Daddy’s Little Girl
Flash-Fiction
My eyes followed Hera as she walked towards the drawer, long unopened.
“No, don’t…,” I urged.
I didn’t want to be reminded of him as that made me hate her even more. The picture of my mom and dad together in the drawer was what made me feel close to him. No other memory, as he was gone when I was only four. I stopped asking why, because my mother would lie to me anyway.
“That’s Mrs. Garrison. Who’s the man next to her?” Hera asked curiously.
“My dad,” I responded meekly.
“He died, didn’t he? I’m so sorry.” She meant it.
I shook my head.
“That’s what my mom wants me to believe. She is persistent in making me think he was a ‘dangerous man.’ She says he wanted to steal me from her. It’s ridiculous, honestly. She’s a liar, and if there’s any truth to what she says, I wish it were her instead of him.”
“No, you don’t. You’re going to regret that, India.” Hera warned.
“Seriously? Are you going to defend her? You don’t know anything. You…“
My mother’s shrill scream interrupted us.
“Ugh, not again, Mama.” I was annoyed.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw at the bottom of the stairs.
“Mr. Garrison?” Hera gasped.
“What did you do?” I said with tears in my eyes, looking at my mom’s prone body.
And then everything went out of focus.
“Ah, you’re finally up,” my dad said.
We were in a car.
“Where are you taking me? What did you do to Mama?” I cried.
“Nothing much. Just made sure your mother will never get you again.” He shrugged.
And I realized my mom had been right all along. I was overwhelmed by guilt, and without thinking, I opened the car door and followed her fate.
