The Righteous Man's Daughter: Book 1

1

Darkness surrounded me as I lay in my crib. There was whispering in the shadows and movement as dark shapes tiptoed around my room. I heard my mother's soothing voice in the other room; she must be on the phone.

Suddenly, I smelled a sour liquid and felt it be poured down my throat, burning the soft tissues. My mother rushed into the room and began yelling at whoever was standing over me to get away.

I awoke with a start, sitting straight up in bed. The sunlight streamed through the window, that had been shabbily covered with bent and broken blinds.

I wasn't exactly Donald Trump. My mom and I lived in a shack at the edge of New York. I went to public school, got straight A's and did what I was supposed to.

It was only me and my mom. Mom said that my dad left before I was born and that he didn't know about me. I learned that when I was 6...

Now, 9 years later, I sat content with my life, or so I thought.

There was a gaping hole somewhere in my life. Maybe it was my dad, maybe it was the fact I didn't have many friends, I'm not sure. But it was there and it ate away at me slowly.

I rolled out of bed and slipped on a bra, a pale Pepsi shirt, and the same gray sweatshirt I've worn every day of school. I jumped into a pair of jeans and my ratty Chuck Taylors. Running a brush through my hair, I throw it in a messy ponytail.

I pull my backpack on and leave, not eating breakfast. Mom was already at work, so I locked the door and began the trek to school.

Today was my 15th birthday, so my mom was getting off work early and we would eat the cheap muffins from the crappy gas station down the street.

As I entered the school, I could feel everyone's eyes on me. The classic whispers spread through the hall of," She's poor" and I ignored them. I was used to being stared at and judged because I had endured it for my entire life. I thought nothing of it as I shoved my entire backpack (save a notebook and a pencil) into my locker, slamming it closed and walking to my first period.

*TIME SKIP BROUGHT TO YOU BY JARED PADALECKI'S HAIR*

I left school with my backpack hanging low on my shoulders. Today had been rough so I decided to go visit my only friend, Ben.

Benjamin was 16 and went to a private school. We met when I was 13 and started going to the junior high. He was in the 8th grade but we walked the same way. Now that he's at the private school, he takes a bus, but we still talk.

I trudged down Ben's street and ducked into the alley behind his house.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Tara." I said to the old man who sat on his back stoop in the narrow alley behind his house. He grunted in my direction, the scent of alcohol and smoke wafting my direction.

I knocked on the drywall door that belonged to Ben's house. Ben's father answered the door with a smile," Hi, Andie. Ben just got out of the shower, so you can go on up." Ben was in football and his practice was the last two hours of school for him. They worked him hard and he was one of the best players in the district.

I took two stairs at a time until I reached the second floor and barged into Ben's room, where he happened to be wearing a pair of boxers only. While the age and gender difference was great in the sight of society, it didn't bother us. I dug through his closet, ignoring his stack of porn, and tossed him a black shirt with a deer on it, camouflage surrounding the deer's antlers.

Surprised, he caught the shirt and started to put it on," Hi to you too, Andie." He said, running his hand through his wet hair. I plopped on his bed, not caring he wasn't wearing pants," Hi, Ben Jamin." I said, calling him by his nickname.