Dealer's Girl (complete)

Chapter 7

              As she spoke those last words, the world froze in its place, and I heard the door open again. The sound of heavier footsteps filled the room and Rachel began to smile again. She had won. The only person I ever truly feared was here, Jared was going to get himself hurt, and my father was going to kill me. I couldn’t control my body from shaking as my one weakness was drawing closer to me. The time my father and I spent in that room was the longest and worst time of my entire life. Finally, Rachel took a few steps back to give my father plenty of space to stand; Ben even let go of my hair and took his place next to Rachel.

                “Hello Sasha,” my father said in an angry tone.

                “Say hello to your father,” Rachel instructed, enjoying the moment, but I remained silent.

                “Well this sure is a family reunion. Would you give my daughter and I time to catch up after being apart for so long?” my father said pulling out his pocket knife.

                “I wouldn’t dare intrude on such an important day for you two. Feel free to use the room,” Rachel answered, “We’ll be right outside when you’re done to help you with the disposal.”

                “Thank you,” as they walked away he cut the ropes binding me to the chair.

                As soon as I heard the door shut one last time, my father grabbed my neck and threw me out of the chair. There was no way I could fight back; it would only make it worse which I learned from years of experience with him. When my body hit the floor, I was attacked by his constant kicking. It was hard to get any air into my lungs which made the pain so much worse to bear. While he was beating me, my father was yelling at me. He kept asking me why I left him and left him alone. He wanted me to tell him why I chose to be such a horrible daughter that it was my fault my mom committed suicide. It was like nothing had changed, but the setting we were in.

                Finally he knelt down beside me, looking at my bloody face and cut up body. With his left hand he grabbed me by my hair and kept my head facing him. There was such disgust and rage on his face directed towards me. I thought he was going to strangle me in that moment. Instead he stood up, releasing his grip on me and made his way towards the table. He picked up various things, but then put them down again to pick up something else. The suspense was awful. I could tell my father was getting frustrated when he couldn’t decide exactly what he should do.

                I took this time to catch my breath, but it hurt to breathe. Everything hurt so much, I could barely do anything but lay there on the floor and even that hurt. I picked up my head and began to look around the room which now looked so foreign to what it was only minutes ago. All the chairs were still in place, the lighting was still horrible, and there was still that little table, but it was still so different. My blood was now decorating the floor and my father was in the room. This was the exact situation I had run away from to be safe and not fearful. It was torture having him here again in my life.

                “Tell me,” he said, “What do you think is the best punishment for a daughter who runs away, leaving her father alone with no answers for so long?”

                “What’s the best punishment for a drunken father who started beating his daughter when she was seven?” I weakly asked back.

                    It wasn’t the best thing to say in my position. It only angered him further. In another fit of rage, he picked up the little table and threw it in my direction. Instinct took over as I went onto fetal position to protect my head and most of my body. Luckily the table barely reached me, but everything went all over the floor. My heart was racing again as he started walking towards me again. It felt as if a heart attack was going to kill me before he got the chance to. I began to think that all the hits to the heart were starting to make me go crazy. Just outside the room I could have sworn I heard gunshots go off. Apparently my father had heard them too; he stopped in his tracks and turned towards the closed door looking confused.

               The door was thrown open and five men came charging into the room with guns pointed at my father. The poor man was so lost in the moment he didn’t know what to think or do. I was confused too. Who were these men? Were the going to save me? One of them ran over to me and held my head up in his hands. I saw his mouth moving, but my ears didn’t hear anything at first. My mind was working so slowly that it took so long to recognize who he was.

                “Sasha? Sasha? It’s me, Vincent,” he said, “Get Jared on the phone, tell him we found her. “

                “It . . . It was Rachel,” I said weakly, my voice barely made a sound.

                “You don’t have to talk, Sasha. We figured it out about an hour ago. You don’t have to talk until you’re all better.”

                I felt Vincent pick me up off the floor and begin to walk us out of the room. My blood began to run onto his shirt as my head rested on his shoulder. I looked over at my father one last time and I couldn’t have hated him any more than in that moment. He came back and hurt me even worse this time; he had intended to kill me. Ever since my mom died, he had done everything wrong. When I needed a parent, he became a villain that made my life hell. 

                 “Sasha?” he called after me, “Are you just going to leave me again like your mother left me? Are you going to choose a killer over your father?”

                “Mom left me, too, but I never took it out on you,” I managed to say loud enough for him to hear as Vincent kept walking away.

                “You might want to close your eyes,” Vincent whispered as we started walking through the doorway.

               I had no clue as to how long I was trapped in there, but I was relieved to be walking out alive. For the last time, I heard a gunshot. The gunshot which ended my father’s life.  In my mind I said a goodbye to him and finally rested again. It was like a wave washed over me and I was safe again. The pain was still there, but I knew that it would soon end and hopefully ever come back.