Crimson Lights

Thea's Ramblings

Lying on the bed beside Anna, Thea decides to open up about her story; about her journey down this path of life.

"Another medal? What do you hope to achieve with all of them?"

Of all the things that she had hoped to hear, that was the last thing Thea had expected to hear from her mother.

"But Mum, you know I'm good at athletics, right? Hell, I'm excellent at it. Coach said ..."

"There you go again about what the coach said. To be honest, I don't give a rat's ass about what the coach said. He's not your father; you know how your father thinks about all of these."

Thea began to sulk. Her father hated the sports activities that she took part in high school. Despite maintaining her grades and her attendance records, which meant he had no excuses to restrict her from taking part in sports competitions, there was just something about the whole damn thing that struck a raw nerve in him.

The heavy slamming of a car door outside and the loud rattling of keys signaled that her father was home from work. She glanced at the medals that she had left on the dining table; it was too late to hide them now.

Seconds later, her father walked into the kitchen, whistling softly under his breath. Her mother had set the kettle to boil the moment she heard the slamming of the car door and was now busy dunking in tea bags into the boiling water. Thea took this moment to study her father as he carted two grocery bags into the kitchen, laden with household items.

Michael Jarvis had the built of a lumberjack – which of course suited his profession as a car mechanic. His hands were big and rough from the regular repairs that he does down at the car garage, whereas the faint whiff of grease seemed to follow him everywhere regardless how well he scrubbed himself clean while he showered. His crew cut haircut gave the illusion of a late twenties bloke, even though in actual fact he had passed the mark of forty.

Thea glanced at him as he used those big, burly arms of his to cart the groceries seamlessly and began arranging them in their shelves. She wondered if she could escape into her room before he finished his task and noticed the medals on the table. Just as she began to attempt to ease out of her chair quietly, he glanced around, looking at her for seconds before his gaze landed on the medals.

Too late once again.

"What are these?" he asked softly, dangerously.

"I ... won them during the sports meet today."

He turned his body fully to face her, his forehead creasing with lines.

"Didn't I tell you the other day to pull out from the team?"

"Well, you did but Father ... I'm really good at it. You should have seen me today; I broke the state record for the 100-meter race. Coach said I could only get better from here and that I've made both him and the school proud."

"I don't give a damn what the coach said. I told you to stop with all this garbage and yet, you disobeyed me."

" But Father, you don't understand ..."

"No, you don't understand!" he bellowed and grabbed her medals before swiftly dunking them into the trash can. "I've warned you before about what might happen if you disobeyed me and yet, you still decided to do it your way. Well, now you're going to have a taste of my wrath. Say goodbye to all of your medals because you won't be seeing them anymore."

Thea looked at him in horror; her face contorted with anguish and pain.

"Father, you can't be serious! That's all I have to show for my accomplishments – my hard work."