Stripped

Chapter 1

The house reeked of stale marijuana and body odor. The stench practically knocked me out when I walked through the front door. I sighed, it wasn't an unfamiliar smell, but it usually meant my dad was... entertaining. It was evident that whoever he had invited over was against bathing, they usually were. I rolled my eyes at no one and tiptoed silently through the dining room to see what my father had brought home with him today. It was almost always someone I hadn't seen before, he didn't have a lot of loyal friendships. Not that the ones he kept in contact with were any better than the strangers that now sat on our ugly plaid couch.

Upon closer inspection of Eric's visitors I saw that they were both sleeping soundly, soft snores emitting from both of the large men. My dad was sitting on the mismatched purple love seat with the woman that I had assumed was his girlfriend, I had seen her a few times. Not that I had asked, but I figured she was either his girlfriend or a hooker. Judging by the amount of makeup smeared across the woman's face, the latter wouldn't really be surprising. They were also fast asleep and snoring along with their companions on the opposite seat.

Desperately wanting them to remain unconscious, at least until I made it to my bedroom, I very carefully climbed the stairs. Every step I took had me cringing as they all creaked violently beneath my feet. At the very top of the steps I let out a sigh of relief and made to head to my room. That was when I noticed the occupants of the living room had gone silent. Someone was grumbling incoherently and I thought that maybe they were just talking in their sleep. But then my father's rough baritone rang through the house. "Layla!" I waited, not daring to move or even breath, hoping that maybe he would just go back to sleep. "Layla? Is that you girl?" he said, sounding extremely drunk. When I didn't answer him this time he screamed. "Layla if that's you, you get your ass down here right now!" My shoulders sagged and I made my way back down the noisy steps.

"What do you want Dad?" I asked, not even trying to keep the annoyance in my voice hidden.

His blood shot eyes narrowed at me and he continued to scream, "Don't you talk to me like that girly! I'm your father and I demand respect!"

I almost laughed, the term "father" isn't one that I would use to describe the waste of a man in front of me. But, knowing any kind of disrespect would only end up in a fight I changed my attitude. "Sorry dad. What do you need?"

Eric untangled himself from the woman draped across him, letting her flop unceremoniously back onto the couch. She grumbled something and readjusted her position but didn't wake. How she didn't was beyond me, probably whatever drugs she had beforehand. My father was a large man with a beer gut that hung over his belt. I could tell from the stains on his white t-shirt that he was helping contribute to the smell that permeated the house. He came toward me, hitching his dingy jeans up over his belly, "I need some money." By this time he was standing close to me and the smell of beer was overwhelming. It was only four in the afternoon and he was shit-faced.

I stepped back, trying to keep out of reach of his foul breath. "I don't have any money." I was lying, I had managed to squirrel away a little and hide it in my room, but there was no way I was going to let him have any of it. I worked part-time at the Java Hut and used most of my checks and tips to pay the bills that Eric refused to pay. I barely had money for food and if the house hadn't been paid off in the settlement from my mom's car accident we wouldn't even have a roof over our heads. "I used my paycheck to pay the electric bill." If Eric had been any other parent this would have been an acceptable answer, but this was not the case.

I watched as his eyes bulged out of his head and his face turn a hideous shade of red. "What the hell did you do that for?!"

Without even thinking twice I snapped back at him, "I don't know dad! I thought it would be nice to have lights and heat!" I winced the second the words flew from my lips. A large hand came crashing down on the side of my head, blinding pain sent me crumpling to the floor. I balled up instinctively to protect my midsection. It only took one blow from one of his large boots to break a rib, a lesson I had learned the hard way. Instead he wrapped his sausage-like fingers around my ponytail and lifted me to my feet. I cried out in pain and my hands flew to his, clawing at him with my nails, desperately trying to get him to loosen his grip. My attempts were in vain as he only held on tighter, shaking me like a ragdoll.