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Chapter Twelve ➳ Lost and Hurt

Anika

TW: ABUSE AND SUICIDAL INTENTIONS. Read at your own risk.
My heart races indefinitely as my father's eyes stare at me with humiliation. I yelp as he grabs my arm with such intense force and pulls me inside of the house, slamming the door behind him.

"Where the hell were you?" he hisses as I lurch inside of the house, my feet stumbling and almost losing balance. I realize that he's eyes are fuming red, his voice shaking with anger and his eyebrows perched upwards. And I also realize that I might possibly die tonight.

"I-I was at Emily's house," I stutter, backing away from him. "She called me over, and I just wanted to hang out with her, and I—"

"Anika Desai!" He yells, stomping towards me. "Don't make these excuses with your father! I taught you better than that!"

I slowly back away towards him, my heart racing with fear and my hand placed on my stomach because I'm nauseous with anxiety. "Please, believe me! I'm telling the truth—"

"I wanted to come home early and spend time with you," my father declares. "So I decided to come home early." His big hands touch my shoulders, my eyes widening with fear. "But turns out that my immature and irresponsible daughter decided to leave her phone at home, acknowledging the fact that her father might be worried out of his mind!" His wide eyes stare me down in anger.

Then, he pulls something out of his pocket as I gasp in shock. He... he has my phone?!

"And I also noticed something else," he whispers, slowly walking towards me. My feet stay glued to the floor as my lips dry. No, no, no, no...

"Let's see who Anika Desai has been texting the most lately," he speaks, a mischievous smile spreading on his face. His fingers scroll through my phone. I have no energy or willpower to stop him because I know this is the end of me and my freedom, the little freedom I had left.

"It's not Emily," he continues to speak. "Or is it either of your professors or relatives. But, no. It's a boy named Shaurya Roy. Shall I read the texts out loud?"

"Dad, no! It's okay, you can punish me, but please don't--"

"Shaurya said to you, 'Parents can suck sometimes, I understand. Your father probably just doesn't know how to parent properly HAHA!' This was sent two days ago. And you replied, 'Yes! He probably doesn't,' with a smiley-face at the end."

My lips stay glued together and my feet stay planted on the ground. I feel tears brimming on my eyelids, me on the verge of bursting into tears. But, no! I have to stay strong! All my entire life I have looked up towards my father, following in his footsteps and obeying whatever the hell he said to me.

But now, it's gonna be different.

I'm not gonna let him take over my life anymore. I'm not going to obey every single word of his anymore. And I'm sure as hell not gonna let him take my freedom away from me anymore.

My mouth finally opens up. "No."

My father's red eyes narrow in shock. He holds my hand out by the side and mutters, "What did you just say?" Old me would've been scared out of my mind just by those words, but... no. Not anymore.

"I said," I pause, walking up to him until our faces were inches apart. "No," I breathe out. My father's mouth is slightly gaped open, as he stutters. Then, I continue to speak, "I'm tired of you treating me like a 10 year old. I mean... I'm 21, for God's sake!" My voice trembles out. "I'm allowed to do whatever I want to do, because its my rights. And I'm sorry, but you have no right to tell me what I can and can't do!"