How to Lose your Best Friend

♧XLVI♧

PJ

My parents have always thought of me as a lost cause. A mistake. A waste of their time. I thought that they'd be happy that I was living with Antonio now. One less person in the household to worry about. Turns out that the liquor store had been temporarily shut down while I was gone since my parents refused to pay any workers and since I was their child I didn't have to make a salary. If the liquor store was shut down that meant that my family wasn't making any money. My foolish father thought it would be a smart idea to pool all of his money into that sorry excuse of a store and refused to spend his own hours working in it. He was too busy getting high with my mother and spending what little money we had on their addiction.

My absence created a ripple in their system and they had to get me back to fix it. After Antonio brought me to school the first things on my to-do list was to find Eagle. I didn't plan on bothering her or anything. I just wanted to check in on her to make sure that she was okay. As I walked down the hallway I searched for the familiar sound of Eagle's bass but I was unable to find it. Maybe she wasn't there yet. I'm pretty sure I spotted her earlier heading into a practice room but perhaps that was just my imagination. I heard footsteps beginning to approach me as I stood frozen in my tracks. That had to be Eagle. What would I say to her? Should I just pretend that I wasn't searching for her? Should I just begin walking further up the hall to look like I was heading somewhere else? I wasn't done brainstorming when I felt someone's hand grab my shoulder spinning me around.

Part of me dreaded meeting Eagle face to face but I knew that it would happen eventually. I closed my eyes as I clenched my teeth preparing for her to yell at me when the hand that grabbed my shoulder slapped me across the face. That's when I knew. This was not Eagle. That slap. I knew it too well. The person standing in front of me was my father.

I began to open my eyes holding back tears and I acknowledged my father. At first, I wasn't sure why he was here. Then it hit me. He wanted me back home. Working for him. I was a slave to him. He didn't care if I was in pain, he just cared about the money. He needed me to keep his business running. In a way, I did matter just the slightest bit to him but I'd much rather prefer it if he wanted me dead.

I felt him grab my jaw forcing my eyes to meet his as he began to open his mouth.

"That girl you were stalking left a long time ago. Sorry to disappoint you but I don't think she even realizes that you exist. For your own good just leave her alone," he said. Since when did he know about Eagle? I never talked to my parents about anything. When did he even care what was best for me? 

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"Why do you think? To take you home of course," he replied.

"Why'd you come now?" I asked knowing that I couldn't win this fight. Running wasn't an option. He'd only find me again. Neither was shouting. No one cared enough to find me even if they did hear me.

"I wasn't about to let you hop a ride with your boyfriend again. You spend way too much time with him and I need you back at home," he replied.

"At least Antonio cares about me. Unlike you ever will," I stated.

"Of course I care about you. I care enough not to let you turn into a fagg*t. I'm taking you home. Right now," he demanded pulling on the ties of the jacket Antonio gave me.

When my dad threw me into the back of his pickup truck I assumed that he was going to drop me off at the liquor store. I peeked my head out of the back of the vehicle to find that we weren't going down the road to the store. We were going down our driveway.

If only it had been Eagle who had put a hand on my shoulder instead of my father. If only my father could've just left me at school instead of taking me out and throwing me into the back of his truck. If only he could've dropped me off at the liquor store instead of bringing me home to an unavoidable fate. If only he could actually be a father for once instead of being the man who beats me half to death the moment we step inside the house I've been hiding from.