Maria
“I spoke to my teacher today,” I say as I sit opposite my father for dinner. I managed to quickly prepare something while he was taking a shower and getting changed.
“She said I did very well in the latest exams, despite my work, and…”
He doesn’t even look at me and interrupts me mid-sentence.
“I spoke to Jes, he said you didn’t go to work these past few days. Why?”
I stare at him, blankly.
“Um…”
Does my father even know I was in the hospital? But he should, right - where else did he think I was?
He is waiting for me to answer and my eyes inevitably land on my fork.
“Dad?”
“Don’t call me “Dad”! Answer the f*****g question!”
“Are you… are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? I want to know why you didn’t go to work. The electricity bill came. It’s too high- that’s because
