Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
“But, your Dad?”
“Why not him? My mother used to be a vibrant, lovely woman; now she’s a shell of herself on account of him and that wailing hyena.”
“Your Mom is still lovely. She was just waiting for you to finish school to start going out again.”
“She shouldn’t have to. A promise should mean something. Don’t gangsters break people’s kneecaps for not paying up?”
“You’re lucky Bri talked them out of calling the cops.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Daisy; my Dad would never call the cops on me. He owes me, and he knows it. This will just be one more thing for Helen to bitch about and not get her way, which is going to drive her crazy because I am, and will always be, the most important female in my Dad’s life.”
I knew that shit when I went there, not that I cared. I have savings put away for a rainy day, so even if I lose my job behind this, I can float for at least six months. That’s something Mom taught me when that bitch her husband left her for tried to stop him from paying her alimony or child support in the divorce.
She didn’t want him to pay for college either for any of us, but she didn’t have that problem when it came to her own daughter. Thankfully Dad hadn’t lost his damn mind because he was terrified of being cut off by all of us when we came of age, which we all threatened to do at one point or another over time.
My brothers are even more protective of Mom than they are of me, and they were ready to go to town on his stupid ass. These days, none of us go over to his house, and for years, she’d tried to stop him from seeing us anywhere else or made sure she tagged along whenever we were meeting, which none of us liked, so our meetings were far and in between.
I essentially lost my father at the age of eight, and when he left me to raise Mitzie, who was just a few months older than me. That little bitch tormented me every chance she got until my brothers caught on and started going over there even when they didn’t want to. I hated knowing that they were suffering through that for me, but I don’t think I would’ve made it all those years if they hadn’t been there.
When they all went away to college, leaving me behind to spend every weekend at that house, it was almost hell. But Bri had warned Dad of the consequences if he didn’t protect me, and things calmed down a lot.
I was too young in the beginning to know or understand what was going on. But I know when some little snake is slithering into my garden. Mitzie’s Dad had left her and disappeared after the divorce, and the two of them decided that she was going to steal mine.
Now I’m thinking I let that shit go on for too long. The doorbell rang, and Penny got up to let the guys in. “What’s all this?” I asked as they came in with bags of stuff.
“Security cameras for inside and out.” They go to work setting up that shit like I want recordings of the shit I’m fixin' to do.
ALYSSA
No peace! Those six parked their butts in my house overnight while I shut myself off in the guest room with my computer and a shit ton of ideas. Now, let me explain last night and the way I reacted to everything.
When I was seven, going on eight, something very traumatic occurred in my perfect world that rocked my life off its axis, and things were never the same again. I was awakened in the early morning hours to screaming and crying from Mom and doors slamming and car tires screeching from Dad.
By the time I wiped the sleep from my eyes on my way down the stairs to see what was going on, Mom was in full panic attack mode, and my brothers, Cam and Trey, who were fifteen and thirteen at the time, were doing their best to calm her down while she wailed like someone had died.
I remember the sickening feeling in my stomach and biting into my lip hard enough to make it bleed from the fright. I’d never seen anything but sunshine and happiness between these walls, but even at that young age, I instinctively knew that something was very wrong.
“Where’s Daddy?” The three of them stopped as soon as they heard my voice. Mom covered her mouth and looked up the stairs at me before rushing from the room. My brothers came up the stairs where I had stopped and took me back to my room.
“Everything is okay, Little Bit; go back to bed.”