one was more surprised than me that he landed without breaking himself, anyone else around the table, or the crockery surrounding us.
He recovered from his unexpected feat of acrobatics quickly. He jabbed at my phone. The buzzing stopped.
Aster looked up, and his triumphant grin dropped. ‘Lukey?’
The fog that had fallen over me since Louisa shouted about my wrongs cleared, and it took something extra with it. Fire burned in my veins, cleansing and bright.
I spat my mouthful of disgusting cupcake onto my plate. ‘Give me my phone.’
Aster shook his head. ‘You can’t be trusted. Sorry, Lukey, but I’m saving you from yourself.’
I stood up, my chair toppling over. ‘Give me my fucking phone, Aster.’
My voice had climbed to a high octave no one but my best friend would have heard me use before. He’d only experienced it twice. Once when he walked in on me having private time with myself during a school trip to France. The other when he’d told me it was best to combine our Pokémon card collections, a travesty that could not be borne since all of his were torn and mine were beautifully pristine.
I held my hand out over the table. Aster’s eyes were wide as he placed my phone in the centre of my palm. His fingers twitched when it started buzzing again, but I snatched it away.
I raised it to my ear, half considering leaving the room but the thought of doing this alone made the new fire inside me sputter. ‘Dad?’
‘Lucas.’ Pleasantries over, he ploughed straight into the reason for this call. The only reason he ever called his son. ‘I need five hundred pounds. Today.’
I took a deep breath. ‘No.’
Flames raced through me as I said the word I should have shouted years ago at the parent who only ever used me.
The silence around the table was so complete that even Aster could hear the mocking laugh down the line.
‘Nice try, kiddo.’ Dad huffed. ‘It’s the same account details as last time.’
‘I’m not sending you any money,’ I growled. I’d been shocked by my more wolfy tendencies in bed with Kit last night, but they felt fitting now.
‘You owe me,’ Dad growled right back, switching from fake jolliness to outright aggression. ‘You and your mother sucked the life out of me for too long. Took everything I had and some.If I need a few hundred pounds from you every now and then, it barely makes a dent in what you should be sending my way.’
‘You’re delusional.’ I’d thought it a hundred times, but had never fully understood it until now. ‘Parenting and marriage aren’t transactions. There isn’t a record kept of what’s put in and what’s taken out. Even if there was, you would be so far in the red it’s laughable.’
‘Tell yourself that,’ Dad snapped. ‘You and your mother are useless sacks of shit. Now do the one thing you’re good for, and send me the fucking money.’
‘You’re not going to stop this unless I cut you off.’
‘I’m not going to stop regardless of what you do.’
I shook my head. ‘No. You will. Making a phone call is easy, but finding me would be a lot harder. Even then, I’m never giving you anything ever again. I’m done with you. I should have been done a long time ago. Bye, Dad.’
I hung up, then held down the power button to turn off my phone until I had the time and head space to block his latest number. I’d change mine soon too. Make it as difficult as possible for him to contact me.
My chest heaved. I’d always been so pliant, so easy to get along with. I took the longest shifts at my last vet surgery whenever I was asked to and I moved to a freaking island because my best friend suggested it and I didn’t come down from the mountains on the first day I conceivably could after turning into a wolf-man because I was told it wasn’t a wise idea.
I’d been good and compliant for long enough. I was done.
Bonnie picked up my fallen chair, then braced her hands on my shoulders. ‘As fun as it was to witness your domestic, perhaps un-bunch your panties before you sit down. I don’t want you to injure yourself.’
‘No.’ I turned on her, batting her hands away. ‘Some of the things you say aren’t funny or clever.’
Thick eyebrows rose towards her hairline. ‘Alright, alright. Calm down.’
