In Need of You

Chapter Fifteen

His point was proven. It was etched in fucking stone. But the people Elisha loved were at the receiving end of his father's hatred. He never understood why his father was so judgmental of him and Amber until now. The love of money and hatred for difference proved why mom nearly left his ass when his sister was only but ten years old.

He never said a thing about Adrienna being Hispanic before she left him at the alter, yet she was white enough to look like the American Beauty. Sitting in a chair next to his bed, Elisha watched Sabrina and Madeline sleep. Their subtle breathing somewhat eased the anger festering in his mind. Daisy rested her head on Sabrina's feet. Her eyes were closed tight as her breathing nearly synchronized with Sabrina and Madeline's. 

His father had gone way too far. He knew that he was very protective of his family--no one could come in and tear apart what Jonah Brysen nurtured and grew from the ground up. But that was just it. He was tearing it on his own. The only thing his father proved was that he was greedy, selfish bastard who had a deep-seated hatred for women and minorities. 

This was going to stop. It was going to stop tonight. 

Getting up from the chair, Elisha walked into the hall and closed the door behind him. He pulled his phone and texted Amber and Jennifer, alerting them to call him ASAP. He and dad had always butted heads, Elisha thought but nothing to this extent. This was something that his father started, and Elisha knew he had to finish it. 

***

"Thank you both so much," Elisha said, hugging Amber first then Jennifer. 

"Anything for my girls," Jennifer replied with a smile. "Just don't go to jail, okay. They need you here." 

"Please don't, Eli," Amber said in agreement. She glanced at Jennifer and smiled, then turned back to her brother. "Dad was wrong for what he did. Honestly, I don't know how mom is holding up."

"I hope she's okay, sis" he said. "But, knowing dad, he's at home having a drink."

"Maybe. I just want him to come to his common sense and apologize. "

Elisha scoffed. Their father was as pig-headed as a mule. On top of that, he was prideful to a severe fault to even realize his wrongs. "That's wishful thinking, sis."

"It's good wishful thinking," she replied. "Just be careful, okay."

"I will." Elisha watched the two women walk inside the house and close the door behind them. He got into his SUV, cranked it, and pulled out the driveway.

 He peaked at the setting sun as he made a sharp right turn onto a busy intersection. Its deep reds, oranges, and yellows took him back to when he and Amber used to wait for dad to come home for dinner. Elisha used to look out the window, hoping his dad would come home before mom put Amber down for bedtime. Although he was a teenager, the little kid in him wanted his father to surprise him and spend time with him. 

He should have known the type of person dad was. Even though he ignored it as a kid, Elisha couldn't ignore it anymore. 

He pulled into his parents' long driveway. As he neared the garage, he noticed that mom's car was gone. That was unlike her, he thought. Wednesday and Saturday nights were her book club meeting nights, and since she had volunteered the home for the meetings, she was always there in the kitchen panicking what to make for the ladies to eat while they talked about some romance book they clamored over. Elisha got out of his SUV and walked to the front door. It was already open. She must have left through the front door. That wasn't like her either. 

Elisha walked inside. Dad's voice was the first thing he heard when he walked into the great room. Jonah glanced at Elisha and gave him a drunken grin. He held a small glass in his hand with two cubes of ice melting away inside. He'd been drinking. Now he had to deal with Mr. Drunk. He hated him more than dad's racism. 

Raising the glass in the air, Jonah spoke. "If you're looking for your mother, she's gone."

"I've noticed." Elisha sat on the couch and looked around the room. Mom and dad's framed wedding picture was overturned.

"She just had to leave the house for a moment," he said, pouring more scotch into his glass then taking a long sip. "You know. . . clear her head."

"I could imagine." Elisha glared at his father. He watched him stumble his way to a seat in front of him.

"You're cold tonight, son. But that's not too far from your normal."

"Did you touch her?"

"Your mother? Of course not."

"No, dad. Sabrina. Did you touch her?"

Jonah looked at his son and laughed. He gulped down the rest of the scotch and held the glass in his hand. "You honestly think I touched your girlfriend. I've already told you how I felt about you dating her."

"Did you touch her?"

"Are you interrogating me, son? I don't find that funny."

Elisha locked his eyes onto his father's. Every move he made he followed him. "Why are you avoiding the question, dad. Did you touch her or not?"

"The bitch's lying," Jonah yelled. 

Elisha stood from his seat and stood in front of him. "Don't you ever call her a bitch again."

"Why?" Jonah asked, jumping up from his seat. He pushed Elisha back, making him stumbled. "Because she's so precious to you. Fuck off with that, Elisha. She's a gawd damned nig--"

Elisha punched his father in the face, causing him to fall over the couch. The glass rolled from his hand onto the kitchen floor. He watched his father scuffle to his feet. Blood and saliva dripped from the corner of his lip. "Don't you ever call her that."

Jonah stood from the floor, then stumbled. "I told her to leave you alone, and you still chose her over your family. You're a fucking disappointment."

"That's nothing new to me. You've never like me anyway," he said watching his father rub his jaw. "You can fuck with me all you like, but the moment that you mess with my wife or my daughter, old man, I'm gonna make you regret every choice you've ever made in life."

Jonah frowned. "Wife? Daughter? You want to give that woman my last name? Like hell you're going to do that. "

"I don't give a shit what you try to do. I love them, dad," Elisha said. "You hating them won't stop me from loving them."

"You're choosing them over your own family."

"No, dad. I'm choosing them over your hatred." Elisha frowned. He turned from his dad and walked to the front door. It took everything in his power not to hit his father again. The man that stood before him wasn't the man he remembered as a young boy. He was far worst now than he was then. 

"Where are you going, son?" Jonah stumbled behind Elisha. He fell to the floor and groaned, hitting it with his fist. "Don't you dare leave me like this."

Elisha unlocked his SUV and opened the door. His father's screams resounded in his ears. He knew dad wasn't one for reason most times, but he'd eventually stop. . . whenever he got what he truly wanted.