Page 70 of Severed Rivalry
“Well, that’s amazing. Do you want to watch a movie tonight?”
She shrugs as she finishes loading the dishwasher and sashays toward the living room.
Subtle, but not slick.
While I wasn’t a typical teenage girl, I can see the attempt to outsmart me or outmaneuver me. Not today, but one day, I hope she does. Much, much later in life, but still.
“Née? Yes or no to the movie.”
“Sure,” she hollers from the other room. “I’m down. Are you going to ask Cian to come?”
Oh, the unintended double entendre.I wishis what I want to say. Instead, I reply back, “He’s having a medical procedure done on Tuesday and has to stay home.”
I’m doing my very best not to lie to her, even to protect her or to cushion the blows of life. The one exception is her bio dad. About him, I say nothing.
At some point, I’ll have to. But only if it’s to protect her from his plans.
Hisexpectations,or whatever the fuck he calls them, I managed to escape—at least in part.
The part I didn’t was horrible.
What could have been, though, is unimaginable.
I’m not exaggerating when I say if he so much as touches my girl, I will rain down hell on him and that compound, the likes of which he’s never conceived. I don’t know how. I have neither the tools nor the skills, but what I lack in those, I’ll make up in sheer rage.
My digging shows he’s been quiet. Or at least, he’s been up to nothing of significance in his corner of the world.
But each day my daughter inches toward fourteen, the noose grows tighter and tighter around my neck. Fifty-eight weeks before her fifteenth birthday. Can we get through fifty-eightweeks unscathed? And if we do, will I have lost my mind in the process?
I put that out of my mind. Or into the corner where it always lives. It’s never gone, just tucked away, ready to pounce.
I pack the last of the meal prep into the fridge, wipe down the counters, and start the dishwasher on the way to the living room. We’ve been making our way through the Marvel universe. That’s not totally true. We’ve been making our way through Chris Hemsworthinthe Marvel universe, thanks to Ayla.
Avengers: Endgameis up tonight.
We pile under the blankets, turn the lights low, and watch what was once a bankrupt franchise that flourished under the right vision. That’s a metaphor for life. A great concept with the right people and flawless execution, and you can’t go wrong.
Cian: Puppy terror is gone. I forgot what early days are like.
Cian: Girls’ night?
His text arrives right before the movie credits roll.
Me: Every night is girls’ night.
Me: But tonight, we added Chris Hemsworth.
Cian: Blonds do it for you then?
Me: One does, but it’s not a Hemsworth. Can’t argue he’s pretty to look at.
Cian: I can argue that. He’s just a dude.
“’Night, Mom.” Renée gives me a hug before wandering down the hall.
“Night, love. Phone?”
Nice try.She returns and drops it on the table. “Sweet dreams.”
