One week ago

“I’m home.”  My father opened the door and took a couple of steps into the living room before having to use the wall for support.  “I hustled a few games of pool and made some money off the tourists.  They even bought me a few drinks after they gave up trying to beat me.”

“Put it on the table.”  I motioned to the dining room table where his food was waiting, although the spaghetti had gotten rather cold since he was two hours later than he promised.

“You made all this?”  He raised his eyebrows as he added to the pile of money beside his plate.

“It’s the holiday season, so things were crazy at the mall.”  I shrugged and flipped the channel on the television in front of me.  “I pawned everything I was able to steal.”

“This should be enough to keep the loan shark away for another week.”  He nodded and sat down at the table.  “Thank you, baby.  I’m sorry I put us in such a tough spot.”

“This will all be over once I marry Dane and he signs his contract.”  I sighed and pushed the button to change the channel again.

My father started eating and I kept trying to find something on television to distract me.  I loved my father.  He tried to do the right thing, but his moral compass didn’t point in the right direction most of the time.  It always seemed to get him into trouble and his latest predicament was one that had put him in real danger.  He borrowed money to gamble on a horse race after he heard the favorite was out of the race with an injury.  He got his bet in before the bookies updated their odds, but the injured horse made a miraculous recovery and won the race.  The man he normally borrowed money from had always been good to him as long as he made an effort to pay his debts.  It was a cycle we just couldn’t seem to escape. 

My father did okay hustling pool and making small bets in a friendly game of poker, but he was always looking for the big score—the one that would let him retire.  Every time he managed to get his debt paid off, he was borrowing money again because he had a new plan to get rich and I was caught in the middle.  I either had to help him or hope he wouldn’t end up with his legs broken somewhere, and I loved him too much to let him get hurt.

“Dinner was delicious.  Thank you.”  My father grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat down beside me.

“You’re going to have to find someone else to cook for you once I get married.”  I forced a smile and looked over at him.

“You really don’t have to go through with this wedding.”  His face clouded and I saw a tear form in the corner of his eye.  “It isn’t fair that you have to marry someone you don’t love because of me.”

“It’s okay.”  I scooted closer and put my hand on his shoulder.  “I love you and I’ll always be there for you.  So, what if I don’t love Dane?  I just need to stick around long enough to get my hands-on half of that multi-million dollar contract when I file for divorce.”

“It really isn’t fair to him either.”  My father sighed deeply.  “He’s a good guy.  If you did love him, he would make a damn good husband.”

“I know...”  I looked down at the carpet and felt tears forming in my eyes as well.

Dane was amazing in all the wrong ways.  There was nothing that connected us except the fact he was coming into money and I needed it.  We met by happenstance when he got coaxed into attending a frat party that I was at.  I was there to steal money from people who passed out and get some free drinks, but once I realized who he was, plans changed.  I really did like him at first, but that was all it ever became.  Even when I tried, we were just too different for love to blossom. 

I didn’t have much experience with guys, but I knew Dane wasn’t going to be the one I fell in love with.  I had dated a few guys over the years, but it seemed like I was always too busy taking care of my father’s issues to commit to anyone.  Dane was different than most of the others who only seemed interested in me because they wanted sex.  He wanted the exact opposite.  He wanted us both to be virgins when we took our vows and began our lives together.  I was fine playing his dutiful wife and remaining faithful to him if it meant I got my hands on half of his money when the marriage was over.  He was the answer to all my problems, but I knew I was a horrible person because of what I intended to do.

***

Present day

“TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED, sweetheart.”  My father wrapped his arms around me.  “Why are you wearing a wedding dress?  Did I miss the wedding?”

“Not the one that mattered.”  I put my head against his chest and started bawling.  “I got drunk last night—at least I think that’s what happened.  I married Dane’s brother.”

“Oh, baby—I’m sorry.”  He let out a sigh.  “It’s okay.  If you love Dane’s brother, I would much rather you marry someone you care about.  We’ll figure the rest of it out.”

