When she arrived home, she made sure to tread as lightly as possible so her father would have no reason to pay attention to her. He was seated at his office space in the corner of the kitchen, buried underneath paperwork. He barely noticed Pax was there. She quietly set to work, assembling a makeshift dinner for the two of them out of the variety of packaged food items that were stashed away in the kitchen. She heated up a hodgepodge of burger patties, instant mashed potatoes and frozen gravy, and some boxed macaroni. She fixed up a plate, then quietly set a tray on the edge of the desk next to her father and freshened his glass of bourbon.
Her father looked over at the plate and muttered an awkward “thanks” as he took the tray.
“I’m headed to my room to do some homework, then I’m going
