Incidentals

The truth comes out

Shit. I look at my father standing in my doorway. His face is stern and he has his ' I'm going to kill anyone that gets close to my daughter' face on. The last time this happened, the guy left crying.. I grimace at the memory. Sure it was in middle school and the boy was a wuss, but my dad is really scary when he wants to be. His dark brown hair and green eyes make him look serious and threatening. Only when he laughs, does he look like he isn't planning a hundred ways to kill you. His 6 foot 3 height just adds to his scary persona.

"Honey, who's this?" My dad tilts his head towards Max. I slowly walk over to my father and slightly in front of Max. If my dad tries to kill him, I might be able to slow him down enough so that Max can run.

I’m going to reply to him when Max stands up.

"Hello sir, I'm Max Carter, it's nice to meet you." Max sticks out his hand and to my bewilderment, my dad takes it and they shake. " Jason Torelli." My dad replies. Max is about an inch taller then my father and I can tell my father is a little irked by this. He doesn't like being shorter than people.

" Well it's nice to see my daughter has finally met a boy with proper manners." My dad then gives me a pointed look. The boys I bring home do have manners, it's not my fault they're too scared to use them in front of my father. I've told him this, but he doesn't listen.

"Why is he in your room in the middle of the day when you still have an hour left of school?" He asks, looking at his watch.

I look from my dad to Max and then to my dad again. "We got let out early and he scratched his knuckles, so I was patching him up." I hate lying to my dad, but if I tell him the truth, he will go and talk to the school about how the people are treating me and that would make everything worse.

He looks skeptical, but nods, accepting my crappy explanation. "So why are you home early?" I ask him.

"I wanted to see my daughter. I'm leaving in a couple minutes. I was just going to stop by and make sure you had everything you needed before I left for the week. You know, food and water." That's my dad for you. Always checking to make sure I'm O.K. He wasn't always so overprotective, well he was, but he didn't act on it as much. When my mom died though, he went crazy, making sure I was always safe, that I always had what I needed.

"Well I'm going to leave, I have more work to do in Houston and I want to start the drive before the storm hits." My dad then glares at Max. "Why don't you walk out with me." He say it more as a demand, rather than a suggestion. I look at Max and he doesn't look the least bit scared of my dad. He actually has a smirk on his face. I guess he really doesn't know who we, my dad and I, are. I guess that's good. Many people have used me because of who my dad is. I innerly shudder at where my mind had started to go. My dad then turns around and heads down the stairs.

I follow closely, Max right behind me, my dog behind him. "Actually, I was going to hang out with Max for the rest of the day." My dad stops at the foot of the stairs and I bump into his back. I back up the slightest bit and he turns around.

"Are you sure you can trust this boy?" My dad looks from Max to me. This is a question I get asked frequently from him.

"Yes dad, I can trust him." The words shock me as they leave my mouth. It has never been easy for me to trust people, and for me to say I trust Max, even though I've known him for half a day, is appalling. I can tell my dad is shocked too as his eyes widen.