Salty Licorice

Chapter 38

Avery's POV

After leaving Liz's house I went to Marisa's for a bit and told her about last night. She seemed happy that we made up but she still seems weird about how far we got, she was also nervous about Liz's step dad. He doesn't seem like the nicest person to be living under the same roof, I just wish that when I left I could have taken her with me. I got a call from my mom telling me in a worried tone to get home fast.

"Everything alright?" Marisa asks after I hung up the phone.

"I don't know, mom sounded distressed," I admit, still thinking about all the reasons she is upset. "Hopefully they didn't figure out I snuck out. But let's be honest they probably did, I'm so screwed," I groan.

"You know you're always welcome to crash here whenever you need," Marisa explains. "You know if it gets too bad."

"Yeah, well I should probably get home before they get even more upset," I sigh.

I jump into my truck and start my drive home. I may have yelled at a few cars who were driving slow in the fast lane. When I pulled into the driveway, the front door opened with my fathers hard face staring daggers at me. I sigh and close my eyes, trying to convince myself to get out of my truck to deal with the wrath of my parents. I just am scared how far they're gonna yell and punish me this time. I push open my door and get out slowly, dropping my feet on the driveway.

"Get inside now," My fathers voice is surprisingly calm under his cold glare.

This is worse than I thought, I hope he doesn't make me kneel on a skateboard again. I don't think I'll be able to play well with my knees bruised and scabbed like the last time, and I have to be on my A game for the scouts.

I walk past him and into the Living room where my mother is sitting with her arms crossed. I take a deep breath when I look up and meet her eyes. My father comes up from behind me and circles me looking over everything, he takes a step closer. He grabs my jaw roughly and turns my chin up and looks at something on my neck, then the memory floods my body from this morning with Liz. Fuck, he's gonna kill me for this.

"A Hickey?!" He growls with a raised voice. "You reek of perfume, with a hickey. Now either you ran off in the middle of the night to meet up with some sinning slut or some godless man. But don't try to act me for a fool, not with your track record."

I sigh knowing where this is going. He lets go of my face, throwing my head back a little, he turns his back to me and walks over to his wife, she grabs his hand and he pats it reassuringly before turning back to face me. I look into their eyes and only see pure disappointment. I feel a sting in my eyes with a slight blur in my sight, I blink away releasing a single trail to fall. I wipe it away quickly before they have a chance to see.

My father takes a deep breath whispering something to my mother before walking back up to me and glares down at me. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" He tries to use his few inches of height to intimidate me.

"I'm sorry," I attempted to say without my voice breaking.

My head snaps to the side with a strong burn on my skin. I suck in a tight breath trying to keep my temper under control. I can't give them another reason to punish me.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me what you've done to disrespect not only your family but your God!" He demands.

"I've fallen prey to lustful acts towards a woman as a woman," I speak with a void of emotion, feeling myself shake under the ridiculousness of that sentence.

"You've committed a heinous sin against God and for what?!" He yells, making me flinch and hide my face from him which only angers him more.

Grabbing me by my hair he pulls me down the hall to my room, finding my door still locked he breaks it open and throws me on the floor before slipping off his belt. My eyes go wide and I hold up my hands to block my face.