Bad Boys Do Cry

61: That's A Good One

It's as if I'm in Hell. Punishment.

If I squint my eyes enough I can see the little horns atop my father's head and fire blazing behind him. The smile he sports is a mere distraction from the true dark soul that lies within him. This isn't a family dinner. This is my hell: having to be seen in public with this destroyer of lives.

"What do want?"

"Hello to you too, daughter."

I roll my eyes and plop down p in the seat in front of him. I grab the menu, looking through it as if I've never been here before. I keep my eyes glued on the words 'Strawberry Milkshake' for as long as I can to keep myself from looking up at him.

Thankfully the waitress walks up with an unknowing smile, "What can I get for you guys? Oh, hey Hazel!"

I shift my eyes to her and give her a short nod, "Hey Viv, I'll take the BLT and a strawberry milkshake, oh and some pancakes to go for the boys."

"Sure thing, and for you?" Viv's attention goes to my father.

"Coffee and a burger."

"Oh, and Viv?" I stop the waitress before she walks away, "He's paying."

She nods and walks off to the kitchen to put in our order.

I finally give in and let my eyes fall on my father. He's looking at me already, a hard face on with his eyebrows furrowed. I cross my arms and fall back against the chair, trying to show him how uninterested I truly am.

"Strawberry? You always used to get vanilla."

I shrug, "I've grown fond of strawberry lately. I'm surprised you even remember my order."

"We used to come here for your birthday every year, father and daughter."

I nod, looking away towards the inside of the diner I now know a lot better than I ever thought I would. Once things went downhill, I started coming here with the twins a lot. It was the one place I felt safe. After a while, everyone that worked here started to recognize us. Joe, the owner, even copped us some meals, knowing sometimes money was a luxury to come by. This place became a second home for us. And now, it was also the place I met Oliver Grey.

"Too bad you left, kinda ruined the tradition."

"Hazel," my father urges, "You have to understand."

"I don't have to understand anything. You left, you broke mom, and then mom left too," I interrupt him.

He's about to speak up when Viv walks up to us, food in hand. She sets everything down and tells us 'Enjoy' before running off, clearly catching on to the tension between us. It was palpable to say the least.

"Hazel, I had to leave, but you have to understand something. Not about me, but about the Grey's."

I can't help but be curious when my father says that infamous last name. What could he possibly know? From what I've gathered so far, he knows something that makes him hate Oliver but still visit his father before barging back into our lives. To me it just seems like the remnants of a protective father scared that his little girl has a boyfriend.

"What could possibly be so important for me to know that I had to come down here?"

And so, he takes a deep breath and dives straight in.

"I worked for the Grey's, remember?"

I nod, knowing that was one of the main reasons why we were always invited to the Grey's parties. Dad was in a position of power and so, a point of networking for the company. It was all about the power moves, the next big cash flow.