Cassie marched to the door and left without another word.
“Fuck!” I yelled, slamming my fists on the coffee table in front of me.
A son? History was literally repeating itself. It was like the universe knew my worst fear and instantly made it come true.
Before too long, I’d be another version of my dad. Hell, I already was. The kid wasn’t even born yet, and I was sitting here, already running from responsibility. I had turned into my father in the blink of an eye.
——————————–
“You got some girl pregnant?” my dad shouted, taking two more steps toward me.
I’d come to my parents’ house to talk with my mom, hoping she could help me make sense of everything. I assumed my dad would be at work. Of course—the one time I actually needed him to be away—he was in his study, eavesdropping on the entire conversation.
“This doesn’t concern you, Dad,” I said, brushing him off.
“Like hell it doesn’t.”
“Please, stop yelling,” my mom begged, but it didn’t make a difference.
“She’s going to take you for everything you have.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t have anything for her to take.”
“Not right now,” he shot back, “but when I die, everything I own goes to you, then to that kid you just created with some whore. What happens then? She’ll want child support and—”
“Do not speak about Molly like that.” I cut him off, seething.
“So the tramp has a name,” he sneered.
“Say one more word about her,” I said quietly, every muscle in my body tightening, “and I will put you on the floor, old man.”
“Tell her to get an abortion,” he demanded.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“It’d solve all our problems, wouldn’t it?”
The way he kept talking like his own grandchild would ruin his reputation pissed me off. He’d ruined his reputation all on his own, long before this situation ever happened.
“She’s already made it clear, that’s not an option.”
“Suit yourself. Go ahead—ruin your life. There goes your chance of ever going to law school.”
“Don’t you get it, Dad? I never wanted to follow in your footsteps. Become a lying, conniving lawyer who ignores his family every chance he gets? No thanks. Law school was never in my plans. You would’ve realized that a long time ago if you’d pulled your headout of your ass long enough to see what was actually going on around you.”
He lunged for me, but I was quicker, stepping out of reach just in time.
“What, Dad?” I taunted. “Gonna hit me like you did when I was a kid?”
My blood boiled hotter than it ever had before. This was it—my breaking point.
I lunged back at him, catching him off guard. I’d never dared to challenge my father before today.
“Nothing would be handed down to me if it weren’t for what you did. Remember Noah? Your other son? The one you bullied so relentlessly that he killed himself when he was twelve? Remember him?” I said, shoving him back.
“All your precious assets would’ve been passed down to him. He was older than me. But he’s not here to take them, is he? No. Because, he hung himself in his bedroom in this very house. He couldn’t take the abandonment he felt from you. He couldn’t hide the bruises another day. He couldn’t stand the pain—not one more day. Painyoucaused.”
Tears spilled down my mother’s cheeks.