“I don’t love him!”  I pulled back from my father’s embrace.  “He found out what I was planning to do to his brother and he ruined everything!  Dane won’t even return my calls now!”

“Maybe this is for the best.”  He put his hands on my shoulders.  “I didn’t like this to begin with.  If Dane knows the truth, you can get this marriage annulled and get on with your life.  You’re getting too old to worry about me all the time.”

“I’ll never be too old for that.  How are we going to pay off this debt if I don’t marry Dane?  This is a disaster!  You can’t keep hustling pool and I certainly can’t keep shoplifting just to pay them enough each week to keep you out of trouble.”  The tears were getting faster as they streamed down my face.

“Let me figure that part out.  You need to go get cleaned up.”  He rubbed my arms again and sighed as he pointed towards the bathroom.

I walked into the bathroom and stripped off the wedding dress I was wearing before climbing into the shower.  The tears didn’t stop, even with the water running down my face.  Patches of memories started return as I stood there, but they flashed like still images instead of connecting together.  I remembered being in a car with Grady.  I remembered laughing with a bottle of champagne in my hand.  I remembered following him up the steps of the chapel and I could even feel the excitement I had felt at the time, but the thought made me want to throw up. 

There had to be more to it than what I could remember.  I had no connection to Grady and there would have been no reason for me to leave with him, much less marry him.  I would have remembered how important it was to marry Dane.  It certainly wasn’t something I would have forgotten after a few drinks.  I took my time in the shower, staying in it until the water was cold before I finally shut it off.  I wrapped a towel around my body and walked to my bedroom, digging around in my closet for something to wear.

Maybe Dane has tried to call—or return my text.  I need to charge my phone.

I plugged my phone in and sat down on the side of the bed until it got enough power to turn on.  I had a lot of text messages, but none of them were from Dane.  My friends were obviously as shocked as I was with how everything transpired.  I spent more time culling my social media accounts, making sure every trace of what happened was gone. 

The pounding in my head had finally started to subside some and my thoughts were getting clearer.  I walked back over to my closet and finished dressing.  All I wanted to do was crawl under the covers and forget everything.  My life was in complete shambles thanks to Grady and I would have to work even harder to get my father’s debt paid off.  I let my head rest against the pillow and found that my eyes were heavy.  I drifted off to sleep, barely dozing off before a noise startled me. 

I sat up in bed and blinked a couple of times before I heard another sound—a crash.  I got out of bed and ran to the living room where I saw my father on the floor and a large, brutish man standing over him.

“Leave him alone!”  I rushed to his side.

“Stay of this.”  The man glared at me.  “Like I told him—we’re done with this weekly payment shit.  You either pay us what you owe or I’m breaking a bone for every dollar you haven’t paid!”

“What the hell?”  My father sat up and spit blood out on the floor.  “Walter has never had a problem with how I pay him.”

“Walter Grant has a different philosophy now—one that has been a long time coming.”  The man snarled and lifted his boot, but I quickly moved in front of my father.

“No!  We’ll find a way to pay you!”  I held up my hands and he let his foot rest against the floor.

“Maybe after I get done breaking your father’s bones, you and I can spend some quality time together.”  He winked at me.

“No!”  My father pushed me away and started to stand.  “You’ll have to kill me before you ever lay a hand on my daughter.”

“I got no problem with that, old man.”  He turned towards the door and looked over his shoulder.  “One week—then I’ll be back for both of you.”

Once the man was gone, I helped my father over to his chair.  It didn’t appear that anything was broken, but he was in pretty rough shape.  Based on the red marks on his chest and face that were sure to bruise, it looked like the man had treated him like a human punching bag before I intervened.  My father wasn’t weak by any means and could normally hold his own, but the man I found standing over him was nearly twice his size. 

I tended to his wounds the best that I could and gave him a couple of pain pills that he had leftover from his hernia surgery.  He washed them down with a beer and it wasn’t long until they started to make him sleepy.  I got him to the couch before he finally passed out.  Everything was spiraling out of control and I felt like I had no way to stop it.