Get a Grip

Before

"You tell anyone, I will hurt you. You understand me, boy?" My dad said with venom as he cupped his hands around my face. I nodded slowly, and averted my eyes back to the center of the basement.

That poor girl.

"Look at me!" He shouted, making my eyes close tightly. I opened them back up again.

"Tell me you understand," he said sternly, his green eyes burning through my skull. I nodded again, words couldn't roll off of my lips. They were stuck in the back of my throat and was hogging space in my mind.

Do I tell someone? Or do I risk my life?

I really didn't know. He was my dad. I loved him but, he had his days.

And this was the worst of them all.

He pushed my face away, and tangled his fingers in his hair. He started pacing away from me.

"I could go to jail if you tell anyone, Q," he said, his voice a bit softer this time. I took a step towards the stairs, but tried to make it as quiet as possible.

"Look, t-this girl deserved it!" He said, a slight smile to his face. He turned around and looked at me, and it was enough to make me jump. Goosebumps lined my skin.

"Sometimes it's okay to do this. It's okay to hurt bad people."

I looked at the girl laying on the table in the center of the basement. What did she do to deserve it? What was the extent of her wrong?

"What did she do?" I asked shakily, my voice was frail and gentle.

"She- she suffocated her baby," he mustered, his voice becoming more venomous. "In her sleep."

"Surely it was an accident, right?"

"You aren't supposed to sleep with your baby!"

"But-."

"Don't try to underestimate me, boy. You'll end up just like her. You don't even understand, you're just a stupid kid."

"I'm not stupid!" I growled, my voice wasn't as manly as I had hoped it was.

"You are what I tell you."