Haven

Chapter Forty Eight

Alex

Drunk.  

My 16 year old daughter was drunk, having just climbed through the bedroom window.

When I refused her permission to go to the party I knew she was miffed, I didn't realize she had a death wish.

While I stood firmly by my decision, I couldn't shake the feeling of unease as I laid awake, so I came to check on her, finding her bed empty. She had put a pillow under the blanket to make it look like she was wrapped up in bed but I saw through it, simply because Jaida was a deep sleeper, you could always hear deep breaths from her. I walked into silence and I knew instantly she wasn't there.

It had been just past midnight when I realized she wasn't there but she didn't keep me waiting long, just 10 minutes before she crawled through the window to find me sitting on the bed waiting for her.

Instantly I could tell she was drunk, still it didn't help ease her distress at the sight of me waiting for her.

I stare her down. "Oh you've really done it this time!" I look her up and down as she pales, her eyes going wide.

She'd pale even more if she knew how bad a wear out she'd earned herself.

Jaida

When dad refused to let me go to the party I was furious. Not as furious as he was when I crawled back through the bedroom window having disobeyed his order and snuck out of the house.

That wasn't a good feeling, seeing him sat back on my bed, leaning against the wall, watching me like a lamb to slaughter. In fact, it was enough to make me wanna jump right back out my window and die by defenestration.

The drinking wasn't numbing me to the gravity of the situation, I'd not drank enough for that. But I had drank enough for it to be blatantly obvious to him that I was drunk, of course.

We were staring back at one another, and my stomach had long since dropped and I could feel my heart beating.

Dread and regret. That's what I was feeling. Not regret for going to the party, that I'd do again. Jamie and I had so much fun. But regret that I'd gotten drunk and regret that my dad was sitting on my bed calculating his first move.

"Get your soon to be sorry ass into bed!" He says firmly, standing from the bed. I darted into my bathroom, grabbing some sleep clothes on my way and quickly changed and brushed my teeth before tentatively re-emerging.

Dad was still there waiting, and as soon as I pushed the bathroom door open he came towards me, causing me to swallow deeply, barely stopping myself from backing up.

He took me by the arm, and lead me towards the bed while laying down the most painful smacks I'd ever felt to my backside. "I'd wear you out right now but I want you to dread it all night and feel every last stripe of the belt on top of the effects of the alcohol in the morning!" He lectures as tears pool in my eyes, quickly making their way down my cheek as he turns me back to face him.

His stern expression turned to disbelief at the sight of my tears. "Save your tears, you're gonna need 'em!" He warns ominously as he points to my bed. "Now get to bed!"

I quickly scurry into bed, still yet to utter a word. "I'm sorry, daddy," I cry into my comforter and I hear him scoff.

"You will be!" He tells me, leaning down to kiss my forehead, offering no other comfort before leaving the room.  

After a couple of hours, I'd cried myself to sleep.

When I heard my bedroom door swing open, pulling me from a restless sleep, I managed to peel an eye back and note it was 8am on my alarm clock before the blanket was ripped off me.