Insecure

Chapter 15...

Bruce stormed into his house and went total berserk. He slammed the door behind him and screamed. He was done with all of this bullshit. He grabbed Bud Light beer cans all the way to liquor bottles, and he threw them outside after banging them on the wall with all the strength he had.They busted into a million pieces, falling like heavy snowflakes on the ground, outside of his house. He was totally furious that he let this situation get so out of hand. He never meant for this to happen. He thought he had things under control until Laura ran away from home to go with his long lost sister. Under Control. What the hell did that mean anyways? He started to think about his sister... He never believed he would come face to face with his sister again. He was 17 when he left her, and he never came back. He lost contact with them and it made his heart slow it's pace. He was so ashamed when he abandoned his sister later after he did it. After he was, somewhat, sober, he thought about driving back home. But, how could he? He left and there was no turning back. He remembered the day he told her he was leaving. He remembered it like it was yesterday...
It was a fair day on a September morning 20 years ago. Bruce walked in with his friends into his sister's room and declared the news. "I am leaving to move on from this..." She was furious and concerned.
"You can't leave! You're seventeen! You can't handle yourself out in the real world where Mom or Dad can't protect you when the police come knocking on the door asking for you!" She said. Bruce just laughed.
"I came in here to say goodbye, not get a stupid ass lecture from a 15 year old."
"What about all we've been through together? You were the one that helped me get through Freshman year. You can't just throw that away," she began to plead.
"Who said I'm throwing that away? I'm moving on."
"Moving on? That's what you're calling this?"
"Sis, come on..."
"Don't you EVER call me that again."
"Come on. You're overreacting."
She put her hand in his pocket and grabbed his bag of weed. She waved it in his face. "This is what you want?"
"Give it..."
She turned away from him."Good luck having a life with all of this and nothing else." She threw it at his face and pushed her way out of her own room. His friends laughed as they watched her leave.

Bruce shook his head and punched the wall. "Fuck this. I'm such a fucking screw up," Bruce screamed. "Why the hell did I do that? Why couldn't I see that she needed me?" It was then that his phone was blowing up with Laura's number. He declined the call and ran his fingers through his hair. "Dad?"
Bruce's head flew up. "Laura?" he asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I know this is probably stupid for me to see you by myself, but I needed to see you. I was afraid you would do something stupid after you left..."
"If I was going to do something, I would've a long time ago, but thanks for coming..."
"Listen Dad, I need to have a serious talk with you," Laura said, sitting across from him at the table.
"Okay, shoot."
"I need to know if this is how it's going to be? Are you going to be a drunk I need to be scared of or will you be the father I need?" Laura asked, looking into his eyes.
Bruce looked at her. "I want to be the Dad you deserve. I want to seek help, and I already called around, now I just need help from one more person. You."
Laura nodded. "I'll be there until you go back to your old ways. Once you go back, I'm out of your life faster than you can say Hell."
Bruce smiled. "I'm just glad I did something right."
Laura nodded. "You mean that just in a father way, right?"
Bruce was shocked. "Of course, why would you...?" He stopped. "Laura, that was a long time ago. I was drunk! If I was sober, you know I would never, never look at you more than my daughter."
"Thanks Dad, you do know it will still take me awhile to trust you again?"
Bruce nodded. "I don't blame you."
"That night haunts me. You took that one thing that was most special to me. Now, I can't give it away to someone I love. Ever since that night, I haven't slept a good sleep."
"Laura...."
"Why did it have to be me? Why couldn't you have found some chick?"
"I should've...."
Laura blinked back her tears as she changed the subject. "Another thing. What was the whole thing of sneaking into Lilly's house for? You went into my best friend's house with the guy that has been giving me hell for the past 4 years. Not only that, but you cornered me. You told my best friend, who is also your niece, that she can call you..."
"Laura, I got it. I'm sorry. I didn't know the kid. I was just walking down the sidewalk near the house, and he told me that you lived there. I decided that this was the only way I can make things right. I started to panic, so I just slipped through the window and started acting like the drunk version of me. I'm sorry. I am not proud of my behavior at all."
"Dad. That wasn't the way to do it."
"I know."
Sighing, she said, "If you would've showed me that you were sober, I would've gave you time---I don't know how much---but time. To bring Tommy into it?"
"Laura, I'm really sorry. It was not right for me to do that, but I just wanted to see you, make sure you were alright."
"I was at Lilly's. You knew I was alright."
"You weren't in good condition when you left..."
"No, I wasn't. Getting better. Have to go back to the doctor for him to check me out. I feel pretty decent, so I don't know. The point is that the whole situation was wrong, and you owe an apology to Lilly and her boyfriend for that comment."
"Okay. Anything I need to do."
"Good. This time, try not to get punched," Laura said, smiling a little bit.
Chuckling, he said, "I'll try my best."
Laura nodded, standing up. "I should be heading back. I'll be back tomorrow around noon, okay?"
"Okay Laura. See you later."
Laura stopped at the door. "No more than 2 glasses of beer."
Bruce smiled. "Promise."