by Raven Scott
“Excuse me! You’re one to call me pathetic when all you’re good for is letting men abuse you and then turning around on them and ruining their lives!”
Oof. That one physically crammed in my ears.
Riley gasped in offense.
“You’re worse than that bitch that brought you into the worl—”
The smack of a hand on a face echoed through the kitchen.
I raised my head to watch Charles stand over his wife. She clutched her cheek, her eyes wide as she leaned heavily on the counter.
This just gets more and more outlandish. . .
“That’s enough.” His quiet, firm declaration revealed nothing. “Riley may need to be more cautious, but don’t you compare her to that woman.”
Tanya glared at her husband as spittle flew from her mouth from her ragged breaths. “Y- you—you hit me.”
Riley plopped down in her chair heavily to sink deep.
I cupped my chin thoughtfully at Tanya’s disbelieving whisper. “You hit me. . .”
“I’ll do it again if you bring up that woman to attack Riley. You have no right.”
I was just a spectator at this point, but I’d rather be watching than involved in this cat fight.
Across the table, Riley’s shivering started to die down in the silence. She looked tired, spent after yelling at her mom the way she’d wanted to for so long, and my heart ached for her.
Her father asked, “Is what she said true? Did you hire someone to kill her after she blocked your calls?”
“No! Of course not!” Tanya’s voice heightened to a frightening pitch, a telltale sign she was lying.
The scrape of a glass bottle against wood followed her squeal, and Charles sat down heavily in his chair to slowly unscrew the cap.
“Why would I do something like that after all that I put up with! We’ve been married for 30 years, Charles! You know me better than that!”
I spoke up for the first time in a while, “I’m sure if you call around, you’ll realize you’re missing thirteen thousand dollars. If she was smart, she would’ve opened a credit line for it, but if she was smart, she wouldn’t have used your home computer to make the transfer.”
Riley gazed at me through watery, red-rimmed eyes.
Tanya’s glare bored holes into the back of my head, but I ignored her to sit up a little. “I can show you the account numbers to see if you recognize them.”
“There’s no need for that. I believe you.” Pouring himself a drink, Charles locked eyes on me with a slight shake of his head. Sliding the glass towards me, he turned his gaze to Riley to purse his lips and thicken the wrinkles around his mouth. “You have never done anything wrong. Even being born isn’t your fault. I believe you, Riley, because you have no reason to lie, and she has every reason to.”
“I’m still sorry, Dad.” Riley’s hoarse grumble was crystal clear as she propped her forearms on the table to hold her forehead. “I wish you would’ve told me. To be honest, I knew somewhere that my being born wasn’t the thing to focus on...it was that Mo—Tanya, hired my boyfriend to kill me.”
“I wanted to, but telling you risked worsening your already terrible relationship with Tanya. If I could go back, I would make the same decision to keep quiet since you became quite a fantastic young lady. I know it doesn’t excuse anything, but after seeing the disaster we made of your brother…”
Gradually, the tension in the air was declining, and I took my first full breath since entering the house.
“No— no. I know. I just—what do I do now?” Even now, Riley hadn’t changed as a result of her anger as she tilted her head to stare at her dad. It was awesome that he wasn’t a pedophile. Even better that he came to Riley’s defense.
But this was closure. There was no denying this was the end.
“Now… you go back to New York City, and you live your life the way you want and by your own rules. I’m sure having a man like him around will be better for you than I ever was.”
There it was— the admission that allowed Riley to walk out of here without any remorse, guilt or regret. I actually felt bad for the old man, nearing 50 and realizing more than half his life was spent with someone who tried to murder his daughter.
“I’m sorry, Riley. For everything.”
“Okay, then.” Lifting her head to place both her palms firmly on the table, Riley stood up to huff softly.
I hoisted myself out of my own chair to gently push it in and took her hand.
What was it that British guy said?
It’s not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning.