Miss Pen

Chapter Eleven

If Janine is still alive out there somewhere, I will personally do the honors of killing her. Okay, maybe just some slaps, punches, and kicks will do. Respect your elders, my ass!

"Do you want to tell the story, or can I finish?" The twinkle in Rhode's eyes was back when I lifted my head to look at him. His light humor led me to believe that he really was over his past, but he also could've been good at hiding his emotions. I knew for a fact that he did that well.

"Sorry." I flushed, shifting on his lap. "Go ahead."

"Well, Janine was an alcoholic. She's the cause of my father becoming one. I don't think he knew that she was one at first because she hid it well. That woman hid a lot of things well."

Rhode had a look of concentration on his face; like he was talking himself into not letting thoughts of Janine anger him. I knew he wasn't over it.

"But you knew, because you spent so much time around her." I stated, coming to the conclusion that this was when she did those disgusting acts to him.

"You're a smart cookie." He tapped my nose, flashing me a white toothed grin, but it didn't reach his eyes. "And yes, I knew because she would throw back all kinds of clear and brown liquids. A few times when she was cooking, the house almost burned down because she was too drunk to even stand up straight. I had to learn to do a lot of things at an early age."

"When did your dad find out about everything?"

"I told Adrian, who then told him. My dad went on a rampage when he found out that she had exposed me to alcohol and threatened to kick her out if she didn't quit drinking. I remember being upstairs with Adrian in his room the night he told our dad about Janine's habits. There was screaming, crying, things breaking, and her promising that she'd be done with it. She didn't have anywhere else to live, so she begged my dad to let her stay with us."

"Did he let her stay because he felt bad for her?" I frowned, hating the idea that a man would put his children in danger because of someone who decided to screw up their own life.

"Yes, but she promised him that she would start going to counseling; which she did, but she went for only two or three times. After that failed, she decided that I was the root of her problems and started taking her anger out on me."

I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear that part just yet. It would probably make me sick and I couldn't go home with the amount of work I still had to do.

"Wow." That was the only word I managed to breathe out.

'Wow', Aubrey? Way to sound intelligent.

Realizing I should have said something a little more meaningful, I rocked back and forth uncomfortably, an odd silence setting between the two of us.

"I'm really trying hard to tell you everything since I owe it to you, but if you don't keep still, I don't think I'll be able to."

I cleared my throat, desperately thinking of a way to get from off of him so there wasn't any tension between the two of us. It might have been a little too late for that, but awkwardness was sure to creep its way in.

"Would it be better if I went back to sitting on the couch?" It was worth a try, but I had a feeling that I already knew what the answer would be.

"Yeah, I think that would be better." He nodded, closing his eyes which surprised me. I reluctantly pushed my bottom harder against him, trying to reach toward the center cushion... well, attempting to push toward it until an arm was thrown over my legs, holding me in place. "I said I think it would be better, not that I wanted it to be."