Covers

Chapter Four: Daddy's Home

I'm awoken by a knock at the door, but I'm too groggy to open my eyes.

"Hello?" a man asks. My father. I'm filled with equal parts excitement and dread at his presence.

"Um, who're you?" someone else asks suspiciously.

"Who are you?" my dad returns pointedly.

"I'm Jenna Harper, concerned neighbor, wondering what a strange man is doing in little Audrey's apartment. Let me in, asshat. I'm about ten seconds from calling the police."

"Easy. I'm her father," my dad says. I hear footsteps. "She was attacked at the Mission. Has a concussion."

Ms. Harper gasps. "Hm! I always tell her to be careful! Poor baby. She looks like a little kitten, all curled up like that. How's she doing?"

"Good. Some short-term memory loss, but she's been lucid when she talks to me, which is a good sign. I told her working at the Mission was a bad idea. But she has such a bleeding heart. Wants to save the world from the bottom up."

"Then she should work at a women's shelter," Ms. Harper mutters.

"Agreed. I'm Will Juarez. It's nice to meet you."

"Yes, it is."

I open my eyes. Ms. Harper, her hair still tied back in her silk sleeping cap, beams at me. "Good morning, baby! How're you doing?"

I smile. "Better. Hey, daddy."

My dad, a slight man who wears his forty-six years well, gives me a stubble-wrapped smile. "Hey, Audrey. Need anything? Hungry, thirsty?"

"No, but I'm..." I look over at my alarm clock and gasp. "I'm late for my class!"

Ms. Harper and my father both chuckle. "I called the school. Your teachers are aware of your absence. I've been promised that you won't miss any assignments or lose any points."

I sigh in relief, melting back against the bed. "Where's Tia?"

"I made her go home about an hour after I got here. She hadn't slept," my dad explains. "Stop worrying about everyone else, Audrey. How do you feel? Headache? Fogginess? Vision problems?"

"Headache," I agree. "But besides that, I'm fine."

My dad nods and walks over to a Walgreens bag on my kitchen counter. He procures a bottle of Aleve, then brings me two pills and a glass of water. "This will help."

"What happened, baby?" Ms. Harper asks.

I recount the story for them. They share a knowing glance when I finish. Then Ms. Harper announces that she'll make breakfast for my father and me, and leaves us alone.

"Audrey..." my dad starts.

"Dad, please," I cut him off. "Don't start."

"I don't want you working at the Mission anymore."

"You don't want me feeding people?"

"I don't want you around people who could hurt you. I never have, and last night was proof of why."

"No, dad. It was my fault. I went into the dorms without a man with me. It was my fault," I say, shaking my head.

Concern grips my dad's face. "You're trying to tell me it was your fault some lunatic punched you?"

I realize that I do sound ridiculous. "He's not a lunatic, he was high. He didn't understand the consequences-"

"Audrey, I don't care if it was Mother Teresa who hit you. Someone hit you, and I don't want you around them. Simple," he says. "Don't make me say it."