Page 68 of Ravaged By the Dark (The Righteous 2)
“Pumpkin!” He scooped her up in his arms and hugged her the tightest he’d ever hugged her. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too, daddy.”
“Renee, you get back in this house right this minute.”
Renee looked at her mother’s angry face. Her eyes were red again, making her look like some scary monster. It meant that she was drinking again. She didn’t really know what that meant, but mommy would pass out early, and her words came out funny when she drank the stinky stuff from the bottle.
“But I don’t want to. I haven’t seen daddy in forever.”
“That’s because your father is a bad man.”
Her daddy hugged her harder.
“Don’t you dare say that to her. You know as well as I do that I’m a good father. No matter what has happened between us, I’m a good father to our children.”
“Ha! Fucking a piece on the side isn’t being a good father figure.”
“Rosalind, you kicked me out. We’re not even together.”
She shook her hand in the air like she was going to smack daddy, and Renee held him tighter. “We’re still married,” mommy yelled.
“I made a mistake but to say I’m a bad man…I would never hurt our kids. I still want to be there for them.”
Renee didn’t know what a piece on the side meant, but whatever it was, it had made mommy really angry. The vein in her forehead was standing out. Mommy reached out, snatching her from her daddy’s arms, but Renee screamed and reached for her daddy again. She didn’t want to stay here anymore. Wherever he’d gone, she wanted to go too.
“No, let me go! I want to stay with daddy!”
“Let go of her, Rosalind. You’re hurting her.” Her daddy came toward her, but her mother held up her hand.
“Do you want me to call the cops again?”
“For what? I haven’t done anything, and you know it. All I want is to see my kids.” Renee stretched her arm out as she kicked as hard as she could at her mother. Her daddy placed his hand into her open palm, and they clung to one another. She didn’t understand any of this, but she knew that if her daddy left, she’d never see him again.
“Get out of here, Kyle. We don’t need you anymore. And if you come around again, I’ll tell the cops I got this bruise on my face from you.” Her mother slammed the door in her daddy’s face before sitting her on the ground.
“No, no, no!” Renee pulled on the handle to open the door, but her mother was leaning against it.
“Your father hates you, Renee. He hates you, and he left us, and he’s never coming back!” her mother screamed at her.
“You’re a liar, and I hate you!” Bawling, she ran up the stairs and slammed the bedroom door.
It was Renee’s turn to sit up straight in bed. The dream was of her father again, but it didn’t make sense. She rubbed at her temples as she tried to recall all the little details of the dream.
“Are you okay?” Arek asked sleepily.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“So you want me to share my feelings and my past with you, but you don’t want to tell me what is going on with you?”
“When you put it that way… I always thought my dad left because he came from a rich white home, and he married down when he married my mother. I mean, that is what she always told me—that he didn’t have enough balls to stand up to his racist family, and when things got tough, he bailed.”
“But, now you’re not so sure?”
Renee laid back down and stared into Arek’s eyes.
“I don’t know what to believe. I’ve been having these dreams lately that seem more like memories. He wanted to see us, but my mom cut him out.”
“How can you find out for sure,” Arek asked as he moved a piece of her hair over her shoulder. He placed a soft kiss on the skin of her back, warming it with his gentle touch.
“I guess I could ask my mother if I’d ever see her again, but I’m not sure I want to see her again.”
“What about asking your dad?”
Renee sighed as she contemplated trying to find him.
“What if it’s all in my head? What if he really did leave because he wanted to, and I’m just dreaming up fantasies of what I wished had happened?”
“Come here.” Arek pulled her into his chest, and she cuddled into his warmth and strength. “Whatever you decide to do, I’m here for you.”
He kissed the top of her head, and her eyes began to droop. Just before she drifted off to sleep, all she could hear in her mind was, “I will always love you, Pumpkin. No matter what.”
