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Cyrus pushed Layla out of the way slightly, his eyes zoning in on me and I knew what he was looking for: evidence. So I pushed my hair to the side, tucking it behind my ear. Geez, my hair wasn’t even close to covering it. Cyrus just hadn’t seen it because I had kept my side to him till now.

Well, now was judgment time. Cyrus had the facts; was he going to believe the suspicions that his Vice President had been feeding him and think the worst of Dad or see it as what it was: a daughter getting the better of her father. A daughter who didn’t deserve the love her dad gave her so openly.

Yeah, I didn’t deserve Dad at all. I knew that. Which was why it had made it so much harder for me to try and come out of my room. I couldn’t face him when all he had done wrong was love me. And what did I do? I’d used that love he had for me against him.

“Did Layla ever tell you about her early teenage years when she was learning pole dancing?” Cyrus spoke directly to me.

I shook my head.

“I was against the sport. Still am. But her and her mother have this unnatural talent for it. When Layla was learning a higher level and when she didn’t have the upper body strength she has now, she fell a lot from the top of the pole.” Cyrus ran his hand down his beard. “Bruises and broken bones all the time. Got to the stage where she stopped going to get her bones reset. She used to say…”

“A broken bone tells a story and you learn from each break what not to do,” Layla finished her dad’s sentence.

“Anyway, how old were you, Layla?” Cyrus looked at her.

“Fifteen.”

“She was fifteen,” Cyrus nodded his head. “She was competing and was at a high level but she decided that league wasn’t good enough for her and she wanted to go to the next class.”

I had no idea how this story of Layla pole dancing related to mine and Dad’s situation.

“Anyway, Layla and I were fighting out front; we still can’t remember what it was over. End result was I backhanded her.” His eyes were locked on Layla. “A few weeks later, the cops rock up on our door. I was used to them always putting their nose into our lives. I thought it was related to the club. Though Layla being on the pole didn’t look great in my case.”

I glanced at Layla; she seemed uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“The neighbors next door reported me for abusing Layla. Department of Human Resources were on the case and Layla’s body was covered in bruises cause she had been back at practicing. That didn’t look good for me. But it was the X-ray and report of Layla’s unhealed and not set broken bones that got the charges to stick.” Cyrus sighed. “The case didn’t even go to court. It was a slam dunk for the defense.”

Wait. Cyrus went to prison? Why had Layla never mentioned this? My eyes went to Layla; how could she not mention this?

“How long did you get?” Eve broke the silence, and asked the question we were all thinking. Child abuse was a lengthy sentence.

“Not meant to be out for another eleven years,” Cyrus answered Eve’s question. “I gave up fighting the sentence. I was already over a year into my sentence. It was what it was.” Cyrus’s eyes went to Layla. “Same couldn’t be said for my daughter who did a five-hour re-enactment of how she got every broken bone. The defense said it wasn’t possible. She was lying to protect her father.”

Is that the angle the lawyers went with? If so, then how was Cyrus out?

“But,” Cyrus continued the story, “Layla went extra length and re-broke every bone while in the re-enactment in front of them all and didn’t even let onto the jury or the defense lawyers that she had done it. In fact, it was only confirmed when she insisted them doing another body X-ray.”

I looked at Layla, how the hell did she have the pain tolerance for that?

“Got released immediately. It got wiped off my record, and also a lot of shit I had done and was guilty of was also wiped off my record at the same time. End of the day,” Cyrus’s eyes went to Dad, “I know what it is like for someone to get the wrong impression of you. And how some things can be misleading to a stranger’s eye.”

Now I saw the connection that story had with mine and Dad’s situation.

“How about I tell my VP to stay the fuck out of your house?” Cyrus extended a hand to Dad. And with one handshake, peace was restored and the tension in the air was gone. I think I wasn’t the only one who took a deep breath.

The carefree grin that Cyrus always had was back on his face.

“Yeah, and you can tell him she’s out of his league, too.” Dad was serious but had a smile on his face. “You ready to drop that shit about not drinking?”

Cyrus laughed, “Was I that easy to read?”

“Come on, we all know you don’t drink on enemy territory.” Dad mentioned a rule I wasn’t familiar with, though it did seem like common sense.

“Alright, let’s get this dinner actually going.” Meg walked toward Mum. “I hope tea isn’t cold.”

“No, no, all in the oven, just waiting to be served.” Mum headed into the kitchen with Meg following.

I guessed Eve and I should help—after all, it was meant to be our pre-birthday dinner. I gestured for Eve to head with me into the kitchen.

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