“Adora is easy.”
“She is never easy. Neither was her mother.”
“Maybe you don’t know how to tame them, old man.”
“I’m not much older than you, Scott, sowatch your mouth.” They went silent, and I stuck to that door, listening. Jerome had just gone to sleep, and I was returning to bed. Some nights I fell asleep in his bed and would wake up with Scott pulling at my arm to go to our bed because he wanted sex.
I hated those nights most of all.
Tonight, though, I was on my way back to our room.
“You know, dealing with me gets you the things you want. Did I not give you what you wanted?” Scott asks.
“Money,” my father answers.
“Yes, and plenty more of that.”
My father has money, but it seems when you have a lot of it, you still want more.
“She isn’t even sixteen yet.”
“I like them young.” I hear them move, and I run straight to our bedroom and sit heavily on the bed. That’s when I see Scott’s gun on his bedside table.
“Adora.”
“You plan to buy my sister?” I ask, and his lip quirks up.
“You were listening.”
“I was.”
He removes his belt from his trousers but pauses before continuing to undress. “Show me why I shouldn’t. You only fuck me when you want something. Show me why I shouldn’t buy her as well.”
And I do.
I have sex with him, even though I absolutely loathe him.
I kiss him, even though his lips are filled with lies.
I touch him as if he is a lover, not a villain.
That’s what he is to me.
A villain.
When I’m done and lying next to him, he touches my shoulder. “How nice is it going to be to have your sister here?” He gets up and heads to the shower.
That night, I kiss Jerome and leave the house.
And I pay a visit to my father.
Scott smilesat me from across the table. I was an adult when I left him, with hardly any life knowledge because I was stuck with him for years. Now, I am not the same person.
Life changes you.
I’m a woman now.
“You are a very beautiful woman, Adora. It’s the only reason you’re still sitting here.”