Pure & Wild

New beginnings

"And that concludes the house tour. Any questions?" Mark aka "fake dad" asked.

I roll my eyes, "Actually yes... can I go to my room and zone this whole situation out for a hot sec?"

Mark looked at me with a 'fed up' type of look.
"Do what you like. Sooner or later you are going to have to come to terms with this being your new life."

I stare at the floor blankly, avoiding eye contact since I knew Mark had a point.

As if it isn't already clear enough, Mark isn't my real dad. He's actually my witness protection dad, or more like a legally enforced body guard to me since I'm under age and I'm in witness protection.

Most 17 year olds problems consist on who they should take to a school dance, or what shirt they should buy at TopShop. Whilst technically those are some of my problems, I have bigger things to worry about. Aka, having my life turned upside down, getting a new name and lifestyle, moving to a completely new state and living with a man I barely had connection with.

It's not really that funky, but I imagine some girl on tumblr hearing my life story is probably getting tingles right now.

A little bit more about me is that I am hiding from someone I am meant to be close with. Like most troubled teens, my dad is the route of the problem.

I mean I never thought things would get this intense, because my dad initially left my life when I was 7, and you know my mum and I thrived for the next few years. Sure it's not ideal but I was ok with having some abandonment issues... it's nothing compared what then happened to me.

Let's say periodically after those next few years, my dad would stalk my mom and I and occasionally barge in to our house and ask for money for stuff he probably didn't need and probably wasn't legal. So rationally, we call the police quite often, but every time we reported him, cops could never track him down.

Kind of spooky, kind of dangerous. My dad was very dangerous in the sense that he literally runs a drug dealing empire and kind of kills innocent people!? Yeah we found that out via a sting operation from one of the countless times we reported him.

Fast forward to a month ago, it was a beautiful and casual day in my two room apartment in the lovely city of Brooklyn NY, when yet again, My dad found us (we moved a lot) and decided to bring a gun with his visit. So routinely, he bashed the door down and shouted for a bit. Then things got weird where he popped out his gun and pointed it at my mom. I was literally on the couch watching this go down so I grabbed my phone and dialled 911 but made sure I didn't show any sign of being in contact with the phone.

Anyways, my dad yelled for money like per usual, but then things got hella weird. He started cussing out a bunch of names of guys he's gonna get on us since we know about his drug dealing empire and how we snitched him to the cops (via the sting investigation I mentioned prior, which might I add was the last time I had encountered him) and then he shot a bunch of bullets into the ceiling. So essentially this fathers visit was a lot more intense, aggravated and serious. I know I'm playing it down quite a bit but I kid you not, in this moment I was breaking down.

I have a habit of hiding my feelings when things get kinda intense. I play it down as a result of trying to block it out.

Anyway, So the cops got all this on call and somehow managed to get the address (I assume other neighbours called) and then sirens pull up. Hooray! But also not hooray. My dad then got more pissed and freaked when he heard the sirens and I honestly thought I would lose my life by the way he was acting. But He didn't shoot. Instead he threatened that these shenanigans weren't over and my mum and I were gonna die... yada yada yada. I presume the only reason he didn't kill us right then and there was because the cops were right outside and he needed to make a run for it.

And like usual, cops came and there was no sign of my dad. Due to this being incredibly scary and worse than others times, the cops and court made the legal and executive decision to put both my mother and I in witness protection. Though the catch was, we had to be apart. The cops logic was that it would be harder to track us down if we were apart and in different states. I understand that but also I'm pissed and constantly missing my mom and I now have to fight this alone.

Anywho, I moved to Pennsylvania. While my mum I believe lives in Texas as a secretary and goes by the name "Mary Sherwood" who lives with her husband and two cats. Pretty basic if you ask me. I prefer her real name which is "Samantha Woodrow". More sleek.

As for me, my name got changed to "Lilli Melwood" from "Luna Woodrow". Kinda pissed about it not going to lie.

The shittiest part out of all of this though? I have to be in character pretty much 24/7. Which means whenever I'm not alone in the house with Mark, I have to be Lilli Melwood and refer to Mark as my father and go through every day life as my new persona and never slip up. Just in case my dad can somehow find me due to my normal ways of living.

So that's pretty much everything I have on my plate right now. OH AND HOW COULD I FORGET! I also have to start at a new school.
A public high school in Pennsylvania. Think about that. I have to be Lilli while I make friends and also sign up for clubs and be a new person , all while I have to not blow my cover to anyone. That totally sounds easy.

"While your in your room zoning out? Uh make sure to get your bag ready for your big day." Mark reminded me in triumph.

"Whatever." I say as I stalk off.