Page 128 of The Vanishing Place
“Dad is not a good man, Adam.”
“Don’t say that!” he cried.
“Do you really think that a good man would lock his daughter up for days?”
“Stop talking. Stop!”
He covered his ears, but Dinah tugged his hands away.
“Do you really think it’s okay that Dad has stopped me from going to school and that he shuts me up in this room with nothing to do and barely anything to eat?”
“Stop it.Stop it.”
“God doesn’t talk to Dad,” Dinah snapped.
“You’re lying. Liar. Liar.” Adam was shaking. “God does talk to Dad. Dad is protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From the wicked world.”
Dinah snorted. “Cameron is going to come and get me,” she said, “and we’re going to leave this prison. We’re going to run away and be free and happy and never come back.”
“No!” Adam shouted. “You’re not allowed to leave.”
Dinah flinched, her eyes wide and sad and hurt, but Adam didn’t care.
“You’re my Dinah,” he yelled. “If you ever try and leave, I’ll tell Dad, and he’ll lock you up forever and—”
She slapped him then.
Fire exploded through Adam’s cheek, and he started to cry. The bones in his face hurt. His eyeball hurt. His teeth hurt.
“Adam,” Dinah said, her strong voice gone. Tears trailed down her face as she reached for him. “I’m sorry, Adam. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
She curled her arms around him, and Adam let her. He didn’t want to fight. He needed her. She was warm and smelled like summer.
“Please don’t leave me,” he sniffed.
“I won’t.” She stroked his hair and kissed his head. “Of course I won’t leave you.”
“And you’ll be good?” Adam wiped a hand across his dripping nose. “Please.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I’ll be good.”
2025
“Morning, Effie.”
The voice was male. His words floated under the door, the thin line of light broken by the shadow of two feet.
“I trust that you slept well after your little attempt?”
Effie looked up from her crouched position on the floor and balled her fists.
“Effie,” he said again, “I asked you a question.”
His voice was old, but it wasn’t him. It wasn’t Dad. Effie moved forward on hands and knees, her ankle swollen and throbbing.
