Daddy Dearest

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Melody

It's freezing in the warehouse and that crazy ho Violet didn't leave me and Miguel a blanket. After tormenting me with melodramatic monologue that would put any soap opera villain to shame, she swept off along with her minions in my beautiful Tadashi Shoji dress.

I'm happy to report that because I have bigger boobs than she does, the bodice hung a little loose and she had to keep pulling it up because she doesn't have the boobs to make it work. Haha. I'm a petty bitch.

"Are we gonna die here?" I whimper, turning to Miguel, who is munching on a granola bar. "How can you eat at a time like this?"

He shrugs. "Gotta keep my strength up. Besides, I'm a stress eater. Lay off, all right?"

"Don't be so grouchy, stalker boy," I grumble as I curl into myself in an attempt to keep warm. "If I ask you to cuddle because I'm freezing, you won't take advantage, will you?"

He snorts. "Don't flatter yourself, Miss Melody. I've had time to reevaluate my feelings for you and I've come to the conclusion that you're kind of gross. Your farts are toxic." With a sigh, he opens his arms. "Come here and I'll warm you up. If you fart on me, I'll chuck you across the room like a rabid hamster."

I laugh and crawl over to him. My limbs are shaking and I'm a little light headed from hunger. I eat a lot, but we have a limited food supply and our captors didn't seem keen on keeping us fed.

I huddle together with Miguel, who has become my friend these last three days and largely responsible for keeping me sane. Sure, he went a little overboard and stalked me, but he admits he has issues with obsession and willing to seek help.

If the Marines don't throw him in the brig for going AWOL, that is.

A few months ago, he was home for his grandfather's funeral and had picked up Rosa from school. That's when he saw me. He said he fixated on me because I reminded him of a girlfriend he loved very much, but she died in a car accident. They had been planning to get married after high school. Apparently, I look a lot like her.

He admits he didn't process her death very well.

"Are you worried about going to jail?" I ask him. I've stopped shivering because Miguel has his arms wrapped around me.

He smells a little ripe, but so do I. Neither of us have showered, after all. On top of that, there's a couple of buckets ten feet away that we've been using to relieve ourselves. We've got them covered up, but they still smell pretty bad.

Violet hasn't shown her crazy ass ever since her big reveal, but someone has been coming in to replenish our food supply. Some bottled water, a couple of energy bars, and cookies. Stuff you can get from vending machines.

"No," Miguel says with a sigh. "I shouldn't have abandoned my post. The Marines will lock me up for six months, then kick me out with a dishonorable discharge. But I deserve it."

Even though he was my crazy stalker, I feel bad for him. He seems like a nice guy. "It'd be pretty hard, won't it, to find a job someday with something like that on your record?"

"I have a fallback plan." He ruffles my hair like he's petting a dog. "My uncle owns a security company. I can always get a job there. Or become a drug dealer, I guess."

I smack his arm. "That's not even funny."

He ruffles my hair. "A lot of people love you, Miss Melody. I bet they're looking for you desperately now."

"Yeah, I know." The fact that people seemed to love me even though I could be a giant brat has always confused me. Are they buying the whole innocent Asian girl look? I'm far from innocent. Alex can attest to that.