40 #2
He sits down next to me and takes some things out of his pocket: a black dreamcatcher and a set of keys that I assume are for the flat we were in earlier. I take it with my lips curled upwards, focusing on the golden details of the dreamcatcher and ignoring the key ring.
“I won’t be able to be with you tonight.
” I look up and meet his gaze, then I understand.
He’s referring to my nightmares. I smile wider, eagerly waiting for him to finally bring our lips together.
“Don’t touch the bandages.” I nod, feeling a tingle as he gently brushes our noses together.
“It’s getting harder to leave you, then I miss you so much that I feel like I’m dying inside. ”
“Just promise me that whatever you’re going to do, you’ll take care of yourself.”
“I will, but it’s not me you should be worried about,” he replies, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. His words left me confused, my heart starts to beat rapidly, but I can’t tell if it is worry or adrenaline.
“The keys,” I say, holding them up in the air as he’s about to leave.
“They’re yours.” Is all he says before leaving.
I unlock my phone when I receive a pair of notifications. It’s a text with the photos Grace had sent me the night of the bonfire. I write back to her.
My curiosity reaches its peak with the hours until I can’t take it anymore and get up.
The painkiller he gave me helps with the pain, but the stitches still bother me.
I go to the dressing room and take off my clothes in front of the mirror.
The reflection shows my body covered in small bruises that shows where his hands and teeth had been.
When I’m at home, I always try to hide them with makeup, but deep down I wanted to show them to everyone. Everyone except my parents. I don’t even want to imagine the look on their faces if they saw them. I find some scissors and get rid of the bandages.
I gasp in amazement when I see the small scar that is beginning to form.
It is his name. My cheeks flush violently, unable to stop looking at it, and every time I do, I feel a legion of ants crawling through all my organs.
Perhaps someone in their right mind would see it as something sinister and repulsive, a sign to run and not look back, but for me?
For me, it’s the best gift I had ever been given, and I wanted to preserve it dearly and show it to the world.
I would brag about it if it weren’t for the fact that I knew people would think I was crazy.
Maybe they would be right, but I don’t really care if I am.
Everyone has a dark side and despicable secrets.
Like my father. Who knows what else he might be hiding.
I think as I go downstairs to the kitchen.
My plan had been to avoid seeing him for the rest of the day, but halfway there I run into him in the main room.
“Do you think this is a hotel where you can come and go as you please?” His tone is getting louder and louder. What the hell was his problem?
“I didn’t know I had to report my every move,” I say.
“As long as you live in this house, you will. You will inform me every single time you go out. And forget about seeing your damn boyfriend again.”
“You can’t tell me who I can and can’t date, Dad.” I say the last word with a hint of sarcasm.
“Of course I can! He’s going to marry someone else, and there you are, his second choice. Aren’t you ashamed?” As soon as his words hit me my stomach churns unpleasantly, my throat goes dry, and I feel like I’m about to collapse, but I still find the strength to speak.
“That’s not true,” I say. My eyelids burning from the tears I’m holding back. “You’re lying.”
“You’d rather believe him than your own father?
That family has been plotting our downfall for years!
I was stupid not to realize it sooner, but you…
” He smiles bitterly. His mouth is full of venom and resentment.
“You’re even more stupid than I am for getting involved with that devil’s spawn.
You’re all the same. They say four words to you and you’re already on your knees, sucking cocks.
” I blink as tears threaten to spill. The way he speaks to me now and his insults hurt more than his revelations.
He’s never acted like this before. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but I’ve no reason to pay for someone else’s mistakes.
“I’d rather believe him than believe a phony like you. I don’t believe a word you say.” I murmur despite his threatening look.
“Make no mistake, Lena. I’m not one of your stupid friends, I’m your fucking father, so you respect me.” I can’t help but laugh.
“You’re going to talk about respect? After you’ve fucked up the whole family?
“What are you talking about?” His attempt to play dumb makes me angrier.
“You’re disgusting, Ray.” As soon as the words leave my mouth his hand strikes my face.
I bring my hand to that spot when I feel a metallic taste. I probably cut my lip. I look at him with teary eyes. My confusion now being much greater than my anger. For a moment I think I see some remorse in him, but it is gone as quickly as it came.
As tears start to wet my cheeks he throws an envelope at my feet. It’s a wedding invitation and Bianca’s name is written in gold letters next to his.
“That’s the damn wedding invitation. We got it yesterday.”
I gasp as a sharp pain shoots through my chest. The air is heavy and hot, and I’m suffocating.
My feet move involuntarily towards the exit.
My vision is still blurry, but that doesn’t stop me from seeing my car keys on the small table near the door.
I ignore my father’s orders to come back and run away before he can stop me.
I stop the car at the entrance to the building. When the bodyguards see me, they point in my direction. I ignore them and enter the apartment, going to the top floor. I came alone, but I know he wouldn’t dare do anything to me. Not yet.
I ring the bell and wait for someone to open the damn door. On the other side, my father smiles drunkenly from the sofa. The first thing I do is kick out the prostitutes that are with him, who are wearing nothing but g-strings.
“What the hell are you doing!?” I sit down in an armchair far away from him. “Do you have any news for me?” I curve my lips into a sly smile as I nod. Then I get up again.
I’m nervous. Restless. And not even the packet of cigarettes I smoked before coming here help me.
“Yes. I have news for you about what a fucking fool you are, in case you hadn’t noticed.
I guess you hadn’t.” I move my piercing from side to side, enjoying those blue eyes that look at me as if they want to shoot bullets into my head.
“Do you know who the fucking snitch was in the end? Lizzie. Your fucking ex… Ex-slut, or whatever the fuck she was to you,” I say with my smile widening.
“And do you know why? Because she wanted to use the money the police offered her to run away with that motherfucker of Ray. Aren’t you going to thank me?
” I spoke again when he didn’t say anything.
“After all, I saved you from everyone finding out what a fucking cuck you are.”
The look on his face made it worth seeing him today. I start laughing hysterically, throwing my head back before I could hear him.
“That gives me more reason to rip Ray and his little girl’s heads off. Can you imagine how many things I could do to her before then? In one day, I’ll show her what a real man is.”
“I suggest you spend your energy protecting your ass instead,” I say dismissively, heading for the door.
I know he would take that as a threat. As the beginning of a war between us. Where blood ties were worth shit.
“And don’t worry, I'm not angry with you for not inviting me to your wedding.”