The Little House of Paints

Chapter 27

The humming of Miller's car's engine fills the silence between us. Teagan is following close behind in the Bronco along with Levi and Max. Apparently, Miller had sent Levi back to get it when we all arrived at his house. He was all too willing to follow the request.

After finding out where Miller and I were heading, Teagan demanded to come with us. Apparently having my dad hold a deadly weapon against my throat really put everything in perspective for us. As soon as I got down into the living room, we both practically jumped to each other trying to be the first one to apologize.

I was about to get into the Bronco, specifically the driver's seat, when Miller and Teagan stopped me. Both of them argued that I am in no shape to drive. Miller, of course, pulled the meds card excuse, which got a glare out of me. The next argument was then over who got to drive me. After pulling Teagan aside, Miller was able to get me into his car.

Though unhappy about it she allowed it to happen. But, just because I am with him does not mean that I will be speaking with him. I need some time to think. Think about what I am going to say to my dad. What he is going to say to me. As much as it pains me, he is always going to be my parent, all the memories and feelings that I have attached to him are not going to disappear over a couple of hours, no matter how horrible of a person he is.

Before I know it, we are at the prison. The same prison that Teagan and I visited a couple of days ago. The same security guard is on shift, but surprisingly he smiles at Miller. Seems the two of them have met before.

The fact makes me even more annoyed. Of course, they have met since Max, Levi, and him have been following Teagan and I. Suddenly, the conversation with Richards makes sense. He mentioned something about a boyfriend. Originally I thought that he was just messing with me, but could he have meant Miller or Levi? Maybe even Max? I should just leave it alone, let it go, but I can't. I finally break my silence.

"Did you visit Jude Richards recently?" He's surprised by the question. Maybe he told Richards not to mention it to us. To keep his mouth shut.

"How'd you know?" A question for a question, how typical. Can't he ever just respond with a simple yes or no.

"Just a guess."

I slam the passenger door. Teagan, who apparently has gotten over her fear of automatic driving, is hopping out of the driver's seat while the other two pour out from the passengers side of the car. From the frown on Levi's face, Max must have gotten shotgun.

Teagan threads her arm through mine, much like the first time that we came here.

"Are you ready for this, Ken?" She leans in closer, so that the boys cannot hear, "If you're not, just say the word and I'll get you out of here." I know she would. I would do the same thing for her. That's what sisters do for each other.

I smile gratefully at her, "No, I got to do this."

Arm in arm, we start making our way to the prison's entrance flanked by Miller, Levi, and Max. It is sad how much everything is the same. Getting into the prison, the pat down, the handing in of all of our ids and phones. The only thing that is different is that we are not going to see some random prisoner. This time we are going to see someone that I know better than everyone else in this room. Actually, I thought that I knew better than everyone. However, it seems that everyone else knew more about him than I ever did.

My dad, unlike Richards, is not in the room with all the tables. Instead, he is in a room all by himself. His hands are chained to the table. Two armed guards are on either side of him. His uniform is also different from Richards'. His is a dark red. Though I don't know what the different colors of prison uniforms mean, I'm assuming that the severity of my dad's crime is probably reflected in the outfit's color.