Page 69 of Hateful Lies

My father refuses to answer me, much less look at me, as he stares straight ahead.

“I don’t need you or this school.” I stand up. “Don’t contact me again. You are not my father. My last name is Bowen, and no one knows you exist. You don’t exist in my life, never have, and never will. I reject you.”

He lifts his chin as if I’m a fly buzzing around him, but refuses to make eye contact when he answers me. “Ms. Bowen, if you are so adamant about rejecting my status as your father, then I shall have no choice but to end my financial support of your mother’s drug treatment.”

My heart drops and my knees weaken at the threat. “No. No, you don’t get to decide this. This is between you and me, not Mom! You have to help her. You owe her something.”

He gazes coldly into my eyes. “I owe her nothing.”

Dr. Rawlins swoops in to change the topic. “Astrid, where did you get that black eye?”

I glare at her but refuse to answer. She said she would not discuss the theft or anything else that happened, but here’s Elliot Howland throwing it in my face. She doesn’t need anymore.

Dr. Rawlins senses my hostility. “I did not tell your father about the theft or the other accusation,” she states clearly. “Unfortunately, you’ve gained a reputation, and we’re only in the fall semester.”

“Astrid,” Elliot speaks in an authoritative tone that demands an answer. “Who hit you?”

“Was it one of the boys?” asks Dr. Rawlins.

I hate them, and they deserve it, but I won’t play that kind of sick game. I shake my head swiftly. “No, I snuck out and visited my old school. I got jumped by some kids. They called me a stuck-up, snobby girl who doesn’t know where she came from and thinks she’s better than everyone else. I told them that wasn’t true and that I was just like this because my dad fucked my mom and took off.”

I think Dr. Rawlins wants to slap me, but she can’t.

Elliot stands up. He’s had enough. But he leaves me with a parting request.

“Astrid, I will present my ultimatum to you again as your father. Get in line and stop being an embarrassment, or else it will all disappear for you and your mother. You may not care what hole you have to crawl back into, but think about your mother before you choose to ever embarrass me again.”

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