I sat up in bed, my back aching from sitting up all night. I stared at my phone, getting annoyed as nothing new came up when I refreshed the current social media app I was sucked into. My alarm went off, telling me it was… well time to wake up. Screw that I guess.
I pressed the tail end of my cigarette into my already burnt wall. Not like our apartment was anything special in the first place. I quickly threw some water on the hole so I wouldn’t burn my house down. After I changed into a new set of clothes and put on a little bit of makeup, I walked out into our main room. It reeked of alcohol, of course.
I quickly made breakfast for me and my dad. Nothing too crazy, we couldn’t afford much. Eggs and some crappy sausages, but I had a knack for making something out of nothing. After I finished that I sat down at the diner table, by myself and… well I ended up just picking at my food.
“Hey dad?”
I heard my dad’s alarm clock going off, but it just kept going. I sighed, setting my plate on the counter and walking into my dad’s room. He was completely passed out and gonna be hungover when he got up.
“Jesus Dad” I sighed, turning off his alarm for him.
I quickly moved around the apartment, grabbing water and Advil, as well as some crackers. After I quickly did the few dishes, I set the hangover kit down on my dad’s bedside table.
“Have a good day dad” I nodded.
Just like any other day. I hung around all day, didn’t have much to do but clean. Dad got up and went to work at some point, I can’t remember when he even came back. If he did. I honestly can’t wait for school to start again. It’s the stereotypical poor little teenage girl cliche that every pick me tries to fake. I sound like I’m out of some kind of lame ass fanfiction, jesus.
~~
Oh, and you’ll never guess who got woken up at six o'clock in the morning, to go bail their dad out of jail! Yup! This kid!
I stood by my car with a bored and annoyed expression on my face. My dad walked out of the town police station, squinting at the sudden rush of sunlight. He looked at me, but then quickly looked away. I can’t believe him.
“Really dad? Assaulting kids?” I sighed
“It wasn’t my fault” he mumbled, leaning against the car
“Oh I bet it wasn’t” I rolled my eyes, getting in the car with him “Ya know, you’re lucky I don’t file you for child abandonment”
“Would you shut the fuck up Harley” my dad groaned
On the outside I looked angry, and I was angry. But it hurt more than just anger. My dad hadn’t been there for me in years, I’d been picking up his slack for so long, and he didn’t even care.
I drove us back to the apartment, hopefully I can get a bit more sleep before school. I pulled into our parking spot, as I did a young boy walked up to us.
“Hey I- I just wanted to say thank you” he looked at my dad
“Alright, well, ya said it” he nodded before walking off.
I sighed, giving the kid a sorry look before following him too.
“So last night, was that like- Tae Kwon Do, or jujitsu or MMA or something?” the boy asked, following us.
“It’s karate. Old school karate”
“Really dad?” I mumbled
“Do you think you could teach me?”
“What? No” my dad basically ignored this kid.
“What- come on. When school starts those guys are gonna make my life miserable”
“Sorry to break it to ya, but they’ll do that anyway” I shook my head
“It’s not my problem”
“Look, if I just knew a little bit of what you knew then I would be-”
“Forget it” Dad cut him off “I don’t do karate anymore alright? Besides, I need to find a job” he grumbled
“Wait excuse me? Did you lose another job?” I exclaimed
“I don’t wanna hear it!”
“Well- you could open your own karate school”
“It’s called a dojo” my dad and I chorused
“Well you could open your own dogo-”
“Look, I’m not getting into this with you, alright. I’m not even sure I’m allowed to be around kids right now. Alright, you want my advice? Stop being so annoying, maybe you’ll stop getting your ass kicked”
“Wha- dad-”
“Save it” Dad waved off, walking into our apartment.
I sighed, turning back to the boy. I honestly felt bad for him.
“I’m sorry, he’s… an alcoholic, and an asshole” I mumbled “I’m Harley” I held a hand out
“Miguel” he nodded “I just moved here”
“It’s nice to meet you kid” I smiled softly “I’m sorry I- I gotta- make sure he’s not wrecking anything else”
Miguel nodded kindly, I nodded back before speeding into our apartment. Oh great, Sid’s here.
“...high praise, coming from a world class daddy like you” Sid taunted “How old is Robby now… 15, 16? When’s the last time you saw him?”
“He’s 16 Sid” I clenched my jaw along with my fists, glaring at my step-grandpa “Get the hell out of my apartment”
“I’ll get the hell out of here, when I’m goddamn good and ready!”
“Sid! Blood pressure!”
“Oh keep watching your bullshit judge show, will ya Rhonda!” Sid argued with his nurse who was watching tv in our living room “This, is why I’m here” Sid walked over to me, handing me a paper
“What’s this?”
“I told, your daddy’s mamma, I’d take care of him always but, in this case… I think even she would cut me some slack”
I looked closer at the paper. It was… a check?
“You’re buying us out?” I questioned
“I’m buying you out of my life”
Dad walked up to me, snatching the check from my hands and ripping it in half.
“I’d rather be homeless then take my money from you” he grumbled
“Dad what the hell!?” I shouted
“Oh well hell yeah, okay. Rhonda! Lunchtime! Call Arts, see if they got the belly lox” Sid turned to leave “I’d say, get your life in order” he turned back to my dad once more “But uh… at this point you’re like the meat in your fridge”
With that Sid left. I spun on my heel, glaring at my dad. I was pissed off completely. My fists shook beside me, I had lost my cool.
“Are you out of your goddamn mind! Do you realise that that money could’ve gotten us a better apartment! Or more groceries, or hell! New clothes for you! Can you let go of your washed up pride for one second, and not be so fucking selfish!?” I screamed
“Hey!” My dad roared, storming up to me until my back was against the wall “Don’t you yell at me! I’m your father, you show me respect!”
“Oh yeah?” My voice shook, but I held firm and tall “Respect is earned. And so far, you’re at a negative level”
I shoved him off of me and stormed off to my room. I slammed the door shut and fell onto my bed. This is my story. This is my life. It had been for years now, and as far as I could see, this was as far as I was gonna go. Unless my dad has some kind of epiphany tonight, I’ll probably run away in the morning… Fuck what am I saying, I’ve been telling myself that for years.
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