Little Bambina

Thirty-three

Allison

We returned from Mexico a few hours ago and I decided to go home instead of staying over with Luca. As much as I hate to admit it, I miss my papá. He's not the easiest man to love but he's all I have.

"Ay, mi niñita! Te extrañe. Cómo estás?" (Oh, my little girl! I missed you. How are you?) Matilda literally jumps on me as I enter the mansion. I try to push her off of me but she has a strong hold on me.
"Ya, basta, me vas a romper las costillas." (Oh, it's enough, you're going to break my ribs.)

"Oh, sorry." She lets go of me.
"You say you miss me but you just tried to kill me."
"You know you missed me too, mija."
"Noooo." I smile inwardly.
"Where's papá?" I look around the foyer. Oh how I missed home.
"He'll be back later."
"Oh.." I say a little disappointed. I was hoping to see him the moment I got here.

°°°

"Allison Maria!"
I hear my father yell not just my first name but my middle name as well.
Oh shit!
"Voy!" I respond quickly finishing laying my edges. Perfection is not to be rushed ugh.
I roll my eyes and head downstairs. I know whatever's waiting for me is not good.

"Hola papá." I greet him shyly not looking at him.
"Mírame en la cara, Allison." (Look at my face, Allison)
I slowly look at him to find a scowl on his face.

"Quién te dijo que puedes salir del país?"  (Who told you that you could leave the country?)
"No one, papá. But it's not like I need permission from anyone, I'm an adult."
"An adult? Un adulto?" He starts pacing back and forth. Yeah, he's definitely pissed. He sighs.

"Déjame decirte una cosa querida hija mía. As long as you live in this house and have my last name and my blood running through your veins, you do as I say." (Let me tell you something dear daughter of mine.)

"What? I-I..that's not fair. You can't say that!"
Is this man crazy? Like who says that.

"That's not fair? Let me tell what's fair, you're grounded for a week!"
I look at him shocked. Who grounds their eighteen year old child. I'm way past the grounding age.

"I hate you!"
I storm off.

"And you can't see Luca while you're grounded." I hear him say and stop dead in my tracks.
I don't know what came over me but I run to him and hug him.

I start sobbing cause I can't go a week without seeing my boyfriend.

He doesn't hug me back but I hear him sigh.
"Ya basta." (That's enough.) He says to me.
"Papá I can't go a week without seeing Luca, por favor." (Please)

"That's what you get for running off with him without my permission."
I let go of him annoyed.
"Can you stop saying that? You make it sound like I'm a 12 year old who needs your permission to go somewhere."

"You're my daughter, Ally. I'm responsible for you. I need to know where you are and with whom. I need to make sure you're safe."

I get where he's coming from especially with what he does but I'm not liking the whole thing of asking for permission.
"You can hate me all you want but your safety is very important to me."

"I'm sorry papá. It won't happen again. I will inform you but I'm not going to ask for permission." I stand my ground trying to sound confident.
"Fair enough."
"Am I still grounded?"
"Sí." (Yes)
I scream getting away from him. I thought we were making progress.

I grab my phone from the charger texting Kells about me being grounded. She sends my a voice note cackling like a damn hyena. I'm so annoyed right now. I also inform Jacob cancelling our brunch for tomorrow which saddens him cause we were both looking forward to seeing each other after a while.

Luca was not happy about me being grounded and forbidden from seeing him. He mentioned that he'll handle it and that I shouldn't worry, he will be coming over tomorrow morning to take me to school. Which reminds me that I have an assignment to do that I haven't started on yet. I'm slacking real bad. Maybe getting grounded isn't so bad after all. I'll dedicate this week to my studies. But now it's time to rest. I can't believe I wasted my time doing my edges thinking I could go out tonight.

I go to my bathroom to wash my face and the lights go out.
I try to find my way back to the room in the darkness but freeze as I hear movement.
"Papá?" I call out. A bright light is flashed in my face blinding me and I black out from an impact on the side of my head.