Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 131209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Maybe my daddy would play with me?
Nah… he never played with me. He was always busy or mad. I didn’t understand why he was always mad; we never did anything, especially mommy, she was the best ever.
“Sweetie, I’m home,” Dad said from the front door.
He was in a good mood; maybe he would play.
“Hey, little man,” Dad’s partner Mark said, kneeling down to pat my head and look at my cars. I liked Mark; he was nice and he always played with me.
“Hi, Mr. Mark, do you want to play?”
“I sure do, let me just wash my hands and I’ll be right back, okay?”
I happily nodded.
“Hello, honey,” Mom greeted. She was wearing one of her new white dresses that we bought last week. She said it was for daddy.
He smiled and kissed her on the mouth but then his eyes did some weird twitching thing.
“What are you wearing?” he whispered loud enough for me to hear while holding onto the back of mommy’s neck. She didn’t look too comfortable with how he was holding her; her body was stiff and her face wasn’t normal.
She looked at me and smiled, and it made me feel better. “Oh, I bought it for you,” she replied.
“Well, you look like a—”
“All right, little man; all washed up. You ready to play?” Mark announced, coming into the room and Daddy immediately let go of Mommy, smiling over at us.
“Dinner is almost ready,” she added.
“It’s not ready yet?” Dad replied.
“Oh, come on, Rick; she has two kids to look after and one on the way. Cut her some slack; your house looks beautiful. I bet she spent all day cleaning for you and she still looks like a million bucks. I need to find me one of you, Jasmine,” he stated, winking.
“She does … doesn’t she,” Dad said in a tone that I didn’t like, but Mark didn’t say anything, so maybe it was just me.
We played for a while and then we ate dinner at the table. Dad said I had to eat all of my broccoli before I was allowed to leave the table. I hated broccoli, but I ate it anyway. I helped mom clean up and dad walked Mark out to his police car. He thanked my mom for dinner and patted me on the head again before he left.
I was being really careful with the dishes, but one got away from me and hit the floor with a crash.
“Oh no…” Mom remarked.
“It’s okay, Mommy, I fix it.”
“You little shit!”
I looked up at my dad, who looked angry, and my mom stepped out in front of me.
“It was an accident, honey. Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up.”
“You bet your ass you will, and while you’re at it, why don’t you go fix yourself up. Is that what my money is paying for? Huh? For you to dress like a goddamn whore and turn on my partner?”
“What? No… never… I swear—”
“Shut the fuck up, you stupid bitch. The house looks like shit, you’re dressed like you should be on the fucking street corner, and dinner wasn’t even ready when I got home. Do you know how embarrassing that is for me? I swear, Jasmine, you do it to provoke me.”
She shook her head and I hid behind her. I didn’t like hearing him say all those mean words. My mommy looked beautiful; she always looked beautiful and the house was clean. I helped her all day.
“Devon,” he roared and I wanted to cover my ears because I didn’t like his voice.
It scared me like in the bad parts of my Disney movies.
“Devon, I’m not going to ask you again. Come here.”
My mom looked down at me with a face I didn’t recognize and it scared me more.
“It’s okay, honey; I can clean it. Devon needs to get ready for his bath. Let me—”
“Shut the fuck up; I’m talking to my son, and if he knows what’s good for him, he will come to me, NOW!”
I would not cry… I would not cry… I am a big boy… I repeated to myself as I walked over to him. He grabbed my shoulder and brought me down to my knees. He wasn’t hurting me, but I didn’t like him grasping me like that, either.
“You will clean this mess up. Your mother has other responsibilities to take care of. Do you understand me?”
I nodded. “Yes, Daddy, I can do it.”
“Rick, he’s too small, he’s—”
“Did I ask for your fucking opinion? He can do it. You’re turning him into a goddamn pussy; that’s what you’re doing, Jasmine. He’s a man, let him act like one.”
“I can do it, Mommy, I’m a man,” I repeated.
I started picking up the glass pieces and throwing them away in the garbage. I wanted to make my dad proud, and while I was rushing to finish, I slipped on one of the pieces and fell to the floor, face first into a pile of glass. I didn’t want to cry, but my belly hurt.