Lydia- The Pet Communicator (Wattys13- Finalist!)

Chapter 9

Lydia- The pet Communicator

Chapter 9

I was silent all the way home. I felt broken on the inside. First my mother, and now Ricky… Why couldn’t they just trust me? Ricky had called me mentally ill, and my mother had said that I needed a psychiatrist. They never even waited for the proof of my ability.

Ricky stopped the car outside my house and started unbuckling his seatbelt. I understood that he wanted to assist me until the front door. “Ricky, I can go inside by myself,” I said. “Thank you for dropping me off.”

He grabbed me by the wrist and said, “I’ll come inside with you, don’t do this.”

I freed my hand from his grasp and quickly dialed my father’s number. “Dad, I’m waiting for you outside. Can you come out and get me?” I spoke, while grabbing my purse and crutches.

“Why are you home so early? Hold on a minute, baby, I’m coming.” He hung up the phone, and I got out of Ricky’s car at a snail's pace, but without his help. Ricky was just glaring at me, with his puckered brows and a wicked smirk. Soon he’d driven off without even saying goodbye. I’d known the coward wouldn’t be able to face my father anymore.

The front door to my house opened, revealing my father standing there with a shocked expression. He jogged up to me and clasped my hand. “Is everything all right, honey? Why are you home so soon? And where’s Ricky?”

“Can I come inside first?” I asked, trying to hold back my tears. Great—my father and I were both heartbroken singles now.

My father made me sit on the couch, then gave me a glass full of water. After gulping it all down, I placed the glass off to the side and told my father what had happened at the circus. Eventually I began to cry, releasing all the pent-up stress from the past few days. I wasn’t even fully healthy yet, and I’d experienced all this emotional trauma.

“Stop crying, baby. We’ll try to help the circus animals soon, maybe hold a protest or something. Besides, I know there will come a time when your mother and Ricky will fall at your feet. Just trust your daddy, okay? When the truth is exposed someday, both of them will come running back to you, but it’ll be too late for them, won’t it? We’ll both have moved on already.”

My father kept trying to motivate me, and I soon remembered something I’d wanted to tell him.

“Dad, Mother is seeing Mr. Vivian from Blue Cross,” I admitted, since the atmosphere was already depressing.

“What?” he said, disappointment entering his face. “How did you find out?”

“Lucky told me everything. He went to look for her last night, and he found her with Mr. Vivian at the park. Lucky tried to bring her home, but she kicked him away.”

“So the affair was with him... Whenever I used to go to work, he’d come up to check on the animals in our shelter. It was every day, Lydia! How could I have been so blind?” He laughed nervously.

“Dad, I am sorry. I know how it feels, but promise me you won’t do anything bad, please?” He nodded and left angrily.

“Dad, wait up!” I called out. “Please don’t go anywhere!” He didn’t stop, so I stood up on the crutches and started following him quickly. Then I realized I was using the crutches completely on my own.

“Dad, look! I’m walking all by myself!”

My father stopped and turned around with a smile on his face. “Lydia, you did it! Way to go!” He ran towards me and pulled me into a tight hug. Soon we were both crying, though we weren’t sure whether it was from the happiness or the sadness. Maybe it was both.

“Try going into the kitchen, sweetheart,” my dad finally said. “I want to see how you do it.” I nodded and walked into the kitchen with help from my crutches, then retrieved a chocolate from the freezer and brought it back to my father. Though he wasn’t an alcoholic, he was a major chocoholic.

“Aw, you did it! I feel like you took your first baby steps, he-he.” He kissed me on the forehead, took a bite of chocolate, and continued: “I forgot to tell you that I decided to call a tutor tomorrow. That means you can start preparing again for your board exams, since you have a few months left to repeat them. A busy mind will make you feel much better. Do you want to lie down for a bit?”

I nodded excitedly, and we headed into my bedroom. My father‘s mood altered immediately after seeing me walk by myself. I was his only happiness.

“Okay, try climbing onto the bed yourself, sweetie,” my father insisted.

I tried climbing onto the bed, but when I bent my legs, I felt terrible pain.

“Ouch, my leg!” I moaned in pain. My father quickly helped me up, and I lay down on my back. After that, he started applying pressure to my legs.

“Dad, what are you doing? You must be tired, too. I’m fine!”

“No, you need some relief. Let me do this, please. I’ve asked you to do way too many things in a day. You needed some rest after coming back from the circus, but instead, I gave you extra physical stress. I am so stupid. Sorry, baby girl.”

I couldn’t stop smiling and thanking the Lord for giving me such a great father. He could play the role of a mother just as well as Mom could, and I didn’t know what I’d do without him. I felt tears rolling down my cheek, and soon I was fast asleep.

I was roused later on by Lucky’s voice. “Wake up, you two!” he barked. “There’s someone at the door!”

I woke up right away and wiped the sleep from my eyes. I noticed my father was asleep on the couch in my room and felt very sorry for him—he had to have been extremely tired, both physically and mentally.

Lucky licked his face and barked right in his ear. “Wake up! There’s someone at the door, and I can’t open it myself!”

My father moaned in his sleep. It was getting dark, and I figured we’d have more difficulty falling asleep later, since we’d slept so much during the day.

“Dad, wake up! Someone is at the door!” I yelled, trying to fight through my pain and sit up.

My father sat up quickly and yawned. “I’m going already. Tell the puppy to shut up, will you?”

I chuckled and saw him swing like a drunkard as he left the room. He was much too sleepy for this.

“Lucky, who is it? You must know, right?”

“Yeah, it’s Vivian. That’s why I asked Peter to open the door, so he can punch him right on the face!”

“What? Are you crazy? Why is he here all by himself? My father’s going to murder Vivian when he sees him...or maybe Vivian’ll murder my father! I need to stop him!” I garbled in front of Lucky.

I slowly got out of bed and picked up my crutches. With Lucky following me from behind, I walked out of the room, even though it was very difficult for me to move.

Oh, no! My father and Mr. Vivian were wrestling by the front door. As I watched, my father punched Vivian’s nose, and blood began to drip from it while Vivian kicked my father in the stomach. I could see the anger growing, but had no idea of how to stop it.

My father grabbed Vivian’s throat and pressed him against the wall. Vivian hung there helplessly, struggling in my father’s grip as he gasped for air.

Physically, my father was very strong. If I didn’t do something fast, Vivian would be seriously hurt.

That was when I noticed Vivian sneaking a knife out of his pocket. Uh-oh!

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How did you find this chapter? Was it full of surprises? :D Sorry for the delay, I am kinda stuck in my own problems. Well, How did you like the new cover? My hubby made it for me :) Please keep reading.. Hugs!