Burnt Cities

Chapter 9

I join Phoenix in bed after putting my clothes back on. At 9 pm my phone rings, caller ID revealing that it is my father.

"I'm not coming home tonight...so that I can be your punching bag?... I actually feel safer than I feel at home... okay...I said okay..."

My argument with my dad wakes Phoenix up. I shift my body and lay on my side facing him.

"He wants me to come back home."

"Do you want to go back Maya?"

"I can't stay here forever."

"You can stay as long as you want to."

"I know he hasn't been the best father for a long time, but he's still family. Being here and knowing that he is alone at home makes me feel uneasy. I feel sorry for him."

"You are a good person."

***

When we arrive at home, I see my father's silhouette standing in between the door frame. I turn to kiss Phoenix.

"Do you want me to walk you to the door?"

"No, I'll be fine."

"Call me if you need any help, okay?"

"You know I don't have your cell-phone number right?"

"Oops."
He pulls out his phone and hands it to me. His wallpaper is a photo of him and his mother.

"She's really pretty, and you look alike."

"Maybe we'll visit her together one day."

I type in my phone number and walk up the driveway to my house.

"Your mother would be very disappointed to know that you are spending nights with strange men," says my father in a monotone voice, still staring at Phoenix's car.

"And I do not think she would be happy to know that you almost broke my nose."

"Go inside the house."

I should fear him after what happened earlier on, but instead of fear I feel rebellion. I have lost all respect for him.

"Before you throw another punch at me? You know sometimes I can't help but think that I would've been in a better place if I had died instead of Charles. You think I do not see it but you have never loved me. And the fact that you used to hit my mother proves that you never loved her either. She deserves better than this. She deserves someone better than you and I hope that when she comes back home she will realize that YOU ARE NOT WORTH ALL THE SHIT YOU HAVE PUT HER THROUGH! YOU ARE THE REASON WHY SHE IS SICK, YOU ARE THE REASON WHY SHE NEARLY KILLED HERSELF!"

 I stop breathless and shove past him, into the house. A weight has been lifted off my shoulders and all the words I have been locking in for a long time have been said.

"Stay away from that boy," he says from behind me.