Mark DeLancey

Chapter 9

I came out of the house. It took a while. I finished painting the back deck and even painted the inside by myself. Dad started coming over about once a month to check on me. He fixed the front and back door with locks and got the outside lights working.

I was still in school and doing okay. People didn't really talk to me, but I was used to that by now. I kept thinking about how school would be over soon and I would need money. I looked for a job in town, but no one would hire me. There was too much stigma.

One afternoon I caught the bus to the next town over, which was about half an hour away. I applied at the local grocery store and they said they'd give me a go. No stigma there. After that I travelled over four times a week. I hated getting the bus back at night and walking home in the dark, but I had no choice. I bought a little taser and had it hidden in my hand every night. I'd probably get in trouble if I used it, but I didn't exactly care. It made me feel safer.

I ended up making a couple of friends at my job. Hard to believe. They even taught me how to drive. Dad bought me a little car after I graduated. He had fixed it up. He was handy, apparently. I didn't know. I don't think it cost him much, but it was a lifesaver for me. I kept working at the supermarket after I finished school. I didn't really know what else to do, and it was money. Dad let me stay on at the house. He still didn't charge me anything because I was paying all the bills. I had finally convinced my sister and brother to come over and help me go through mum's things. In the end there really wasn't much and only a couple of trinkets to keep.

I did, however, find my birth certificate. I also found out that dad wasn't my dad. I always wondered why he didn't take me too. I mean I didn't really want him to, but I figured if he really wanted me he would have tried. Tina told me mum wouldn't let him. I don't know why she wanted me to stay with her. Maybe she needed someone to look after her. We wouldn't have eaten if it wasn't for me. Even when I was little I was the one who got us food.

Dad said he had got over it a long time ago and he was happy to be my dad. He was the only dad I had ever known and he let me live in his house rent free so I couldn't complain. I didn't want to find out who my real father was, anyway. What if it was that creep that came over and tried to assault me? The thought made my skin crawl.

That was pretty much everything up until Mark DeLancey rode back into my life again.