Forged in Flames

Obscenities

"Uhhhh, why?" She asked looking back at him quizzically.

"Because I told you to. This isn't open for discussion," he answered hotly.

Zoey felt her stomach tie itself into knots as she returned to her bedroom and grabbed her phone. She gulped and handed it to her father before she resumed doing the dishes. She watched him scroll through her texts over the ledge, only barely able to see over it when she stood on her toes. His face seemed to grow upset.

"Zoey, get over here," he demanded sternly.

She walked over and sat next to him.

"What the fuck is this?!" he asked, angrily pointing to the previous texts, "this isn't a fucking joke, why would you say something like that to someone you don't even know. Why would you make this up?" She looked at her mom with her eyes blurred with tears. Her mother's face was sullen, for she had nothing to say on the subject.

"Dad it..." she began crying uncontrollably, "It isn't-it's not a lie, I didn't want you guys to know about it." She looked at the ground as her tears fell onto the brown carpet.

"Honey," her mother spoke up, "You have to tell us something like this so we know what's wrong and how to help you. This dark 'phase', it's not a phase is it?"

Zoey shook her head no. The way she acted, the way she dressed, it was partially due to what she had been through. Her father asked for her laptop, he wanted to take it away. He wanted to take away her phone. He wanted...to alienate her. His logic was, 'maybe she won't have so many issues if she has nobody to talk to or deal with.' Zoey begged him to change his mind, she told him she had been doing fine and her friends kept her mind off of the aches she felt in her soiled mind. "Obviously not because you didn't even fucking tell us," he said, still angered. Zoey whined quietly and continued to cry. He blocked websites. He took her phone for the night and he requested her mother contact a therapist for Zoey . She begged and pushed for no counselor, for she felt she would be judged, labeled 'insane' or 'crazy' for seeing a 'shrink.' She crawled onto the couch and lied her head onto her mother's lap. She couldn't end the shower of tears, but her mother comforted her and assured that she'd overcome what had happened two years ago. Her mother had been through a rape, and years later, thanks to Zoe's father, she had overcome the anguish.

Later that night, she had managed to talk her father into returning her. She took the phone back into her room, sat on the floor in the dark, and told Dakota what had just happened. He frowned, but then, out of want, she asked him a question.

Awe, what a night huh?

Yea, but whatever, anyway, I uh, I have a question...

Shoot

You wanna give me and you a try?

Sure...