Till There Was You

Realizations

A/N: "When you do what you fear most, then you can do anything."― Stephen Richards

***

My father disowned me.

After he left, I sat in the living room with Althea holding my hand.

We were both silent.

Words failed us both.

I stared into space thinking of what just happened and I shook my head in disbelief.

When I was young, my father doted on me.

He never hid the fact that I was his favorite.

This blatant favoritism was sometimes a cause of disagreement between my brothers and I.

They told me it's unfair that I was allowed to get away with almost anything.

I told them not to blame me for being the only daughter.

Since I was immature then and a brat, I basked in my father's affection.

But when I reached puberty, the once comfortable feeling of being favored, lost its appeal.

My father became stricter.......suffocating.

I wasn't allowed to leave the house without a chaperone.

He questioned my choices with clothes and the company I keep.

There was one time during my freshman year in high school that I snuck out of the house to attend a classmate's birthday party.

An hour later, he showed up at the house to pick me up.

It was totally embarrassing and we had a fight because of that.

I also noticed that his treatment towards my brothers' had changed.

They were allowed more freedom and it was something I envied.

My brothers were mature enough to understand the agony I'm going through.

They became my allies and covered for me when I wanted to go out with my friends.

***

I gathered my courage and dialed Paul's number.

He answered immediately.

I told him of Dada's visit and the ensuing confrontation. 

"What happened?" his disbelief was palpable.

"I don't know, Paul."

"One thing is sure, Dada disowned me."

I felt Althea's hand squeezed mine and I responded with a sad smile.

The words almost choked me and once again, the tears fell.

I didn't fight it.

"This is bad," Paul replied and then he asked me if I'm all right.

"Do you want us to come over?" His tone was filled with concern.

He didn't wait for my answer.

"Text me Althea's address and then I'm going to call Gab."

"Is it okay with her if we drop by?"

I covered the mouthpiece and told Althea of Paul's idea.

She nodded.

Afterwards, Paul hurriedly said goodbye.

***

While waiting for my brothers, Althea went out to buy food.