How He Came Into My Life

Chapter 12- Dictators Of My Life

I went near Dad and knelt next to him. Blood came out as he coughed. I didn't know what to do. I glared at Ryan. "You monster," I said. "You shouldn't have done this to him!" Dad held my hand. "It's okay, Erich. I deserve this." He said weakly and then he coughed. "What? No! You don't deserve this. You deserve nothing like this." I said. He smiled weakly. "Go. Don't disobey your father. I don't want you to get hurt."

"But-" He cut me off. "I'll be fine. Don't worry. You need to go home now. It's getting late."

I just looked at him for a moment then cried as I hugged him tightly. "I love you, Dad." I said. He patted my back as he said, "I love you too, baby girl." He then let go. I looked at him one last time. He nodded, as if telling me to go. I didn't have a choice.

I wiped my tears away as I went into the car and didn't say a single word after that. My life's getting more and more miserable than ever. I thought. I even thought about ending my life as soon as we got home. I'm tired of living this miserable and crappy life.

But then, I remembered Ray pleading. Promise me you'll understand every situation. Promise me you'll understand why I'm doing this. Please.

I have to understand why he's siding with his father, even though he's wrong. I have to accept everything that's been going on. And Ray has nothing to do with this. He doesn't want to be part of this. He just doesn't have a choice.

So all I have to do is act angry at the three of them, and Ray would act angry at me. I thought. Ray looked at me. He was saying sorry by means of looking at me sympathetically. I held back my tears and smiled. I told him it's okay, though it was hard for me to accept it.

As soon as we got home, I got out of the car and stormed inside the so-called home-sweet-home of theirs. As I opened the door, mom rushed towards me and threw her arms around me. "Oh, my baby!" She exclaimed. She then let go and checked my temperature. "Thank goodness you're okay." She added. I didn't respond. Not even a smile. I showed no expression. Just a plain poker- and angry- face.

"Don't do that again next time, okay? You made us all worried." Her eyes were full of sadness. Though I don't know if she's pretending or not.

Are you serious? Since when did you ever worry about me? All you worry about is money and your own happiness. Stop pretending, will you? I thought.

I can't tell her what I have in mind as much as I want to. She's still my mom and I'm tired of talking back and walking away. I'm tired of having fights with her.

"Yeah, okay, sorry," I finally said. I looked at Collette. She looked worried. I smiled at her to say hello and to let her know I'm okay. I looked at Ryan and Mom. My smile faded away. "I'll be on my room if you guys need me." I grabbed my skateboard and went upstairs. "Aren't you going to eat dinner with us, Erich?" Mom asked. "Not hungry." I simply said and went into my room.

I lay down on my bed and groaned. "Why is this happening to me. . ." I put my hands on my head and pulled my hair. "I hate my life. . ." I muttered, and a tear streamed down my face. Suddenly, someone knocked on my door. I wiped my tears away as I sniffled and asked, "Who's there?"
"Someone you kind of really hate." I was silent for a moment. "Mind if I come in?"
"N-no. . ."

The door opened. Collette had a slight smile on her face. "Hey," she said and closed the door. "Hey." I said and covered my eyes with my forearm. "I heard you were with dad this whole afternoon," she said. "Is it true?"

I didn't respond too soon, because the horrible scene that had just happened kept coming back in my head. Once I had the strength, I said, "Y-yeah. . ." I looked at her. Her head was tilted and her eyebrow was raised. "You don't sound like you had fun." She suspected. I smiled. "I did," I said. "Though it didn't last that long than I expected."