"If you don't watch your mouth, then you'll just have to make me get out my old belt with the big buckle on it. Do you understand me?!" he said, grabbing my arm again.
I looked to the side, muttering, "Yes, sir."
"What did you say?!" he yelled, squeezing his hand as tight around my arm as he could.
"I said, 'Yes, sir'!" I said louder this time.
"That's good," he said, releasing my arm.
"Dad, can I ask you something?" I asked, wincing, hoping he didn't take that as me talking back to him.
"Sure, go ahead," he muttered.
"What does you having a job interview do with me?" I asked, still hoping he didn't think I was talking back to him.
"Well, they said that since I just moved here, I needed someone that was in my family that would honestly tell them about me," he answered.
"So, youre taking me to tell them how wonderful you are..." I sighed, saying it a little too sarcastically about him being wonderful.
"You better watch you mouth!" he warned, picking up the belt once more.
I winced, and answered, "I'm sorry..."
"You better tell them how good of a father I've been to you, and how we need this money to survive. If you don't get me a good interview, do you know what's going to happen?" he said, tightening his grip on the belt.
I nodded my head to show him I understood.
"Good, now let's go!" he said, roughly shoving me towards the front door. When I got outside, I turned around, noticing that he was putting on his belt, and then locking the front door with his key.
He walked towards his truck, and motioned his hand towards me for me to go over there.
I looked around as I walked towards the passenger seat, and saw a cute, little boy playing around outside with his soccer ball. I smiled towards him when he looked up at me. He had black hair, brown eyes, and tan colored skin.
He dropped his ball, and waved at me, smiling back, showing his front tooth missing from where he had just lost his baby tooth.
I heard my dad start his truck, and step on the gas petal, blowing fumes out of the gas pipe, and telling me to hurry up and get in the truck. I reluctantly climbed inside, and buckled my seatbelt. I rolled down my window, placed my cheek in my hand, and rested my elbow where the window would be. I saw the little boy again, as he grabbed his ball, running towards the front steps where I saw his mom waiting for him. I smiled at the thought of having a mom, who was always there for you, and who was someone you could talk to. They soon disappeared from view as my dad zoomed off from the front of our house.
It was a few minutes before we got to one place that was called, 'Big Al's Appliances'. My dad rolled into the parking lot, and parked close to the building. I got out when he cut off the engine, and started walking towards the building, followed by my dad who was a couple feet behind me. I walked inside, hearing the bells on the door rattling, and walked towards a counter that my dad pointed to. We waited for an employee to come to help us.
"What can I help you with today?" a young, bouncy, bubbly girl said, coming to the counter. She had long blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, and her face looked like it was caked with make-up.
"Yes, I was here for a job interviewing," my dad said, for once with a smile on his face.
"Oh! You must be Mr. Britt!" the bouncy girl replied. "And you must be his daughter, am I right?"
I nodded my head as she showed us around to the side of the counter, where there was a little swinging door.
She opened it up, and led us down a hallway to the back of the building. "My boss will be the one interviewing you, Mr. Britt," she informed.
"Thank you," my dad replied.
She opened a door, and told us to wait in the room she led us to. "He will be in here shortly," she smiled; going back down the hallway, back out to the main part of the building.
"You do know what all to say, right, Elissa?" my dad asked.
I nodded my head, and sat down in one of the chairs.
A few seconds later, a portly man came walking into the room, and shut the door behind him. "You are Mr. Britt, I presume?" he asked my dad.
"Yes, and this is my daughter, Elissa," my dad said, pointing to me.
"Nice to meet you Elissa. I'm Al," the man said, sticking his hand out for me to shake it.
I put my hand in his, shaking it up and down, saying, "Nice to meet you."
"She's very sweet, Mr. Britt. Now, let's get down to business. I received your resume yesterday afternoon. It looks pretty well considering you don't have a wife to look after you precious daughter," he said, checking over the resume one last time, and then looking up at him. "Is there any questions you would like to ask me before I escort you out, while I talk to your daughter in private?"
"No, I have no questions for you," my father answered, and went outside of the door.
"So, Elissa..." the man started saying, turning to me.
"Yes...?" I answered, going over and over in my mind what I had been rehearsing on the way over here.
"Tell me about your dad," he said, putting his hand up to his cheek.
"Well..." I started.
"Oh, and no matter what your dad has told you before this interview, you don't need to listen to any of it now. Just tell the truth, and everything will be all right. If he has done anything to harm you in any way, just to make sure he gets this job, tell us about it, and we'll save you from him," he explained to Elissa.
"Wh-what gives you the idea that he might have beaten me?" I said, almost starting to panic.
"Well, for one thing, he can't be that nice, especially since he reeked of alcohol and his teeth showed that he always smoked," Big Al said. "Where did you get that bruise on your arm from?"
"Why are we talking about me? Aren't we here to talk about my dad?" I said, trying to hide the new bruise on my lower arm I had gotten from him earlier this morning.
"Just what was the bruise from?" he persisted.
