I don’t answer.I grab my jacket and pull open the door.
I have to do the one thing my father never tried to do.
My body trembles with an emotionunfamiliar to me.Rage.I accelerate out of the driveway.My breathing’s erratic.I want to scream at the world.For now, I let loose in my car.
Image after image.Bruise after bruise.The broken arm that was never from a tree, but from a shove off a roof.Tears blur the lines on the road.I blink rapidly to clear them.
Fear doesn’t fuel my adrenaline this time.Anger feeds the pounding in my chest.It pumps through my veins.It’s blinding.But also narrows my focus.
I turn down the driveway.I do not slow.
Dirt and rocks pelt the undercarriage.
I slam to a stop.
Headlights shining upon the man I came here to find.
Hal meets me halfway.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“You should never have been a father.”
“Excuse me, young lady?”
I swallow back the venom at the back of my throat.“I saw what you did.How many times you hurt him.You’re a cruel, evil man.”
“I don’t know what you think you—”
“I saw!”I scream.He turns his head toward the house.“I saw what you did!”
He takes a step toward me.I don’t back away.My nails dig into my palms.
“You better keep your voice down.”It’s not the words, but the low growl, that has me searching is eyes.
They may be the same onyx shade, but it isn’t his son I see.The darkness within these eyes is an endless chasm.
“What are you doing here?”Each word is emphasized.Spit sprays onto my cheeks.
A deep ache rises to the surface.“Never again.”
He continues to stare.
“He can’t come back here.”
“That’s not up to you.”
I look past him to the house.Lights shine through the large windows.
“Does she know?”I make a move toward the steps.He snatches my arm faster than I can gasp.
“Don’t you dare.”
Clenching my teeth, I match his seething glare.“He doesn’t come back.Let them visit him.Don’t mess with our future.Let him go.Or I’ll show her what you did to her son.Every cut.Every bruise.”
“You’re making the terms, little girl?Is that it?”Hal releases a patronizing laugh.But it lands flat.He doesn’t have the power.
His grip tightens on my arm.I don’t look away.I know what he’s capable of.
