Success In Progress

2. The Fight

I'd been looking for something as simple as a few paperclips. I figured dad would have some in his office, somewhere that I hadn't been since I was ten. I rummaged through a few drawers in the side table near the door before looking in his desk.

The letters were addressed to me and looked fairly new. I picked them up and gasped at how many there were. A flash of everything that she and I had missed went through my mind. Six birthdays, both hers, and mine had passed. I couldn't write to her after my first horrible day of high school. She didn't know about the first date I'd been on. The first kiss. The first heartbreak. All of that was robbed from her, making me wonder whom the real criminal was.

That day, I sat on the couch in the living room, waiting for dad to get home. The step-witch was out of town on business.

I only sat there for a few minutes before I heard a car door shut. My heart began to beat faster and I felt my cheeks and ears grow hot. Seconds later, the door opened and he spoke.

"Annabella, I'm home," he called out.

"I'm in the living room," I said, just loud enough for him to hear. I took a deep breath and gave myself a little pep talk as his footsteps got closer to the living room doorway.

He walked in, taking off his suit jacket, and when he saw what was in my hands, his face paled. It didn't last long, though, because it immediately turned red and his hands formed into fists.

"Where did you get those?" he asked me in a deep, controlled voice.

"Your office. I was looking for paper clips." My voice was just as controlled.

His glare could have killed me, but instead of backing down like I usually would, I glared right back.

"How dare you keep something like this from me? How dare you let that bitch you call a wife tell me that my MOTHER is dead?"

"She didn't deserve to know you. A woman in jail is not a woman who is fit to be a mother." His tone was still calm and that pissed me off. I wanted him to yell back. I wanted the satisfaction of knowing that I was right and he was wrong this time.

"That is not for you to decide! And who are you to judge her? You were the worst husband to her and a shitty father to me! Ever since Rebecca learned how to manipulate you, you haven't been the same man or father. She's a parasite and you're a willing victim," I spat. I was standing now, my fists clenched very much like his. Like father like daughter, I suppose.

"You will not speak about me or my wife that way," he nearly growled.

"I have been silent for too long about the both of you. This," I started, shaking the envelopes at him. "This is just cruel and evil. This isn't the man who raised me. This is the thing that he became when that monster came into our lives."

"Get out!" he exploded.

I froze. Did I hear him right?

"Wha-"

"Get. Out. Of my house," he growled.

I hesitated. I couldn't believe what he was telling me. Was he really choosing that she-devil over his own child?

He stood, glaring at me, expecting me to apologize. Instead, I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin at him.

"Fine."

His face fell slightly. He wasn't expecting that. He didn't really want me to leave. Somewhere deep down, the man that used to cuddle with me after a bad dream was still there. Unfortunately, it was buried too deep down for me to believe that he could be that man again. I turned and bolted out of the door.

I didn't know where I was going or what I was going to do, but at that moment, nothing but the horrible sound of his voice yelling at me to get out ran through my mind.