Page 103 of The Sun
38
Sunny
April 2000
Ipicked up a weekend job waiting tables at Coconut Larry’s to help with bills. As easy as it looked to serve people food, it wasn’t. People, I quickly learned, were rude. A four-hour shift ended up feeling like twelve, and I left smelling like a tater tot. But, I wouldn’t dare complain because I was making my own money.
When I pulled into the drive, two cop cars were parked by the house. Judah, Atlas, and Elias stood in the side yard, faces red and hands in their pockets.
I knew whatever this was, my father was most likely behind it, and it sent hot fury through my veins. I slammed the door to the truck. “What’s going on?” I asked Elias.
“They evidently have a warrant to search the house for drugs.”
“Daddy did this, didn’t he?” I marched right up the stairs and into the living room.
The cops had torn the cushions off the couch, ripped up the air vents. Emptied the kitchen cabinets.
I spotted Joe, one of Daddy’s friends who had been on the force since I was little, and I strode up to him. “Who issued the warrant?”
Joe closed one of the cabinets. “Your father.”
My heart hammered and hammered until I felt short of breath and found myself clasping at my chest. Meanwhile, Joe and the other officers continued their raid.
“You’re not gonna find anything here,” I said.
“Sorry, Sunny.” Joe gave a curt nod, then walked down the hall to Judah’s room.
I wanted to scream, so I did just that. I grabbed the remote from the coffee table and slung it against the wall, shouting over and over that I hated my father. Instead of making things better, he only made them worse, and it pained me. It was almost as though he didn’t care that he hurt me, and that was a new, unwanted sensation.
My father had always tried to protect me, but now I felt he was trying to destroy me. Bit by bit. I didn’t want him to hate me; I just wanted him to see what I saw in Elias. Someone who loved me unconditionally. Someone who made me happy. All Daddy saw was a delinquent, and Elias was so far from that it was ridiculous.
Eventually, I went outside and sat on the steps. Elias strolled toward me, cigarette in hand. “It’s all right,” he said, a stream of smoke slipping through his lips. Despite his house being ransacked on pure principle that my father disliked him, Elias laughed.
“How you aren’t livid is beyond me.”
“I like to find beauty in all things.”
“And what beauty is there in this?” I asked.
He took another slow drag, the smoke swirling around his face when he let the breath go. “Your dad’s gonna feel like an asshole when they go back to him with nothing.”
“You give him more credit than you should.” I took the cigarette from his hand, and he gave me a crazy look before stealing it back.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No. It’s bad for you.”
“You’re supposedly bad for me, too.” I snatched it away again, this time placing it to my lips. One puff had me doubled over and coughing. I tossed the thing to the dry grass and stomped it out.
“Told you,” Elias said with a smirk.
The police cameout with nothing but a six pack of Miller Lite. Joe tipped his hat, and I glared at him, even though he was simply following orders. “Be sure to tell my dad that was my beer you just confiscated!”
Joe frowned before climbing into his patrol car.
“Lies. Lies. Lies.” Elias tsked. “You don’t even like beer.”
I stomped up the rickety steps and into the pillaged living room, cursing and swearing under my breath as I picked up the couch cushions and shoved them back in place. Elias and his brothers came in behind me, and without a word, began putting the dishes away in the cupboards.
