31. Warning

2.5K 115 66
                                    

Engagement can be a commitment to love or a declaration of war. One must enter every battle without hesitation, willing to fully engage the enemy– until death do you apart.

***

I remember I was eight years old.

That stormy night when the clock struck eleven, a loud banging was heard from my door, making me wide awake.

“Police! Open the door!”

I got off of my bed and held my pillow to my chest as I padded down the wooden flooring of my bedroom and made my way out.

I heard the door of our house clicked open, the flickering lights of blue and red reflected to the walls from downstairs. Thinking that something was wrong, I hurried down the stairs when I heard my dad’s name being pronounced.

“David Bishop, you are now under arrest on suspicion of bribery, embezzlement and murder–“

“–What?”

“Daddy!” I cried, realizing now that something bad was about to happen. I hurried down the stairs.

My dad whipped his head back to look at me, a look of shock and bewilderment written all over his face. He quickly turned his eyes to the police officer in front of him.

“Please, not like this. Not in front of my daughter. She has no one–“

I ran towards my father, scared that they will take him away from me. But one of the officers in the dark blue uniform slipped past my dad and caught me before I could get to my father. I yelled as his big arms surrounded me, preventing me from getting to my dad. I called out for my father.

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY DAUGHTER!” roared my father angrily when he saw me being hauled by the stranger.

My dad lunged towards me, but before he could the other officers pinned him down to the floor, put his hands behind his back and handcuffed him. In full blown panic attack, I let out a high pitched scream, reaching out with my hand trying to get my father.

“LET HER GO!” I heard him shouted with rage. “ANNIE!”

I cried and wailed loudly, screaming my head off and hit at the big man that held me up in a feeble attempt to free my dad.

I screamed until I had no sound left in me.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult with a lawyer, and if you cannot afford it, one will be appointed for you if you so desire,” I heard one of the cop that apprehended my dad said in a rather robotic voice while I cried.

“I will come back for you, baby. Do you hear me?”

I wept, nodding frantically as I saw the confusion and the desperation heavy in his eyes as he saw me before he was being hauled into the cop’s car.

A few hours later I found myself in the arms of Child Services. Despite my new living arrangement with a strange family in a new house and everything, I still believed that this was only a temporary means to live. My father would come back for me despite the false indictment inflicted upon him.

He didn’t.

A couple months later I heard in the news that my father had been sentenced to life for not only stealing from the company that he worked for, but also selling arms to a group of criminal syndicate and for murdering my mother and a coworker to cover up his tracks.

Thorns & Roses (Legolas Love Story) Where stories live. Discover now