I return the money to the tin and shove it back in the freezer, covering it with bags of veggies that I know my father will never touch. When I move back into the living room, I hear something coming from my bedroom.
I make my way there, stopping just inside the door. I don’t say a word as the disappointment of what I’m seeing opens my eyes to the ultimate low my father’s hit.
“You’re not going to find any in there.” With my words, my father turns from where he’s rummaging through my dresser.
“Wh–what—mmmm, what are yo–you doing here?” He’s so drunk his words are muddled and would be barely coherent to anyone but me.
“I live here.”
He moves toward me, stopping just inches away. He hasn’t showered in days, and with the smell of whiskey on his breath, it’s making me nauseous. “You’re sup-supposed to be at work.”
I step around him, moving into my room.
“Actually, I spent the morning with some school friends. I’m heading into work now for the dinner shift.”
My father turns to face me with a look I’ve never seen before on his face. One I never thought I’d see from the man I used to put on a pedestal—spite.
He takes a deep breath obviously to compose himself then steps closer to me. “That’s the problem, Evelyn Rose. We wouldn’t have to live in squalor if you did your part to help out around here. School at this point is not feas-feasible. You have to get your head out of the clouds, Evelyn Rose. It’s time to become an ad-adult.”
Evelyn Rose. The name he gave me. The name he used to sing in happiness when he wanted to give me praise or just tell me he loved me, that same name now sounds like venom rolling off his tongue.
“I’m not listening to this, Dad. You’re drunk, and you don’t know what you’re saying.” I’m fighting back the tears, but I don’t know for how much longer.
He grabs my wrist, his grip tight. “I’m not drunk, and you don’t tell me to listen.” I try to wretch my wrist from his grasp, but he’s holding firm. “My severance check pays for this hole you call a roof over your head and to feed you. You show me some respect.”
My father’s eyes are burning with anger, but as his glare locks on mine, it hits him, and the fear he sees in my eyes turns his rage to guilt. “Velyn, I’m sorry.”
I pull from his grip easily this time and head out of my room with my father not far behind. I grab my bag off the counter, but before I go, I turn to him. “I’m going to work, and Daddy, just so that you know, you drank through your severance a year and a half ago.”
I walk out the door slamming it behind me, but I stop there, resting my back against the wall. No longer able to hold it in, the tears fall and don’t stop.
Is this it? Is this what the rest of my life promises? Because to be honest, I don’t know how much longer I can hang on.
Chapter 11 Dylan
“When you said you were taking me out for dinner, I thought you meant to eat, not so you could stalk Velyn where she works.”
I look to my brother as we take a seat in one of the booths near the back. “Two birds, one stone, Chasey.”
“You know just because you bring me along doesn’t make it any less creepy,” he notes.
I shrug, nudging him out of the way. “Sit on the other side. This seat has a better view of the counter.”
Chase groans. “Right-o, bunny boiler.”
“Huh?” I question. What’s he going on about?
He shakes his head. “Ugh, never mind, maybe the two of you are made for each other. But I leave you with this; when the owners call the cops because you’re ogling the help, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Whatever, it’s fine. We’re just two brothers coming in for a meal. Nothing strange about that,” I assure him.
“If you say so, but while you stalk, I eat.”
I look to Chase as he glances over the menu. For a kid the size of a pencil, he sure eats a lot.
“So, this morning went well, right?” I ask.
Chase continues to look over the menu but replies, “It did, but don’t get your hopes up, Dylan. Velyn’s not the type of girl to be easily wooed.”
“Who in the hell said anything about wooing? I just want to take her out for dinner, maybe even a show. You know, get to know her...do it right for once.”
Chase looks up for a moment. “I don't know whether to be thrown that you have no idea that what you just said is the exact definition of wooing, or that you actually want to take it slow for once.”
“Whoa there, I said do it right not take it slow—I have needs,” I let out.
“Nope, I spoke too soon. Never mind, forget I said anything,” Chase sighs, returning to his menu.
I lean in, lowering my voice. “Seriously, do you think she’d want to take it slow?”
Chase lets out a heavy breath laying the menu down on the table. “I think your first question should be, would she even be interested in you enough to consider thinking about the pace of a relationship?”
I lay back in the booth, already knowing the answer to that. “Velyn couldn’t refuse if she tried. I saw the way she was eye-fu—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence, please,” Chase interrupts. “Look, Dylan, like I told you before when this obsession with Velyn started; she’s not like all the other girls you’ve dated. She’s in a class of her own. One that you, dear
