Taste | Changbin

Chapter Thirty-Nine

At thirty-four years old, Lennon's father had attempted to start up his own restaurant with her mom. Not having the money, he took out loans to purchase a building and all the supplies. He had tried, but their town was too small. They barely got any customers and after four months, they realized that it had been all for nothing. They were losing more money than what they were bringing in. 

Not to mention, her parents had taken out a mortgage for a house. The combined total of the two was over a hundred thousand dollars. Two years later, Lennon's mom was killed in the car crash. Funeral costs only added to that debt and since her dad had been fired, he hadn't been paying the bills. 

After he spent the slim savings he had, he didn't know how to survive without being tipsy. Lennon's biggest fear was that she was going to come home and find her father dead in a puddle of his own vomit. He was so addicted that sometimes he forgot how many drinks he drank. He often turned to Lennon screaming at her and threatening to kick her out if she touched his stash again. 

These were empty promises. She never touched his alcohol. In fact, she had sworn it off. She swore that she would never touch alcohol for as long as she lived. She watched it destroy her father bit by bit. One drink turned into three and three turned into five and soon she didn't know how his liver hadn't failed yet. Alcohol was his body's oxygen. 

The bank had sent a final notice. After three months, they began the process of foreclosing on the house. Her father had a week to call them to try to work things out. If he didn't, they'd continue the process. The two of them would be forced out of their home and it'd be purchased by the highest bidder. 

When Lennon had walked inside after work, her dad had thrown the letter in her face. He told her that she had to help him pay the missed payments for three months. She had to help pay them or she'd be kicked out. 

"I can't," she told him simply. She was twenty-two and she very well could have helped him, but she didn't want to. When she wasn't working, she spent most of her time hanging out at different establishments. Every paycheck she got, she saved so much of it. She had plans to move out and get a place of her own. That money was hers and hers alone. 

Her father's anger bubbled up and ran overboard. It oozed out of every pore. His fists were clenched down at his sides. His chest heaved up and down like an angry bull. "You can and you will or you'll be living on the streets!" 

Lennon ignored him and turned towards the stairs to leave him behind. She had come home from work and found him drinking on the couch. Lately, their fights had been getting more and more heated. Everything seemed to be going wrong. Her dad had lost his job at the construction site. The company found out he was drinking on the job. When this happened, the little extra money he had in his savings account went towards buying more alcohol. He was officially broke. 

"Don't you dare walk away from me you bitch!" 

Lennon ignored him and continued up the stairs. She knew if she gave him time, he'd calm down and drop the conversation. She got to the eighth step before the pounding footsteps caused her heart to sink. She started to turn around to face her dad. 

His fingers locked around her wrist. Although drunk, he had a tight grip. He yanked her towards him. Unsteady on the stairs, she fell back. Down, down, down she tumbled. She couldn't do anything to stop her fall. Her head slammed into one of the stairs and a scream escaped her mouth. Her world went black. 

It took her twenty minutes to get her bearings back. The wooden floor was cold and hard. A few bruises were forming on her body, but her head hurt the most. The pounding sensation caused her to feel nauseous. She swallowed the bile that rose in the back of her throat.