Music ✔️

Chapter 12

~Donovan~

"Watch your mouth! Listen to me-" my father said.

"No, Dad!" I cut him off. "You listen to me. What the hell is wrong with you?! You can't just control me or my life!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked. I never thought five words could piss me off so much.

"Oh, you know damn well what I'm talking about. Really, Dad? You called the freaking coach to tell him I wanted to be back on the team? I thought you understood that you can't control my way of life. I already told you I didn't like lacrosse and you still won't listen!"

"I did that for your own good! You can't just do something for years and years of your life and then out of the blue, say you have always hated it!" he shouted at me.

"STOP! I did that for your own good! Do you know how hard it was to live with you after mom left?! I was miserable! You screwed up my life! I had to do something I hated for years, Dad! For you! Oh, and I hated it the most when Karyn asked me out. I couldn't say no because she'd get me kicked off the team and you would go back into your depressing slump! You know what? Mom was right! You can't care about or love anyone or anything unless it's yourself!" I regretted the last words the second I heard them come out of my mouth. I regretted everything, but I didn't take it back.

"You have no right to speak to me that way!" he shouted. "Since when are you so against everything?! I bet it was Millicent. All of this started happening when y-"

"NO, DAD! You cannot blame any of this on her! You can't always blame your mistakes on everyone else! Especially Milly. She hasn't done anything to me or you! I can't believe you would even bring her up into this. You are unbelievable!"

"It is her! You think just because you're in a relationship with her you have to change for her!"

"Do not tell me what I think and stop trying to change the damn subject! We are talking about you and your choices."

"You want to know why I did this? Fine. You should want to get into a college," he said.

"What are you talking about?"

"We're broke, Don. The only way you can get to college is on a scholarship. It's not like you can get an academic one. You've seen your grades," he said. The last part stung, but they were true.

"How?" I asked. I would never have thought that my dad's decision was about money and not his selfishness.

He sighed, gaining some calmness and said, "Medical bills. Your car. Those roses you bought for Millicent, I'm sorry I said that about her by the way." I just nodded and allowed him to continue his list. "There was also something going on with my job. I skipped a lot of days of work to go to job interviews because the board is thinking of firing me. Can you believe that?" he laughed dryly while looking at me. I stared back at him with a sad look. "They're thinking of firing me from KP O'Keefe. My name is the name of that damned bank."

"Dad, why didn't you just tell me? I could've sold the car and gotten a bike and a job a-"

"I didn't want you to worry. I'm sorry, I'll get you off the team. I just wanted you to live your life like a kid should," he cut me off, choking up in the process. I didn't want to see him cry, let alone him see me cry, so I walked over to him and hugged him.

"I'm sorry for saying those saying things. I was just so pissed," I apologized. I felt him shake his head on my shoulder.

"No, son. You were right. I need to start paying more attention to you. I'm the one who should be apologizing."