Sin City Baby

The farther I got away from Bar Harbor, Maine, the better off I’d be.

CHAPTER 3

THERESA

PRESENT DAY

I filtered through the dresses in my closet as I debated on their worth. My father’s dental banquet was tonight, and he wanted me to be his “plus one.” Ever since Mom had died, that was my role in his life. If I wasn’t out with Ike, I was out with my father, fulfilling the social roles my mom used to. I knew it was simply because he was a good catch, and he didn’t want any other woman with any ideas getting too close. I was, more or less, his guard dog.

He never was the same after she died.

I plucked a yellow dress from my closet and held it up to my body. I loved the dress, but Ike wasn’t a fan of it. Not unless he was with me. I knew if I wore anything too revealing, he would get upset that I was going out in it without him. It didn’t matter that I was only going with my father to some boring dental banquet.

Ike was staying with me while his apartment complex fumigated for bugs. I had finally broken down and given him a chance during our senior year of high school. For most of the time we were together, I enjoyed his company though I was never content. It drove me crazy because I had a persistent desire for more. I sure as hell tried to carry on like everything was fine, but I knew, in the end, I was settling.

Lately, he’d started to become a little more possessive than I liked.

I usually bucked his ridiculous behavior, but tonight I was tired and didn’t want to deal with it. I put the yellow dress back and plucked a navy blue on from the back of the closet. It was sleeveless but had a high neckline and fell just below my knees. Besides, I rationalized, I was going out to a stuffy event with my father. Why did I need to look sexy? I grabbed my lacy white shawl off the hanger and threw it around my shoulders.

Satisfied, I stepped into the living room.

“How do I look?” I asked.

Ike looked up from his book on the couch, and I watched his eyes dance over me. I was waiting for that smile that had drawn me in, especially once he’d ditched the braces and gotten rid of his glasses.

But instead of smiling, he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“You chose that dress?”

“Don’t you like it?” I asked.

“Isn’t that a strapless dress?”

“That’s why I’ve got the shawl on. See?”

“Yeah, that looks nice. But won’t you get hot and take the shawl off?”

“Oh for the love, Ike. I’m going to a dental banquet with my father. It’s hardly a meat market.”

Ike nodded as he took in my words bef

ore his eyes grazed back to his book.

“Have fun,” he said. “But not too much.”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my purse before heading out the door. Climbing into my car, I wondered what kind of trouble Ike thought I could get into at a dentistry banquet. I shook my head and started the car. I was determined to be pleasant for my father’s sake, and so I pushed Ike’s irritating behavior to the back of my mind.

I drove to my father’s house and pulled into the driveway. I saw him standing on the porch waiting for me with his hands in his pockets. He stood with his shoulders hunched over a bit now. As a teenager, I’d thought the world of him. I thought he was the best and strongest man alive. But some things happened that made me view him differently, and when Mom died , it rocked his world.

He never stood quite as tall after that night.

I stepped out of the car and smiled at him, but his eyes were across the road. I turned around and looked at my brother’s house and saw a strange car parked in the driveway. It was black and polished, with tinted windows and chrome accents. It was a very expensive car; one I knew didn’t belong to Hollis.

I always thought it was weird that my brother had bought the house across the street. But after Mom died, I was glad he had. He was there to check in on Dad a few times a week, and it gave Dad some family nearby if he ever decided to reach out to one of us. He never did, but the option was there.

“Nice car,” my father said.

“Do you know whose it is?” I asked.