Growing up McGarrett

The Root of the Problem

After they go I curl up on the couch. I'm not in the mood to write the letter. Instead I'm feeling sorry for myself. My butt hurts. Well what did you expect Sam? You practically begged him to punish you! In fact he hadn't even gone that hard. I guess he had in mind that I was already smarting from the day before. Wow it had only been one day! It felt like my whole life had been spent fighting with Dad over this. Well ok that's a bit of an exaggeration but you know me! Well one thing was for sure I didn't want any more spankings so sensible good Sam needed to step up and sit on impulsive cheeky Sam. I decided I would start the stupid letter. Might as well get it over and done with.
Dear Ms. Higgins, I would like to apologise for what I said to you yesterday. I should not have used that language to you and I am sorry I did. Yours sincerely Samantha McGarrett.
A bit short. I'm not sure what else to write though. My eyes started to feel heavy and before long I nod off. When I wake up there is a blanket over me, the room is mostly dark and there is the soft click of computer keys. I sit up to see Dad illuminated by his computer screen. "Hey sleeping beauty", he says smiling at me. I rub my eyes and frown at him in confusion. "When did you get back?" I ask sleepily. "A couple of hours ago, you've been snoring your head off there while I worked!" "Dad!" I whine, "I don't snore!" He laughs and says "you could've fooled me!" So I stick my tongue out at him. I stretch and yawn, "can we go home?" I say in a whiny tone. Yep sensible good Sam wasn't doing too well so far, for some reason I was back to poking the bear! "Just another short while", Dad replies, "I just have a bit more paperwork to do. Why don't you close your eyes and relax again. Or you can work on your letter, it's a bit anemic!" "But Daaaad", I whine again. "Quit the whining Samantha", he snaps, "I'll be done when I'm done!"
I'm about to argue again, see stupid Sam is back with force, but Danny bursts into the room. "Steve there's something you should see", he says in a hurry, "you too Sam". He whirls back around and out to the main office. Myself and Dad look at each other questioningly. I follow Dad out to the main office as he's asking Danny what this is all about. Then I notice Bitchface's picture is up on the screen alongside a man I don't know. Danny is typing something into the table. "Why is there a picture of Bitchface on the screen", I ask confused. "Sam!" Dad snaps. Danny cuts across us "Steve when you told me about what was happening to Sam, something was familiar about the teacher's name, so I did some digging when we got back. Do you remember Joe Treal?" he asks excitedly. "Yeah", Dad says slowly, "we put him away for a string of armed robberies at the start of the summer." "Yeah that's him" Danny says. "But what's that got to do with Ms. Higgins?" Dad asks. "Patience Steven, I'm getting to that. So it turns out Joe here has a fiancé, none other than a Ms. Anita Higgins who, wait for it, works as an English teacher in Sam's school!" he finished looking very satisfied with himself. A look passes between him and Dad but I'm still completely lost. "What the hell are you talking about Uncle Danny?" I ask impatiently. Dad shoots me a killer look but something inside me feels very uneasy at the moment and I want answers. Danny starts to say something but Dad puts up his hand to stop him. He grabs my hand and leads me to a chair and makes me sit and he crouches in front of me, still holding my hand. "Dad?" I say questioningly. He runs his hand over his face obviously trying to think of the right thing to say. "Dad! What's going on?!" I practically shriek. "Calm down", he commands, "what Danny is getting at is that we, I, put Ms. Higgins' fiancé in jail for a long time and she knows you are my daughter and is holding it against you." I stare at him trying to make sense of what he's saying. I look at Uncle Danny and he nods gently at me. "You mean she's being a bitch to me because of you?!" I half shout. Dad sighs, "it looks likely", he replies not pulling me up on the bad language for once. I get up, pulling my hand away from him and start walking out of the office. "Sam, where are you going?" Dad questions. I simply reply toilet and nothing else. Once I'm in the ladies restroom I sit on a closed toilet and start to cry. It starts out as just a few tears but soon the dam bursts and I'm bawling. All the injustice of the last few months comes flooding over me. With it comes anger. Anger at Bitchface sure, but more anger at Dad. It was all his fault. The crap I'd been putting up with in school, the bad grades, the detentions, the forgeries and fear of being caught, all of it had been because of him. And then he had punished me for it. This may not have been a very fair assessment of the situation but right now all I could think about was how much he was the root of all my problems. Right now I hate him.