"Mom?" I called out in a hoarse voice as I walked inside the house. "Rosa?" I called my sister, but no one seemed to be at home.
I then remembered that Rosalinda had a doctor's appointment and mom was accompanying her. With my duffel bag around my shoulder, I started walking towards my old bedroom.
"Es?" I heard my dad's voice.
Great! I was hoping I wouldn't bump into him. I turned around and looked at him. He was probably watching T.V in the living room because he was holding the remote control in his hand. His gaze went to my duffel bag before it settled back on me.
"Is everything okay?" He asked, probably because he noticed my red and puffy eyes.
"Everything's fine." I muttered annoyingly as I turned back around and continued walking to my room.
"Is it Collin? Did he hurt you?" I could hear the anger in his voice.
I turned around suddenly feeling protective of Collin for some reason.
"He is more of a man than you'll ever be." I spat out, but instantly regretted what I said once I saw the hurt in my dad's eyes. "I'm..." I started, wanting to apologize when he interrupted me.
"You have every right to say that, Es. I wasn't a good father and I acknowledge that, but I'm trying to be better."
I nodded. I knew he was trying hard to make things work, or at least that was what Rosalinda had been telling me whenever she called.
"Do you have time?" I asked him wanting to talk to someone, and at that moment I didn't care that that someone was my dad.
A sincere and hopeful smile made its way to my dad's face. "Of course, I have all the time in the world for my baby girl." I smiled and dropped my duffel bag to the ground then walked with my dad to the living room.
"Collin broke up with me." I started as we sat down on the couch. Dad nodded for me to continue. "I love him." I started bawling my eyes out. I wasn't going to delve into details.
Dad wrapped his arms around my shoulders and started saying soothing words in my ears trying to calm me down. Once he felt me calm down a bit, he pulled back from the hug and looked at me.
"If it is meant to be, he'll come back and if not then at least you experienced something nice with him." He offered his piece of wisdom.
I nodded sadly. "Thank you, dad, I really needed that." I told him honestly. "A little breakdown does wonders for a girl." I chuckled and my dad joined in as well.
"Es, I know it's probably not a good time, but I need to talk to you."
I sniffed. "Sure."
"Your mom has told me how you have been working late hours at night until the early hours of the morning to help with Rosalinda's treatment expenses." I noticed the guilty expression on his face, but nodded nonetheless. "I know that maybe I don't have a say in it." He said sadly. "But I want you to quit. Find a nine-to-five job, even if it doesn't pay as much. I'm going to pay all of the expenses and not just for Rosalinda's treatment." I could see the sincerity in his eyes. "I made the biggest mistake when I left before, but I promise you it won't happen again." I knew that my dad was telling the truth. His eyes spoke before his words.
I nodded with a smile on my face. "I forgive you, dad." I suddenly said.
I could tell that he was shocked for a moment from the way his eyes widened before a smile broke onto his face.
"I am so happy to hear that coming from you, baby girl. I am so sorry for what I put you, your mother, and your sister through."
"Stop apologizing, dad. What's done is done. From now on we open a fresh new page with new memories." Dad nodded with a smile and hugged me tight.
A few moments later, I stood up from my seat and walked to my bedroom. I washed my face to freshen up then applied a little bit of makeup to hide the fact that I was crying before I grabbed my bag and headed to the strip club.
"Come in."
Conner looked at me, a look of surprise etched on his face. "Trixie? I didn't know you were working the morning schedule."
"I'm not." I told him. "I'm actually here to quit."
Conner looked at me with a questioning look on his face. "Take a seat. Let's talk about this." I sat down on the chair in front of his desk. "Why do you want to quit? Is it because of your boyfriend?"
I wasn't quitting because of Collin. I was quitting because I knew that my dad wouldn't leave, and that we were financially stable. I wanted to lead a normal life and have a normal job where I wouldn't be ashamed to talk about.
"I'm looking for a normal job."
