"Shane! Where the hell do you think you're going?" My father yelled as I opened the front door. I was supposed to be meeting my friend, Gabe, down the street. I tried to slip out before he could get to me, but I hesitated a second too long. He grabbed the back of my neck, yanking me backward. After pushing me against the wall, he raised his hand to punch me but my drunken mother came stumbling into the hall.
"Bob, doan hurt imm," she slurred out and tried to grab his hand. He jerked it forward to get it away from her and bashed me in the mouth in the process. I slumped over on the table by the door as my father screamed at my mother. When I lifted my head, I saw a small spot of blood where my mouth was. I took a quick peek at the fight occurring just a few feet away. I bolted out the front door, slamming it so I could buy a few extra seconds.
I ran as fast as I could and heard my father yelling after me. Just as I reached Gabe, I tripped. He pulled me up and yelled," Hey man, come on! Your dad got in his car. He's gonna try and find you. We gotta go! Now!"
I heard the low rumble of the old car start up as we ran to the thick bushed of my neighbor's yard. We held our breaths as he passed by slowly, searching everywhere. As he rounded the street corner and was out of sight, we ran through yards until we had arrived at Gabe's house, completely out of breath. We walked through the door and I noticed that a few people had drunk so much; they were already close to passing out.
A couple of people said their hellos, but I only nodded my greeting. I was too distracted looking for my girlfriend.
"Hey, Shane, Maddy's in the kitchen," my friend Ryan said as he passed by, breaking me out of my trance. I smiled my thanks and headed off to find her. There were only a hand full of people in the small kitchen and I easily spotted her talking to her friend Tori. Maddy had her back turned to me so I snuck up behind her and grabbed her back against my body.
She screamed in surprise and smacked the top of my head playfully. "Don't do that. You scared me," she said as I kissed her cheek.
"Hmm... Did I? I'm sorry," I mumbled as I nuzzled my nose in her hair.
I heard her chuckle before she replied," No, you're not."
"Okay, not really," I admitted, smiling as my angel turned around to face me. Her eyes grew in realization when she saw my lip. She shook her head and cast her eyes to the floor; I knew that she was fighting tears. "Hey, hey. Don't do that, sweetheart. I'm here, aren't I?"
Maddy looked back up at me and smiled sadly. "I know. I just wish that you didn't have to go through that."
"I'm tough, and I got you. You keep me going, you know that?" She smiled a little brighter and nodded. "Let's get out of here." She handed me her keys as I took her hand and we walked out to her car.
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We were about halfway to her house when she tapped my arm.
"Shane, is that your dad behind us?"
I glanced back into the rearview mirror and saw that he was there, but was too preoccupied with looking out the window for me to notice I was driving the car in front of him. Dumbass, I thought.
"Yeah, but he's no paying attention. Just ignore him, he won't notice us. He doesn't know that I have my driver's license." Seconds later, the red light turned green and we turned right, my father turned left.
"Is he out looking for you?"
"Yeah, he is. Not going to find me though. He was no clue that I'm dating anyone. Out of all the people he would suspect, you'd be the last on his list," I reassured her.
