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CHAPTER 8: ' blue faded jacket '
"Where have you been?!" Elijah yelled his usual question as Hayley entered the door.
"It's 6 o'clock, Dad." She shook her head. "I'm home even earlier than I was yesterday."
"We were supposed to go over to Ward's and have dinner." He says.
"Shit." She muttered. "I forgot, okay?"
"I called you." He kept his usual tone, also. Letting the girl know just how angry he was.
"There's not service on The Cut." She tells him, scrolling through her phone to see the 16 missed calls.
"The Cut." He scoffs. "What happened to your hand, huh? Probably them boys you're hanging out with."
"For the last time, it's not all boys." Hayley rolls her eyes.
"It's that blond one, huh? JJ?" He folds his arms over his chest.
"How did you—" She scoffs. "Can you just relax? He didn't hurt me."
"Sure he didn't." Elijah rolled his eyes.
"He didn't!" Hayley raised her voice. "You know what... I'm so sick and tired of you always blaming him! JJ protects me, okay? He wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt me! I tripped and my hand landed on a rock, and you wanna know who was there to pick me up and wrap my hand? JJ! So can you stop picking on him and blaming him! You don't know him!"
"Watch your tone!" Elijah yells.
"Or what?" She questions. "You gonna pack everything up and move us again? Because I'm the problem right?"
"Hayley." Her mother finally stepped in. "No one is blaming you, sweetheart. I told you, this move was made because your father got a job."
"That's bullshit." She says.
"Watch your mouth when you're speaking to your mother!" Elijah yelled at the girl, gripping her face.
"Elijah!" Melissa yelled, pulling him away from the girl. "You do not put your hands on my daughter!"
"Our—"
"My!" Melissa yelled. "She is my daughter. You do not touch her, ever!"
Tears filled the girl's eyes as she looked at her father, his own tears invading his eyes as he realized what he did. Hayley ran upstairs, closing her door and leaning against it.
This move was supposed to be better. They were supposed to be closer, be around more family. But everything seemed to just keep going to shit.
≠
ONE YEAR AGO
Hayley's leg bounced up and down nervously as she sat on the edge of her bed, listening to her parents argue. They did this frequently, and it was mostly over her.
