Page 11 of Sour Lollipops and Sweet Nightmares
We didn’t call or check in with each other, unless necessary. That was a waste of his precious time. My father was more concerned with having a loyal heir than he was with having a son.
I didn’t fault him for it. If anything, I respected him for it. What valuable skills would I learn from playing catch? Instead of giving in to my ridiculous childhood notions of magic and fairy tales, he prepared me for my future. For that, I was grateful.
But in moments like this, when I should’ve been able to enjoy the quiet, relaxation, and comfort of my bed, I wanted to hit him.
Grumbling, I threw my arm over my face and attempted to enjoy the last few minutes of peace I would have today.
The sound of my father’s voice whispering the back of my mind quickly destroyed that peace. It was like a leech sucking the calm out of my soul. I lay there with tension coursing through my body, while various rules invaded my subconscious that had been drilled into my head growing up.
Take what you want, but don’t take too much.
Never bow down to anyone, but respect authority.
Control the populace, but don’t let them know what you can do.
And, nothing truly belongs to you, but never let anyone take what’s yours.
What kind of contradictory bullshit was that? But that was The Society. Sometimes things simply didn’t make sense. Levi passed one of his trials because he was wearing green on the right day. Trials and judgment, that was what I spent my childhood doing.
While other kids were playing with their friends, I was under constant scrutiny. Everything was a test. Trips to the park,family dinners, and even my choice of toys. My father watched every action I’d ever made. And now the asshole managed to invade my dreams.
I used to hate him and his rules, but as I got older, I realized that he was preparing me for the role I would one day have to play. He showed his version of parental love through criticism, if he was even capable of such a thing as parental love. Either way, I saw the world for what it was.
Fake.
People wandered around day after day, repeating the same monotonous tasks while dreaming of a better life. But they were all just sheep, marching to the beat of someone else’s drum. Fear could only control someone to a certain extent. But hope… that was the real downfall of humanity.
A man would work a job he hated until the day he died, as long as he believed there was a chance that his dreams could come true. The lottery wasn’t created to give the poor an opportunity to become rich. It was to keep them in line. Hopes and dreams weren’t something I’d ever had. Things like that were for ordinary people, and we weren’t ordinary.
That was something that bitch from last night would soon find out. She was who I could thank for my restless night’s sleep. It wasn’t my father’s voice that kept me up. It was her smug and sweetly sang, ‘bye-bye now.’
I didn’t even know her name, and I already had her destruction plotted out. Or mine? I wasn’t sure at this point. No chick had ever affected me this way. Pussy was pussy and all that. Yet I couldn’t stop thinking about the fire in her bright jade eyes. How bright would that fire burn when tears streaked her face?
No one challenged me like that. I kind of liked it and was curious to see how deep her defiance went. I wanted her to suffer, and I wanted her to fight me while she suffered. It was aconfusing and frustrating feeling that made it impossible to pass the fuck out. Add in my father’s voice whispering in my head, and I was ready to punch someone.
Bang, bang.
Great, now some asshole was knocking on my door.
I gritted my teeth against the resounding bang vibrating through my room.
“Fuck off.” I was gonna kill whoever that was.
“Open the door, Issac.”
Fucking Ravi. Figures it would be him. “Get lost, Ravi.”
He banged on the door louder. “Time to get up.”
Creaking my eye open, I looked over at the clock on my bedside table and groaned. Time to get up my ass.
“I’m not leaving, Issac.”
Ugh, I was going to kill him. Don’t get me wrong, Ravi was probably my best friend—he annoyed me less than his brother and Levi—but sometimes, I wanted to hit the guy, especially when he pounded on my door at seven in the morning. I didn’t have class for another two hours.
I missed Aiden. At least he left me alone. Fuck knows where he was now. Or if he was even alive.
“Get your ass out of bed.”
