Chapter 25
DEFENDING YOUR LIFE
A foggy remnant of my dream still buzzed at the fringes of my brain as I stirred into consciousness. Layla... in a sparkling white gown... giggling in my ear... a red carpet... a million flashing lights... a feeling of absolute and overwhelming joy...
I woke up smiling, partially because of the awesome dream that morning, but mostly because of the memory of our real-life kiss last night.
Once my eyes fully opened, however, reality crashed back in.
I practically launched out of bed to confront my father. I found him downstairs in the kitchen, gathering his keys and briefcase to head out to work.
“Hey!” I barked. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Dad spun around to stare at me in shock, twin masks of rage and revulsion playing out on his face. “Excuse me? Just who do you think you’re talking to?”
I knew I could be staring down the prospect of another nasty fight. But I couldn’t think about anything beyond my blind rage. “I think you’re my father. At least you’re supposed to be. And to tell you the truth, I’m pretty sick of reminding you about that!” I had stepped closer to him on every word, so I was able to get right up in his face when I asked, “How could you say that to Layla?”
He jutted out his chin to respond, “I didn’t say anything.”
I couldn’t believe the bastard didn’t even have the balls to admit it. “You basically insinuated that she was a whore by association!”
“I did no such thing.”
“You did! And even if you weren’t saying it about Layla, what the hell gives you the right to say something like that about someone’s mother?”
He cocked a brow at me, attempting to come off as justified. “Well that... Back when we were teenagers, Kate was a bit of a... wild child.”
“So what?” I scathed. “Kate Warren has been out of Layla’s life since she was twelve! She has no influence on her!”
Just then, Claudia came downstairs hauling her suitcase behind her. The plan was that I’d drive her to the airport, but her flight wasn’t leaving for a few more hours. She was obviously trying to use her departure as an excuse to get me the hell out of there as soon as possible.
“Trip. We should leave.”
No shit. I ignored my sister’s request though, too focused on setting my father straight. “I happen to care a lot about that girl. And you’re not going to ruin it.” I ran a hand over my hair, took a deep breath, and added, “I’m done waiting for you to be a father to me. I’m done trying. I’m leaving. Just so you know. I’m getting the hell out of here. As soon as summer’s over, I’m out.”
He seemed surprised by the news, but snickered as he asked smugly, “And just where are you planning to go?”
Claudia took a few steps inside the room, taking up a protective position a few paces behind me. “He can stay with me.”
I twisted my head to look at my sister, our eyes meeting in shared understanding as I gave her a grateful smile.
“And live off what?” he asked. “Your good looks? I can cancel that card at any time, you know.”
I turned back toward him, a muscle twitching in my jaw as I fought to remain calm. Still, my voice relayed every ounce of the barely-restrained malice that was coursing through my veins as I warned, “No, Dad. You’re not going to do that. Because you and I both know you owe me the chance to get as far away from you as possible.”
Claudia tugged my arm to lead me out the door. “C’mon, Trip. Let’s go.”
I let Claudia lead me out of the room, Dad’s words still echoing in my brain. As much as I hated to admit it, I didn’t have a plan in place. I lived in the moment. All I knew was that I was driving Claudia to the airport today and I was leaving for the weekend tomorrow. I’d just have to figure out what to do after that.
I managed to get in a parting dig on the way out the door. “You’ve already driven your daughter away. Now you’re losing your son, too. Hope it was worth it.”
* * *
Claud and I had been parked in the departures lot at Newark Airport for an exorbitant amount of time while we indulged in a long talk.
The standard complaints, the typical insults. My sister and I had been through this conversation too many times before. There were hardly any new revelations at this point.
However, I was relieved to find out my mother wasn’t home during the confrontation with my father. I kept thinking that if we were loud enough to spur my sister to book it downstairs, why not my mother? But Claud and she had said their goodbyes earlier that morning before Mom left for her charity meeting.
As usual, Mom was able to turn a blind eye to the complete and utter trainwreck otherwise known as her husband.
There was a deafening sound of a plane flying overhead as I took notice of the time. I couldn’t believe it had gotten so late. “Whoa, Claud. You’re going to miss your flight.”
There was a weighty pause before she turned in her seat toward me. “Hey. Why don’t you just buy a ticket and come back with me today?”
I gotta say, the complete opposite end of the country sounded pretty appealing right about then. But an image of Layla flashed across my brain, and I knew there was no way I was going to split just when things had finally started happening between us. After all those months in limbo, we owed it to ourselves to see where we were going. “I can’t leave right now. I don’t want to just run away from my problems anyway. I need to deal with them.”
“The only problem you need to deal with is him.” Claud let out a heavy sigh and shook her head down at her lap. “You can’t stay here. Not if you have any hope of living a life of your own.”
“I know. I meant what I said to him before. I am leaving, and soon. Just not today, okay?”
She pursed her lips and met my eyes. “Okay. But you’re my baby brother, Terrence. You can’t blame me for wanting to watch out for you. Just so you know, I meant what I said. You can come live with me and Sandy whenever you’re ready. It’s an open invitation.” She smiled before picking at a piece of non-existent lint on her jeans. “What are you going to do now?”
I snickered bitterly as I ran a hand through my hair. “No idea. But I promise, when I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know.”