Strangers of Sea & Land

Stay

The bustling noises of the cafe were muffled now as Katt's world came to a halt. She sucked in a sharp breath and shakily exhaled, her calloused hands were trembling as she tightened a vice grip on her phone. The warm afternoon light did nothing to fight the cold creeping up her spine. A thousand thoughts raced in her mind but it felt as if she couldn't think at all.

Her father's text message remained glowing on the screen as Katt composed herself, remembering where she was. No patrons seemed to notice her distress and she breathed a sigh of relief at that. Shaking her head, she finally opened the daunting notification and decided on calling her father.

The phone rang a couple of times before the gruff voice of a middle-aged man answered.

"What do you want Katherine?" He sounded bitter and resentful. You could almost hear the lines on his forehead and the deep-set frown on his awful mug.

"Dad I don't-"

"You don't what," Her father snapped at her words sharply. "Don't want to leave this shithole town?"

"Dad please, we don't have to move."

"It's already too late Katherine Josephina, I sold the house this morning."

"You did what?! You didn't even talk to me about this!"

"We have a week to pack and move out. That is final"

"No Dad, it's not, for fuck sake-"

"Watch your language kid, you got that from your mother didn't you?" He scoffed belligerently.

"Don't you dare talk about Mom like that! How could you?!"

"The whore deserved what she got," The sound of beer can hissed open in the audio, another one of many. "What're you going to do about it anyway?"

Katt groaned in frustration and clench her fist, close to slamming it down on the table. It became increasingly difficult to stay calm with anger churning her stomach.

"Ugh..just wait until I get home!" She rubbed a hand across her eyes and hung up before her father could say anything else. Slumping in her chair, she took a moment to gather her things and stood to leave. The sound of rollerskates came up behind her and she felt a tap on her shoulder, turning around Katt met the concerned expression of a certain curly-haired friend.

"Is everything alright?" Izzy questioned as she slipped a pen into her black waitress apron.

"Yeah..sorry about that," Katt started. "My dad's just been such a bitch lately."

"Mm, I get it, man. With everything that's been going on...here, your tab's on me girl."

"Oh no Izzy, you don't have to-"

"No I insist, you're going through so much right now. Plus college, I can't imagine how you're paying for everything."

"I might...be in a little bit of debt."

"Well, that much was obvious."

Katt chuckled lightly, the feeling of impending doom subsided a little bit as her conversation with Izzy continued. Izzy's break ended and she waved Katt out the door.

Walking out of that cafe, a gust of wind blew her long hair back behind her. Had it not been pulled into a ponytail, it would've been whipping in her face the whole walk back. Having these streets memorized, Katt allowed her thoughts to wonder, preparing for the fight that would inevitably surface as soon as she stepped back into the house.

Ever since her mother had passed, things never fully got back to normal. There would never be a normal moment again for a long time. Her father began drowning his emotions in an ever-flowing tap of alcohol. He would only stop when he passed out. Sometimes, in the darkest part of her heart, Katt hoped he would choke on his own vomit and die in shame.

He was never noble or heroic, but he was once loving and carefree. Stress, anger, and guilt hollowed out the gold in his soul. Drinking replaced it with a bitter crudeness. If he wasn't sat on the couch with a beer in hand, he would almost certainly be at the nearest bar or club. The home that Katt had always recalled being sweet and sugary, now stank of smoke and whiskey.

The walk ended as she stepped onto her front porch, the old wooden steps creaking with age. Sand crunches beneath her shoes and sends a shiver up her spine.

I'm going to need so much therapy after this. She thinks as she turns the doorknob.

"Dad I'm home!" Katt shouted down the hall, only to be met with grumbling and the squeaking of couch springs as her father stood up.

"Dad, why don't we talk about this?" She said as she approached him. "Isn't everything going too fast?"

"Maybe too fast for you, but I've made the decision Katherine," He explained. "Your brother is coming with me and well, Carla already has an apartment in the city."

"So you weren't planning to tell me any of this?"

"I already did that, didn't I?"

"I meant properly dad! Actually letting me decided too!"

"It's not your place to say Katherine! You don't know anything-"

"I don't know?!"

"No you don't. You're only 19, barely in college, and you just got fired."

"I didn't get fired dad, that's..different."

"Different how? How do you think you'd even make it without me? Huh?" Her father's taunts hit like a brick.

"Why don't you just leave me here then! You'd be better off without me!"

This didn't phase Richard Cook at all. He simply scoffed and crossed his arms, a smug look always plastered on his face.

"You know, we would be. Stay here in this shithole town for all I care."

"Ugh, fine!" Katt was exasperated at the apathy of her father and threw up her hands in frustration. Glaring one last time at the pitiful man, she turned on her heels and stormed out of the house.

Tears had begun to well up in her eyes but she rubbed them away furiously. She was too angry to be sad right now and there was only one place she could go.

Winding down the almost bare streets, she now stood in front of a white ranch with black shutters. Vines ran over the awning and curled onto the gutters. Bushes carefully trimmed and neat cut lawn laid before her.

Stepping up the driveway, she took note of the new welcoming mat, and a rustic wooden sign that adorned the door. It's curly script reading,

"Home of the Skippers."

~¡Hola! It's your author here :)
Taking time to curate the rest of this story line has been interesting and being stuck in quarantine, picking back up the old gal will be fun. Consider this hiatus officially over kids! Stay tuned for the next chapter!