Just One Kiss, Please Daddy

Chapter 7

Livia’s POV

I crumble to the floor, gasping for breath. Mom props herself up on the table and slips her hand in her bag, producing a wad of cash still wrapped in her payslip for two weeks of work.

She works as a waitress in a pretty high-end diner in town. She makes quite a lot on tips alone, and she usually saves up the tips to get a bigger payout every two weeks.

I can see over fifteen hundred dollars in that single wad. Two weeks worth of work. Two weeks of standing around and catering to people. Two weeks of food and expenses for us that no one else contributes to.

All of that is about to be gone in one second.

“No,” I pant, but my voice is husky and broken. “Mom, no!”

She doesn’t listen.

She just hands off the money to David.

“Finally,” David says, smiling as he counts the bills. “There you go, Eva. That wasn’t so hard, was it? You could’ve given me this to save yourself from all the trouble. But better late than never.”

He put the money in his pocket and kissed Mom on the cheek like a loving husband, before walking out whistling.

Like nothing happened.

Like he almost didn’t kill us.

How long we sat there just crying and taking it all in, I don’t know. But after some time, Mom finds the trusty, very much used first-aid kit and started to treat my wounds. Wordlessly, I take out some tools and start to treat her wounds too.

Mom sees my tears and gently wipes them away. “It’s alright. He’s gone now.”

Suddenly my mind drifts back to that conversation we had a year ago.

“He will be back.” I can’t even bring myself to speak a hair above a whisper. “He always comes back, and the same thing happens. The same thing will keep happening, Mom—”

“I should make us some food,” Mom suddenly interjects. “You need to go to school soon.”

I stare at her in shock.

There’s no way she’s going to ignore this. Not when the whole house looks like a mess. Not when David and Tyler almost killed both of us.

“This is your house,” I say as I follow her into the kitchen. “Dad’s house. You have to kick them out! You have to make them leave for good! I’ve been telling you—”

“Livia.” Her voice is firm, but fragile. “I told you before. You would only understand when you’re older. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“But what if they kill us next time?”

The question hangs in the air like a cloud of cheap perfume, impossible to ignore. But somehow, Mom manages to do just that. She presses her lips together and then leaves for the kitchen without another word.

I head to the bathroom and wash up, wincing as I lathered soap on my body. I still have a lot of tiny cuts, and to my horror, the marks of a bruise is starting to bloom under the skin of my neck. It looks a little better after dousing some ice-cold water on it, but it’s still there.

My usual turtleneck sweaters it is, then.

“It’s ready!” Mom calls from downstairs, and I approach her, carrying my backpack.

I don’t know what I expected. Obviously not something elaborate. But I also didn’t expect to see four pieces of toast made from stale bread, with a dash of cheese and some wilted, yellowed lettuce.

“I’m not hungry,” I say immediately. “I should just go or I will miss the bus.”

“Then I will pack it for you,” she says, wrapping them in plastic and stuffing them in my bag. “Have a good day at school.”

I don’t know how to feel about her just acting so normal after everything.

Ignoring that, I just head outside to catch the bus. As it pulls up, I dump the toast in the trash and go in.

There’s no way I will pull that monstrosity out at the lunch table. I’m enough of an outcast as it is, gathering strange looks from the people at my school in the bus. If they see me with nothing but toast and lettuce, I will get laughed out of the school.

I walk up the aisle to find a vacant seat. The kids block the empty seats with their bag, but I manage to find a spot at the back.

Thankfully, the ride is short. I arrive in no time and meet Nadine.

The hours at school pass by early. Lunch comes, and Nadine disappears to meet Aiden somewhere. Since I don’t have any money, I just go to the library and read something to make my hunger pass.

But by the second half of the day, I start to feel woozy. I manage to get to my classes just fine, but there’s already a thin film of white in my vision.

My stomach keeps rumbling. But I still manage to leave my last class and meet Nadine at the gate.

“Livia, there you are!” Nadine beams, holding me by the shoulders. “Are you alright? You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine,” I say, but my stomach rumbles. I wrap an arm around my waist. “How about you? How did things go with Aiden during lunch?”

“Well.” She smiles and lowers her voice. “We kissed.”

“Nadine!” I squeeze her arm. But I have no clue if it’s from excitement of weakness. “How did it go? How was it?”

“Amazing.” She lets out a squeak and squeezes me back. “We’re meeting again tomorrow!”

She pulls me right out of the gate to wait for her ride, and I try to walk with her. But the ground under my feet lurches.

Nadine is still talking about the kiss and the date. I want to maintain my excitement. I want to jump around with her, knowing this means a lot. But my energy is waning with every step.

The surroundings are turning white. My chest is going hard. I try to keep up, but my limbs feel like jelly.

“Nadine,” I manage to gasp.

Not knowing it’s the last word I’m going to utter before my entire world goes dark and I fall onto the cold hard concrete sidewalk.

And the last thing I hear is my name from Nadine’s lips.

Followed by her urgent call.

“Dad! Help her!”