Girl in a Hoodie: Where the Future Lies

Chapter 71

Riley's POV:

James and I sat on the sofa next to each other, my body curled up beside his as my legs rested over the top of his lap and my head was against his shoulder. A Marvel movie was playing on the tv in front of us, but James was paying much more attention to it than I was as I was reading a book. It was slightly difficult, considering we were in the dark but the desk lamp shone by my side to lower the risk of me straining my eyes. 

Dad had gone out during the time we were at James's parents house, and he still wasn't back yet. I don't know where he went though and he barely replied to any of my texts or calls. When I messaged him three times, asking where he was, if he was okay, and what time he'd be back, all he replied with was a simple: I'm fine. It makes no sense to me.

"How do you even understand anything that's going on in this?" I ask James suddenly, the moment I hear sounds of punching and shooting, though I had no clue what in the world was going on. He looks down at me and chuckles softly, pausing his gentle strokes on my thigh as he leaves his hand laying there.

"If you watch the movie properly, babe," he begins to say teasingly. I roll my eyes. "-then it's a lot easier to follow." 

Just as I'm about to respond with a rather quirky comment, keys jiggle in the front door before the handle is pushed down and opens, revealing Dad. He looks at James and I and nods once we both greet him. Something was a little off, though. He was wearing full-on black clothes, his glasses had a dent on the frame and his nose was sore. I could see it even in the dark. So I lean towards my other side and flick the light switch on the wall. James grabs the remote to pause the movie he was watching, noticing how it was clear something wasn't right.

"Um, Dad?" I say. He looks between James and I as if he didn't know what we were so worried about. "What's happened?" I ask him. In the light, I could see his eye had become swollen; almost black. He had a blood-red cut drooling from the bottom of his lip and his nose had red, flaky mucus all around it. "Did you get into a fight with someone? Is it those people you were in contact with before?" He shakes his head. "Then what in the world's happened to you?"

"I got into a minor car crash," he says hurriedly. "But I'm fine." I look at James who looks back at me. We're both thinking the same thing. I know we are because he looks equally as worried.

"You're clearly not fine, Dad. Where was the crash? Have you got insurance? Did the police sort it out?"

"It's fine," he says again. That's three times tonight, including the text. He's not fine. He barely even sounds fine. His voice is rigid and hoarse. 

"Where were you even going in the first place?" I inquire. I remove my legs from off of James's lap to stand up properly and walk over towards Dad in my hoody and shorts. He had taken his shoes and socks off, then I see that his foot was completely busted. There was a blister on his big toe and his entire foot looked like it had been dipped into a bucket of blood. It made me feel sick, and James shortly joins me by my side to see why I had stopped talking. The view was disgusting.

"Have you been drinking?" James asks suddenly. I raise an eyebrow, but then he gestures towards the green empty glass bottle on the ground by the front door. Dad doesn't answer, so then James asks, "Were you drink-driving?" I can barely even swallow now. I thought we got past this. Why is everything coming back so soon. I can't have Dad leave me again. 

"Dad?" I push when he remains silent, giving me an answer. If he hadn't been drink-driving, he would have answered with a prompt 'no'. But he didn't. I shake my head, my teeth grazing my thumb nail as I bit it. I couldn't help it. I turn around so I don't have to see my father's face and instead, I turn my back on him, walking over to the nearest table where I rest my palms on the edge of the surface and think.