Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“She’s practically still a baby,” my father says. “Only reason you moved out was because you were drafted by Minnesota.” I don’t say anything because he’s not wrong, although I don’t think I would have lived at home during college.
“Manning,” my stepmother, Evelyn, shouts his name from the hallway, “the car is here!” He walks over to the doorway and looks out. A smile on his face already as soon as he sees her. They got together when I was eight, from what my biological mother said, he cheated on her with Evelyn. The truth was my father tried to get a divorce for years and she threatened him each and every time, with me as the bargaining chip. She even took me away from him once for a couple of weeks when he sent her divorce papers the first time. I think I was six. I don’t remember much of it.
Most of my young childhood memories aren’t the fondest, with my father being on the road half the time and my mother doing whatever she wanted when he was gone. The only time she gave a shit about me was when my father was in the room. It’s safe to say my father was the parent I bonded with the most. He was the one I would long for when he was away. The minute I knew he was in town I felt happier and more at ease in the house. Don’t get me wrong, my mother never mistreated me. It was more like she tossed me to the side and practically ignored me and pretended I didn’t exist when he wasn’t here.
That all changed when Evelyn came into the picture. She cared for me like I was her own, and worried about me just as much as my father did. Especially when the visits with my mother would come up and I would be angry that I had to go. It lasted, I want to say, over a year, my mother would have me when my father was travelling with his team. Only taking me to piss him off. As I got older, the visits with my mom became fewer and farther in between, until I just stopped going altogether. The only reason she wanted to force me to go with her was because the second I stopped going regularly, her child support got decreased, so she would drag my father into court to make sure it stayed the same. For that to happen meant I had to be with her when it was her turn.
My father saw the game she was playing and, in the end, didn’t give a shit about the money and just continued paying her, even if I stopped going. Until I was eighteen that is, but she stopped caring about me long before that. The last time I saw her was when I was twenty-four and she showed up at my house, trashed out of her mind and looking for a place to stay. I put her in a cab and gave the driver the address to a hotel. She sent me texts the next morning, telling me I was dead to her. It’s been over seven years since I’ve heard from her. It was no skin off my back, especially since I considered Evelyn my mother.
“Let’s go.” My father motions with his head toward the hallway. I follow him out of my room at the same time my sister comes out of hers. She’s wearing a long-sleeved, tight black dress that covers her all the way from her neck to her mid-calf.
“Hi, Daddy.” She smiles at him as she turns and walks down the stairs, and there it is. Her back is bare all the way down to practically the crack of her ass. “You approve that dress?” My father looks over at Evelyn, who shrugs.
“She’s of age to wear what she wants,” she replies, her voice low, “she’s a full-blown adult.”
“She’s also of hearing,” Victoria tosses over her shoulder, “and you bought me this dress.” She points to my father when she gets down to the last step.
“You mean you charged my credit card,” my father grumbles as he follows her down the steps. “That doesn’t mean I bought the dress; it means I paid for it.”
“Same thing, Pops,” she retorts. “Come and take a picture with me.” She walks to him and holds her phone up in front of her, taking a selfie. “Even though you are opposed to social media.” She smiles big at him. “That’s going to get me so many likes.” She lifts her hand and pats his chest. “I’ll tag you.” She smirks at me. “You’re welcome.”
“You look so handsome,” Evelyn states from beside me, and when I look at her, I see her smiling at me with love written all over her face. “I love when you wear blue suits.” She gives me a side hug. “Makes your eyes even lighter.”