My father laughs, but there’s zero joy in it. “Do not tell me how much you care for her. You don’t even know her.” He returns his attention back to me. “How long has this been going on?”
I don’t want to give him the truth, but there’s no lying to Daddy. “A few days, maybe a week.”
“A week?” His voice is loud, nearly to the point he’s screaming.
Silas tries to step forward, calming my father down, but he’s not having any of it.
“Don’t get any closer or I swear I’ll shoot you.”
“Daddy, you wouldn’t dare.” I scowl.
“Like hell I wouldn’t.”
Silas backs away, holding his hands up. “I care about your daughter, sir,” he says, and my heart splits in two.
“Dad, please let me explain.”
“Get in the car,” he says to me but looking at Silas, his hand idling slightly above his pistol. “Now.”
“No, I won’t.” I cross my arms, tears threatening to spill out, but I won’t back down. I won’t give in.
“Betty, I’m not asking you.”
“What? Are you arresting me?”
“Maybe you should just go and talk to him,” Silas says, stepping closer to me.
I stare at my father, his red face and rigid posture, knowing he will never be ok with Silas and me. We’re from two completely different worlds.
Is he right?
Is this all a mistake?
What if Dad refuses to give Silas and those nice men in his group any peace because of me?
I blink back the tears. “Silas, maybe we’re rushing into things.” He looks like I’ve just kicked his puppy. “I just need some time to think.”
My father smiles, like he’s won this war, but I stare at him next.
“Doesn’t mean I won’t be moving in with him, Dad. I care about him too.”
“You can’t know that after just a week, Betty.”
Tears stream down my cheeks. “You’re wrong.”
“Get in the car, now. I’ll take you home.”
I gaze at Silas, and I’m not sure what to do. Time to think is what I need. “I’ll call you,” I tell him.
“Betty, I’m not giving up on you. Ever. I’ll give you your space to figure things out, but what’s going on between us is real.” He nods to my father and heads back to his bike.
I cry as I rush into the front seat of my father’s car.
“What were you thinking?” my father asks as he pulls away, leaving Silas standing by his bike on the side of the road.
I have no answers for him, because right now I’m not even sure what I was thinking. It is real, right?
It has to be.
“Silas isn’t the man you think he is,” I tell my father as he drives down the main street of King’s City.
“I know exactly what type of man he is. Jesus, he’s twice your age.”
“Age doesn’t matter. He knows what I need. He protects me, Daddy.”
“No, I won’t allow you to be with a man like that.”
“You can’t keep me from him. I’m an adult.”
“Like hell I can’t.”
“You can’t stop my heart from loving a man I choose.”
“Yes, I can. He’s a criminal for Christ’s sake.”
“He didn’t do it.”
“Do what?”
“The gun shipment. He didn’t do it.”
My father laughs, gripping the steering wheel. “Oh, is that what he told you?” He can’t stop laughing as he pulls into my neighborhood.
“I believe him. Why would they lie about it?”
This makes my father laugh harder. “You don’t know why a criminal would lie? He stole those guns, and I’ll be throwing him in jail for a long time. You’ll be throwing your life away by being with him.”
I shake my head as he parks in my driveway. “You’re wrong. They’re trying to figure out who did it. You’ll see.”
My father twists in his seat to stare at me. “No, you will. He’s not right for you.”
I get out of the car and lean in. “Yes, he is. He is right for me, Daddy. And I’m moving in with him.”
I’ve decided. I want a life with Silas. I want it all with him.
Work drags by… and by. I want to leave this place and rush over to Silas’s house and tell him I want him.
My father never came around about Silas, but I’m hoping once he realizes the Legendary Villains didn’t steal the gun shipment that he’ll see he’s a good man.
That he’s a good man for me.
He cares about me. I know this.
So, I’ve decided after work I’m going to let Silas know I’m not going to back out of this thing with us. I flit around the store, thrilled with my decision. I’m also happy that my father knows about us. Now I don’t need to worry about what he’s going to do.
Most likely disown me.
No, he won’t do that.
He’ll see everything is going to work out for the best.
It just has to. Now if work will do the same, life will be one happy circle jerk.