Raven's Song

You're Okay

"My partner has been talking about his daughter and her homecoming date," Dad said when I walked into the kitchen late Sunday morning.

"Oh?" I asked as I got a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. He was still dressed in his uniform. It was rare that he wasn't asleep when I was getting up on the weekend. Even more rare because I'd spent an hour in the shower trying to process what had happened the night before.

Tylor had walked me to the door and hovered while I got ready for bed. Not staying in my room but leaning against the wall while I put on a t-shirt and shorts and brushed my teeth. It wasn't until I had assured him that I would call if I even suspected I was going to be sick that he left, locking the door behind him so he wouldn't have to worry about me making it back up the stairs.

"Yeah. Just typical dad stuff. Complaining about how she could do better and her dress isn't appropriate," he said as he finished his eggs. "It made me realize that I never asked if you were going. You always went to the dances at Branson."

"I did," I told him. I pulled a box of cereal from the cupboard and poured it into a bowl.

"And?"

"And what?" I closed the cereal and put it back before I moved to the fridge.

"Are you going?" he asked as I poured milk on the cereal and leaned against the fridge, putting a spoonful in my mouth so I could think of an answer to give him. Dad cocked his head to the side as he waited for me to finish chewing.

"I am. With some friends from school, actually." Not a complete lie. Dove and Amber would be there and I somewhat considered them to be friends now.

"That's great," he said, smiling as he stood up and carried his plate to the sink. "When I get paid, I'll give you some money for a dress."

I shook my head. "I don't need a dress, Dad. I'll find something in my closet or borrow one from a friend."

"Makenna," he said softly. I put another spoonful of cereal in my mouth. "You've given up so much already. Let me buy you the dress."

I had all the money from Tylor for tutoring in my room. I could replenish whatever Dad gave me, so I nodded. "Okay."

He kissed my forehead. "I'm going to hit the sack. Stay out of trouble, honey."

I finished the cereal and rinsed both of our dishes before putting them into the dishwasher. When I heard Dad stop moving around, I pulled on a hoodie and headed out the back door toward the park.

It wasn't as peaceful during the day as it was at night. Sunday mornings weren't usually too bad with some people being at church, but once church let out it would be overtaken with screaming small children. That would be my cue that it was time to go back home. I had time before then, though.

I was going to try to find the spot the person had been following me at. Part of me wondered if it wasn't the person who had drugged me at the party. It was going to be a long shot, but it didn't hurt to look for a clue. I wasn't counting on finding anything. It'd been over a week. If there had been anything, someone had probably seen it or the person had come back for it.

The issue was that everything looked different in the daytime. There were several places I thought it had been at only to realize that no, it was too close to my house or too close to the path. Maybe we had been closer to the path than I had thought, but I was pretty sure that someone would have noticed. The park was quieter at night, but it wasn't completely empty. Someone would have noticed two people fighting and at least called the cops. They didn't take kindly to drug addicts causing trouble.