EGO & VENGEANCE

Chapter 31

Kelani

The window is closed yet I feel cold shivers running down my spine. An uncomfortable feeling tightens around my stomach, as if a snake is slowly tying itself around my waist, tightening, and tightening. At this point, it feels as though the snake was always there, and would tighten eachtime I felt an unfathomable amount of anxiety. Like right now.

As he has the balls to come and actually stand beside me, and be here, after so many years. Years where I would've given anything for him to actually be here for me. And now that he's actually here, I could just slit my own throat if I had to look at his fucking face.
Thankfully, I can't.

"Dad..." I utter.

"Are you okay?" He asks. The same question he'd ask me or Alaiyah any time he beat the shit out of us. Rope, wire, belt, heated metal spoon, screwdriver... it's all coming back.

I swallow. Hard. Painfull. I blocked out everything that had to do with my dad. And now here he is. Three years later, when he's the last fucking person on the list of people I want to see. If I had a list of people who I don't want to see, he'd be at the fucking top.

Window still closed. Yet I'm shivering. I feel a hand place over my forearm. It's not my fathers, I know the feeling of his hands. His rough, scaley, dry hands. Given the scars that have been inflicted on me at the hands of his, it was difficult to forget how they felt. This hand is smooth, warm, and delicate.

"Michael" Gabriel asserts. It's his hand ontop of mine.

"Gabriel? The fuck are you doing here?"

Michael? Gabriel? They say eachothers names as if they know eachother... the tone sounded familiar.

"Me? What are you doing here?"

"Kelani is my daughter- I'm her father- of course I'm gonna be here. What the fuck are you to her"

I can't see what's going on, but I don't need my vision to sense the tension in the room right now. Father, Uncle Sam, and Gabriel.

My daughter. Fuck. That's hilarious. Suddenly I'm he's daughter who he wants to look after? I couldn't even stand to be around this man without feeling my muscles weaken and my heart tighten. He was a terrifying man when he was angry. Take that anger out on us... then apologise for it... the do it again... then apologise again. Im her Father.

Suddenly, I feel my face curl to a smile that I can't control.

'Father.' Really?

I scoff softly. They go quiet. "Father" I say, chuckling through my words, careless of whatever the consequences may be. Unlike back then.

I start laughing. Cackling. Bursting in manic bellowing.

"Lani..." my deadbeat father breaths. And my laughter stops. My jaw tightens.

"Don't call me that." I firm.

The room is quiet.

"Kelani. I just wanted to see if you were okay"

"Suddenly? Why?"

Dad sighs, he stumbles over his words, unable to make a sentence.