A Father's Happiness

I am sitting on the steps of my home in Montgomery, Alabama. I’m trying to contemplate why we have to leave. I know deep in my mind that moving to Houston, Texas is going to make my father happy, so I have to act as though I am happy too.

“Come on Jessica! Let’s get in the car and start us a new life with a new family!” says my dad, Derek.

“I’m coming Father!” I holler back to him as I say my final goodbyes to the house. “Is Janice meeting us half way?” I question.

“Yes dear! She insisted that we meet her for a lunch break at around 1:30! If we ever want to be there by that time we need to leave right now!” He emphasizes.

I climb into the truck to see that my younger brother and sister, Hunter and Lily, are already in a deep slumber in the back seat. I giggle and glance over at my dad to see him chuckling also.

“It appears that they are not such early morning risers!” He snickers. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road!” He exclaims excitedly but not loud enough to wake the kids. He buckles his seat belt also, and begins to drive.

I pear into the rearview mirror to see two giant moving trucks trailing close behind our navy blue Chevy Silverado. “I’m awfully exhausted, considering the fact that it is 5:00 in the morning. Do you mind if I sleep for a while?” I ask him.

“Not at all dear, sweet dreams, I will wake you whenever we get to the first resting point.” He informs me.

I lay my head down and can see my curly brown hair on top of my eye lid. I reposition myself and stretch my long skinny legs to the point where I am comfortable. I have regrets about not just wearing my pajamas instead of my short shorts and my spaghetti strap shirt. Since it is June, my father has the air conditioning blasting. I sense goose bumps rising on my arms and legs as I slip into a coma like sleep.

“Wake up kids we are at the restaurant that Janice is waiting for us at! Get excited because after this it’s only half an hour we arrive at our new home!” He excitedly yells in my ear.

“Dad, why is this the first stop we have taken after seven and a half hours?”

“Well, the three of you were just sleeping away, so I wasn’t going to wake you all for no reason! I am so surprised you all slept this long!” He exclaims.

“LET’S GO IN! I HAVE TO GO POTTY!” screeches Lily at the top of her lungs.

“Me too Daddy!” agrees Hunter as he flings his seat belt off of him and begins to climb out of the truck.

“Okay! Calm down! We will go in! Get out of the truck, but don’t go in without me and Jessica.” he instructs, as the kids jump out of the car and run into the restaurant.

“DAD! They ran in! Don’t worry I will go get them!” I say while I run into the restaurant. As I look franticly around the room, I see them with Janice at a booth. I have a sigh of relief.  I turn around to see my dad beaming at the sight of them together. I can really see how happy he is.

“Hi honey! How was your trip?” Janice asks my dad as he leans down to kiss her.

“It was great! The kids slept the whole entire way here! Can you believe it? They just woke up in the parking lot and the only reason they did was because I woke them up!” he chuckles.

We just finished lunch and now we are getting back into the truck. We are following Janice to her house. Well, our house. Before I know it, we are there. This is the first time Hunter, Lily, and I have ever been here. Dad was here when he went on a business trip and met her.

“Okay! We are here! Come on kids! Go see where Janice has your rooms!” Hunter and Lily run out to Janice and go into the house. I am quite horrified. None of this exactly hit me till just now. I am going to start a new life here, and live with a woman that I hardly even know, but dad’s happy so I am too.

I walk into the house and see Janice and the kids standing in the hallways as she is directing them to their rooms.

“Hi Janice, where is my room?” I question her.

“Oh, dear, well, I haven’t exactly finished your room yet. It shall be done soon though! For now you will be staying in the guest room.” She informs me as she points to the next room over.

“Thanks Janice.” I reply as I walk in. It was a light yellow room with a queen size bed that had white sheets and four pillows. I walk in and set my car pillow on the bed. I look around some more and found two dressers, a small closet, and a mirror on the door. I hear my dad talking on the phone as he walks into the house.

“You mean tonight? I… Yes sir, yes I understand. Okay, I will be there. Thanks” as he looks over he notices that everyone was watching him. “I don’t exactly know how to say this, but I have to go on a business trip. It’s for my new job, so I can’t just turn it down. The thing is I have to leave tonight. I’m so sorry everyone.”

“Oh dear, it is quite alright! We will get along just fine! It will give the kids and me time to bond! When do you have to leave?” She questions him.

“Two hours. That will give us enough time to unload everything and I can pack. Let’s get moving!”

We all hurry to unload the trucks and get him packed up. He had ten minutes to spare and he uses it to hug and kiss everyone.

“Don’t worry kids! I will be back in a week! No later than that! I will miss you all so much!” He hugs and kisses us and leaves.

“Alright kids! Let’s go make some cookies! As we walk into the kitchen, I begin to look at her. She is a short woman, only thirty two years old, but looks around thirty five.  I look at her long straggly straight hair.

“My dad can do so much better.” I mumble quietly enough that only I can hear.

“Oh, Jessica dear, can you follow me?” She asks.

I say yes without questioning and we walk into the living room.

“I know I told you that you were sleeping in the guest room, but that was only because your dad was here. You are actually sleeping in the basement. I have a cot and sheet down there for you. That should be just fine.” She smirks a dirty little smile at me as I look at her very confused. “You will do as I say, when I say it. Do you understand me?” she asks me, but I can’t even answer because I am stunned by what I am hearing. “I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?” She screams at me.

