"I just...ended up falling out of bed last night, and I hit my dresser," I lied.
"Why is it in the shape of a...belt?" he questioned, not too sure if that what it was.
I gulped. I had no clue what to say. Everything I had rehearsed earlier that morning just went washing out of my mind. We were getting so far off subject that I couldn't think of any more lies to tell him.
"Now, Elissa, I'm not trying to pressure you into doing anything you don't want to do, or into saying anything you don't want to say. Just tell me the truth. Do you really think he needs this job?" he questioned further.
"Yes..." I answered weakly.
"For your own reasons...?" he asked.
I nodded my head, and then said, "And for him, too...We both need for him to get this job."
"Really...? Hm...okay then, how well do you think he works with other people?" he said, I guess giving up on trying to get me to confess about my dad.
"He works pretty well with people, and he seems to be quite sociable. He was always bringing home people he met from his...line of work," I semi-lied.
"Okay, is there anything else you want to tell me about your father?" Big Al asked, writing down on my dad's resume what I had just said.
"Well, I know he may not get to come to work very often, but when he needs the money, he'll definitely be here," I told him.
Big Al looked up at me, and asked, "Well, about how often would you say he would be at work?"
"He'll probably be here...uh...three or more days a week?" I almost asked, unsure of what I should say.
"Hm..." he sighed.
"Oh no...that didn't sound good..." I thought to myself.
"Well, we'll get back to you and your father when we decide. We have other interviews that I need to get to, so I'll call you later and let you know. Please let your father know that, okay?" Big Al said, gathering up the papers laying on his desk, and putting them in a folder on the corner of his desk.
"Okay, I'll let him know," I said, nodding my head, and walking to the door.
"So...?" my dad asked as I came out of the door.
"'So...' what...?" I asked.
"You...uh, what did Big Al have to say?" my dad persisted.
"He said that he'll call you later if you get the job. He also told me to let you know that he had other interviews to look at," I answered him, walking out towards the main part of the building.
He followed after me, and we went out to the car, where I climbed in and he jumped in, slamming the door behind him. He started the ignition, and slowly drove off, coming to the stop sign before the highway. He turned left, racing off from the store. "What all did you tell him?" he asked.
"I just said that you're sociable, and you might need to miss a few days to take care of me," I said, resting my elbow how I had it on the way over here with my hand on my cheek.
"You're a pretty damn good liar. What else did you say?" he asked again.
"Thats all really. He did all of the main talking," I shrugged.
He roughly pulled over in front of our house, and turned off the truck. "Now, tell me!" He grabbed my shoulder, yanking me out of my daze, and pulling me closer to him. "What else did you say, damn it?!"
I noticed that his other hand was reaching for his belt, pulling it out of his belt loops. "He just kept asking me about my bruise on my arm. He asked me how I got it, and I said that I rolled out of bed during the middle of the night last night, and ended up hitting it on my dresser!" I said, as I winced, waiting for the pain to come.
He finished pulling out his belt, and he lifted it up, bringing it back down on me. "Why didn't you cover that damn thing up?!" he yelled, and I reached behind me with my free arm, and opened the truck door.
Since I was leaning on it, trying to get away from my dad, I ended up falling down, out of the truck. I ended up hitting my head on the ground and saw two little feet right next to my head. I looked up with wide eyes, and saw the boy from earlier looking down at me.
