Not Good Enough

Seven

I paced around the house nervously. When is he going to call? I hope he doesn't know anything. I walk into my room and sit down on my bed, tapping my feet. I hear a knock at my door and jump up. It was Adam, holding the phone.

"It's Dad. He wants to talk to you," he said as he swallows hard. That's never a good sign.

"Okay, thanks," I responded nervously as I took the phone into my shaking hands. I put it up to my ear slowly.

"Hello, Dad," I said as cheerful as I could, trying not to let any fear show.

"Hello darling, how have you been?" He asked. He seemed almost in a good mood. That's rare to hear from him. Especially at this time of day.

"I'm well."

"How has school been?" There is is. I hope he doesn't know.

"It's going well. I'm studying really hard to get an A on my next test."

"Really, so you went to school everyday?" I swallowed hard. I started shaking so hard that I could barely get a word out.

"Yes," I lied, trying to keep the panic in me from rising. Please don't notice. Please don't notice.

"Well you may have studied, but lying to me, now that is unacceptable. I got a call from your school, asking for an excuse to why you weren't in school. This will not be tolerated in this house. When I get back, we will have to deal with your punishments. So enjoy your last few days of freedom because it will be your last for a long time," he said sternly as he hung up the phone. I started crying. Adam must've heard me because he came running in and sat with me on the bed. He put me in his arms and held me tight while I let my tears flow. We sat there for a while before I calmed down enough to talk.

"So, what happened?" He asked as calmly as he could. I detected some fear in his voice.

"He knows. He knows and I think he might kill me this time. I'm so scared. I don't know what to do," I blurted out all at once, continuing to cry some more. He sat there for a moment.

"It's going to be okay. I promise I won't let that happen. Once that get home I will do whatever I can to make sure he doesn't hurt either you or me too badly."

"No. I can't let you do that. You could get into even more trouble."

"As long as I'm here, it is my job to protect you and keep you safe." He paused for a second. "I'm pretty sure it's in the big brother handbook," he said with a shy smile.

"What are you talking about? There is no handbook." I knew what he was doing, but I decided to play along for now.

"Oh yeah, there most certainly is. All guys get it when the next child is born. And for guys like me, we get a special one since we have little sisters, like you, to watch over."

"That's really sweet, but it's not helping me. I'm not a little kid."

"Hey, I was trying though. You have to give me credit for that." He out his hands up in defense.

"Yes, thank you for that," I whispered as I hugged him tightly. When I'm in his arms, it's almost like no one can hurt me.

"Well," he said, letting go of me, "we still have at least two more days until they get back. So, until then, let's try and relax and we'll figure this out tomorrow. Or maybe the day after that because I kinda want one more day to be care free. And no offense, but I want to get away from you and see my friends." He gave me a playful shove.

"Yeah, I'll try and relax too before all hell breaks loose. And it will be so great when you're not in my face all day," I said as I shoved him back. We laughed and he got up and walked to the door. Before he left he looked back at me.

"Just make sure you relax, it will all work out in the end, I promise." As soon as he walked away, I let my smile drop.

Relax? How can I relax at a time like this? Dad is going to be so mad. And this time I don't know what he's going to do, I thought as I plopped back down on my bed. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was just starting to set. I wanted to watch the sunset, but my eyes disagreed as the closed and put me into a restless sleep.