“Yes, I...I understand.” I stutter out as well as I could. I had no idea what was going on. Why is she talking to me like this? Maybe it is just a phase or something. Maybe she just doesn’t want her guest room messed up. I decide to just brush it off and not think about it. I went down to see what my new room looked like.

         “Oh. My. God.” I said with shock. It was concrete walls, and concrete flooring. It might as well have been an asylum for crazy people. In the corner I saw the cot and what she called a sheet. It was actually a ripped towel. I could not believe it. Should I tell dad? No, he is happy. I can’t ruin this. I walk back upstairs into the kitchen.

         “Jessica!” Lily exclaims as she runs up to hug me.

         “Jessica! Good thing you’re back! You’re missing out on family time!” Janice says to me.

         She was acting as if she didn’t just tell me I have to stay in the dungeon of a basement. I just smile and agreed so that the children continue to have no idea.

         “Tomorrow I am going to take all of you kids to the park! Oh look at the time! Lily and Hunter it is time for you to go to bed!

         “NO! We want to finish making cookies!” They both exclaim simultaneously.

         “We can make more another time kids. Now go on, get to bed.” I instruct them. Of course, since I told them they go off into bed.

         “Goodnight kids!” Janice calls back to them. When they shut the door, Janice looks at me. “What do you think? HUH? I can’t get them to do anything I want? I can handle it. You will NEVER do that again. I am their new mother, not you! You are a little brat!” She screams at me as she picks up the pan of cookies off the stove and slams the pan into my face so hard that I stumble onto the ground. My vision blurs and I can’t tell where she is.

         As I gain my focus, I say “What is wrong with you?” with tears streaming down my face.

         “What is wrong with me? I don’t like you. If it was up to me, you wouldn’t be living here. Since you’re only sixteen, I can’t kick you out yet. As soon as you’re eighteen, you’re out of here. When we go to the park, you will stay here and clean. Go downstairs now!” She yells at me.

         I run downstairs as I fast as I can. I am crying so much that I run into the wall. I can’t understand anything that was happening. Why doesn’t she like me? Should I just deal with it because of how happy everyone else is? I am going to have to; this is the first time I have seen my father happy since my mother died around three years ago. I begin to think about the tragic accident. I begin to picture her lifeless body in the hospital bed. Why couldn’t the car have stopped at the stop sign like it should have? I ask myself this all the time. If my mother would have left the house one minute earlier, it would have never happened. Then none of this would be happening. I shake off the thoughts as I lie down on my cot and cover up with my towel as I slip into a soft, yet satisfying slumber.

         “GET UP NOW YOU IMPUDENT CHILD!” she shouts at me. “We are going to the park; I’m telling the kids you are sick. This house better be spotless when we get back!” She shouts as she walks up the stairs.

         I decide to set my head back down for one second.

“Go play outside dears, I am going to go check on your sister.” I hear upstairs.

         Oh no, I fell back asleep. What was she going to do? I jump up as I hear her stomping down the stairs. I see a baseball bat in one of her hands and a hammer in the other. This was not going to be good.

         “JESSICA. What did I tell you to do? I believe I said to clean my house! If you can’t follow orders, then I guess I am going to have to discipline you now.” She lifts up the hammer and slams it into my head.

         “What the…” I say out loud as I lay on the ground of the basement. Instantly I begin to feel my pounding head ache. I stand up and look to see that I am covered in bruises and blood. I look at the ground and see a spot of blood, which I am almost positive, came from my head. I look up to see a white paper with words on it. I walk over to see that it is a note from Janice.

It reads: DO NOT COME UPSTAIRS UNTIL YOU TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND COVER YOUR WHOLE BODY WITH CLOTHES.

          I cover up everything, wipe up the blood, and somehow manage to wobble upstairs.

         I look out the window and see Lily and Hunter outside. I hear Janice on the phone, “Yes dear! I miss you too! I can’t wait to see you! Oh yes the kids are great!”

         She is talking to dad. “DAD! DAD! Let me talk to him Janice!” I yell at her.

         “Alright I will talk to you later, love you Derek!” she spits out as fast as she can and quickly hangs up the phone. “You think I would let him talk to his rotten child? You will never yell while I’m on the phone!” She screams at me as she picks up a rolling pin and begins to slam it into my head.

I can feel the blood pouring out of my head. So I yell as loud as I can “HUNTER, CALL 911!” and the only thing I can hope for is that he can figure out how. I can feel myself begin to black out.

                                                                            Three weeks later…

I open my eyes and see I’m in a white room, there are machines attached to my body. I can feel the mask on my face. I begin to panic as what looks like a nurse walks into the room.

“Jessica! You’re awake! Doctor! Doctor! She’s awake from her coma!” She screams at the top of her lungs making my head ache worse.

He walks into the room and looks at me like I just came back from the dead.

“Why am I at a hospital? What do you mean by coma? Who are you people?” I question not remembering anything at all.

“I am going to call your Dad dear, and he can talk to you. Okay?” He asks like I have a choice.

As hours go by I begin to wonder if anybody is going to come tell me what is going on.

“Jessica! Honey you’re awake! I am so happy to see you!” a man says walking into my room.

He begins to walk over to give me a hug when a doctor comes in to stop him.

“Wait, sir…” The doctor begins to say before I interrupt him.

“Who are you?” I ask while seeing the hurt and tears forming in his eyes.