Chapter 20
Brittany
I brought my hand down to his knee, lightly scratching it to comfort him. My suspicions had been accurate, I told myself as everything he had just confessed sank in. Yet, none of it scared me because I had been expecting something like this. I had known since meeting Dalton that something was off—something bigger than him hiding his criminal record or his involvement with my sister and her killer. What did shock me was what he had done and how he had gone to the police to bring the gang down. He had gone in fully aware that he could once again have gotten thrown into jail, and had been ready to take that responsibility for his actions and hold himself accountable.
“You did good, my friend.” I tried to lighten the mood by speaking in a poorly constructed accent, and Dalton gave me a half-smile. I wasn’t quite sure how to respond at first, but I did want him to know I was proud of him. “You’re one of the closest friends I have, Dalton, and I stand by my statement earlier. No matter what, I value our friendship, and I feel safer whenever you’re around.” I took his hand in mine, enjoying how his rough callouses felt against my fingertips. “I do want you in my life,” I said, and then went on to say that I was sorry about everything he’s had to go through in his life and the situation with his real and foster parents. “Speaking of fathers, I will need your help with my father.”
“Of course,” he said. “Anything.”
I told him how my father had agreed to come over later tonight and that I had been planning on discussing Talia with him and how much he knew about Dalton, but after hearing Dalton speak about his own parents, I knew now what it was that I had to say to my father tonight. I had an obligation to myself to tell my father I no longer wanted to go to grad school, and that I was dropping out to pursue my own dreams.
“Your father will most likely kick you out of this apartment, won’t he?” Dalton asked.
“I’m scared to death,” I confessed. “I’m a hundred percent positive he will kick me out of this apartment the minute I tell him my plan. I don’t have enough money to pay rent on the room myself, and I’ll probably be out on the streets.”
“I’ll never let that happen.” Dalton placed his hand on top of mine which still rested on his knee. “I’m here to support you, no matter what storm crosses your ocean.” He raised my hand to his lips, and I wish he had instead leaned in to meet my own lips.
My phone began to ring in my pocket. It was my father, and when I didn’t pick up he sent me a text saying he was outside waiting to take me to dinner nearby. He didn’t seem to want to enter the building again after the fight we’d gotten into last time we’d seen each other.
Dalton saw the caller ID and squeezed my hand tightly. “I’m here,” he whispered.
I smiled, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
“Now I have something which I must fix in my life.” I said, imitating what he had said to me before his adventure with the police.
I left him in the courtyard and went out to meet my father. He was ending a call over speakerphone when I got in the car.
“That was Reginald,” he said, his voice laden with irritation. “I’ve been unable to convince him to give you a second chance.”
“Good.” I dove right into the conversation. “I don’t want a second chance, and I am dropping out of school, Father.” I added the word ‘father’ at the end to add punch to my words, and my father turned the car off before we had even left the front of the building.
“Excuse me, young lady?”
My throat clenched up and suddenly I felt nauseous, but glancing back at the apartment complex, I thought of Dalton and could feel the heat of his hand still on my own. “I want my own life.”
“This is because of that Dalton character, isn’t it? You need to know something about him, Brittany Wellington, and you better listen good to what I’m about to tell you.”
“He’s a criminal,” I finished for him. “He already told me, and I don’t care. He was sent to jail after fighting for Talia.”
“He went to jail because he’s just as violent as Krall.” My father spat out the name of my sister’s murderer, a name that was also never used in our household.
“No, he went to jail because he tried to stop a violent man named Krall.”
“Are you trying to spit on your sister’s memory? She would be—”
I didn’t want to hear the rest of it, so I got out of the car. With a slam, my father followed suit and chased me as I marched back up the steps to the building. He grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him.
Before he could say anything, I blurted, “You suffocated Talia, and now you’re suffocating me!”
I ripped my arms from his grip, then turned to go inside. Mrs. Curtis was sitting as usual by the front door, reading her book. She smiled at me as I blew past, my father hot on my heels.
“I’m only trying to protect you from making the same mistakes that she made, which eventually got her killed.” My father whispered so hard I swore that he was yelling at me as I dug in my pockets for my keys.
I could feel Dalton’s presence still in the courtyard, and I looked over and saw his stoic expression. He gave me a confident nod of encouragement.
“You never knew her, Dad,” I said. “You never knew Talia, you never knew your own daughter and you lost her, and you’ll lose me, too. I won’t die, I won’t get murdered, but I’ll be dead to you.” I wanted to seem confident, but I could feel my rage taking over so I took a deep breath after raising my voice at him. I had my keys in my hands. They clanked together as my hands shook. In a calmer tone, I said, “I love you, Dad, but it doesn’t seem like you love me or loved Talia, you only love your idea of us in your head. Talia’s gone, you can’t bring her back and you can’t fix the broken relationship you two had, but I’m still alive. Dad, I’m still alive, so please, let me live my life.”
With a grunt, my father threw his arms in the air. “I give up. If you want to flush your life down the drain, be my guest.” He turned, and I watched him walk out the entryway to the apartment and begin descending the steps in the front. I turned to Dalton, who had sat watching the entire thing from the courtyard, and held back tears as I forced a smile on my face to let him know that I had finally stood up to my father and I was proud of myself. My smile wasn’t successful, and I could feel it curling deeper into a frown, so I retreated alone into my apartment.