Page 95 of Kings Against the World

He snorts, dropping the plastic bags on the floor next to his La-Z-Boy. “Zozo, check your tone. Know your place. Remember who’s the parent.”

A bitter laugh escapes me before I can stop it. “That’s hard to do when you’ve never acted like one.”

“What was that?”

“I’m not going to continue doing this. So either you both get help, or I’m done!”

“Then get the fuck out!” he roars. “If you’re not gonna help with the mortgage, then mind your business and get the fuck out!”

“I’m gone!”’

“Good, take your ass on! You think we need this? We need you coming around? Where’ve you been? Where were you when Zani was taken?”

It’s the one button he has to push.

The soul-destroying, depleting, crushing reality that I hadn’t been around.

I wasn’t there when she needed me most.

I whip around, fury coiling deep in my gut. “Don’t you fucking use that against me! Don’t you dare blame what happened to her on me!”

“You left us! You went on your own. You didn’t care about your family. You were too busy… a big college girl that thought she was too good!”

“I was trying to make something of myself!” I cry out, my voice breaking, my pulse pounding. “I’myour daughter, you’remyfather—why couldn’t you ever protect us? Why couldn’t you protect Zani?”

“Watch your mouth, girl. I’m only telling you once.”

Before I can bite back, the bathroom door creaks open and Mom shuffles into the hallway. She’s still shaky, her handgripping the doorframe as if the ground beneath her isn’t steady enough to hold her. Dad barely spares her a glance, though he does address her.

“Tina, where the hell’s dinner?”

She blinks sluggishly, swaying a little. “Isn’t it… on the stove?”

Dad growls under his breath and storms into the kitchen. I follow, tension winding tight in my chest. As soon as he gets to the stove, he freezes. I see the moment he realizes what’s missing.

“Where’s the sauce? Where the hell is the sauce, Tina?”

I cross my arms. “I threw it out.”

His head jerks toward me, incredulous. “You did what?”

“You left it bubbling all over the stove, splattering everywhere while Mom was passed out on the floor. You could’ve burned the house down!”

He stares at me for a moment, then his face twists, a thick vein bulging on his temple. “How many fucking times do I gotta tell you to mind your damn business!” he bellows, slamming a fist against the counter. He shoves at the dish rack and knocks that and everything resting inside it clattering to the floor. “Tina! Get in here and make something!”

Mom flinches but moves toward him like she always does, like she doesn’t know how to do anything else. Telling him no isn’t in her vocabulary.

I step between them before she’s close enough for him to wrench at her. “You keep it up, and I will call the cops. I’ll call 911 and let them take your ass to jail.”

His hand flies out faster than I expect. It connects with my face in a wallop that feels like fire erupting across my cheek. A ringing starts up in my ears as my head jerks sideways and my feet temporarily lose their balance. I’m knocked back into the counter, dizzied for seconds to come.

The shock wears off for the same fury I’d felt earlier at his mention of Zani.

I could end this right now—I could have him flipped onto his back, seeing stars.

My black belt in Krav Maga means I have a dozen different ways I could easily take him down before he even understood what was happening.

But what hedoesunderstand is that I never will.

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