"Well, this is a normal job." He said trying to stifle a laugh.
"Yeah, it's very normal to strip down to your birthday suit for strangers to ogle." I chuckled.
Conner nodded. "Touché" He chuckled. "It's a shame though. You are one of my best dancers. You bring the customers in."
I shrugged and stood up. "Anyways I have to get going." Conner stood up as well and I watched as he came around to my side. "Even though we bickered all the time, you are a good manager and dare I say friend." Conner lips turned upwards in a smile as he pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him as well.
#
"Rosa." I called my sister's name giving her a heads up before I opened the door. I saw her rushing to her vanity mirror to put on her wig. "Rosa, sweetie, you don't need to put the wig around me."
She stopped in her tracks, but didn't turn around to look at me. "I don't like people seeing me bald." She said with a shrug.
"I'm not anyone, Rosa." I told her as I walked towards her. "And it's just hair it will grow out eventually. You look beautiful either way."
Rosalinda hesitantly turned around and looked up at me through her lashes. "You don't think I look weird?" She asked me.
"Weird? Ha." I chuckled and flopped down on her bed. "You are the most beautiful girl, sweetie." I saw a smile make its way to her face and I patted the bed. She flopped down beside me as we both looked at the ceiling. "How was your chemotherapy session today?"
"As usual; long and exhausting"
I turned my head sideways and looked at her. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there."
Rosalinda gave me a sincere smile. "It's okay." She looked back up at the ceiling. "So you and Collin broke up?"
"Mm..." I made a sound of agreement as I looked up the ceiling as well.
"I really liked him."
"Yeah, I liked him too." I conceded.
"What happened?" She asked me.
I couldn't tell her the details of the breakup because that would include me telling her about the stripping and the almost rape. No one knew about both of those stories, and I wanted to keep it that way.
"We just had a disagreement about something." My sister noticed that I didn't want to give any information so she stopped asking.
"You're okay with dad now?" She asked me.
A small smile appeared on my face as I answered. "Yeah"
"What happened that made you forgive him?"
"When I came home, you and mom weren't around and I needed to talk to someone. He gave me the fatherly advice that I was used to and I kind of missed that." I informed her.
"He's trying really hard. He really regrets what he had done."
"I know." I told her honestly. "I really miss this." I told her as I looked sideways at her. "We haven't sat and talked like this in a very long time."
"Yeah" Rosalinda said sadly still looking up the ceiling.
Just then my phone vibrated inside my pocket. I pulled my phone out and Collin's name lighted the screen.
"Collin?" Rosalinda asked me as her eyes went to my phone's screen.
"Yes." I sighed as I waited for him to end the call before I placed it on the bed beside me.
A few seconds after my phone stopped vibrating, I received a new text message.
'Where are you staying at, Es?'
A few minutes later another one arrived.
'Es, just tell me if you're okay.'
I didn't reply to either one of the messages. He was the one that decided to leave me. I had to admit that it hadn't been twenty four hours yet and I had missed him. I wondered if he had eaten dinner or not. I knew he would be exhausted from work. I groaned and shrugged off my thoughts. If I kept thinking about him, I would start crying all over again and I didn't want to do that. My eyes were already red and puffy enough.
"Do we have any ice cream left in the freezer?" I asked Rosalinda sadly.
Rosalinda chuckled and stood up. "I don't know, let's see."
I stood up and watched her as she put her wig on before we walked out to the kitchen. We found half a tub of Vanilla Swiss Almond in the freezer. I grabbed two spoons and both Rosalinda and I dug in. We spent the rest of the night talking and stuffing our face with ice cream before we retired to bed.
#
I woke up the next morning to the doorbell ringing. I groaned and stood up from the bed knowing that no one was home to answer the door. I slipped on my fuzzy slippers and walked out of my room. The doorbell rang again. I internally cursed whoever was at the door before I opened it. I was surprised to see who was at the door.
"Ben?" Surprise laced my tone.
"We need to talk."
**********
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