Chapter 9 Dad
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The thwarted plan of the day had stoked the smoldering rage
within him.
What a pity! I’ve come so close to making Kenneth vanish from
the face of the earth.
With his hands in his pockets, he felt the medicine bottle nestled there.
As he reached his front door and pushed it open, the dim, yellowish light revealed a middle–aged man slumped on the sofa. The air in the room reeked, and several empty beer bottles were strewn carelessly across the floor.
Lucas wrinkled his nose in disgust. Looking at his drunken father, Gabriel Thompson, he was eager to retreat to his room.
“Wait, wait a sec, hic!”
Hearing the noise, Gabriel sat up and called out to Lucas in a
hurry.
He tried to stagger over and grab Lucas, hiccupping all the while, but his inebriation made his steps unsteady.
He crashed to the floor with a thud and then struggled to get up.
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Lucas shut his eyes, wishing he could flee this suffocating place right away. The gloomy and cramped environment was pushing him to the brink of a breakdown.
“What do you want?” Lucas snapped impatiently.
Gabriel grinned. “Hey, son, could you go get me two bottles of wine? It’s just across the street. That’ll do me for tonight, hic.”
As he spoke, Gabriel tried to stand up, but his limbs were too weak from the alcohol. So he just plopped back down on the floor and casually grabbed a nearby beer bottle, peering inside to see if
there was any left.
The sight made Lucas‘ scalp tingle.
He held out his hand, demanding, “Give me the money.”
Gabriel laughed again, his face flushed from the booze as he
clutched the bottle.
“I’m broke. Aren’t you dating two rich girls now? The money they give you every day isn’t enough to buy your old man a couple of bottles of booze? I’m not even asking for the fancy stuff!”
With that, he suddenly hurled the bottle straight at Lucas. The flying glass whizzed by, barely missing slicing his ankle.
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Lucas stumbled back a couple of steps and crashed into the wall. A cloud of dust billowed down, making it incredibly hard to
breathe.
“Ugh! You’ve got a perfectly good pair of hands and feet. Why don’t you go out and find a job? I’m still a student, for crying out loud! And here you are, asking me for money. I haven’t even asked you for a cent!”
“All I’m asking for is two bottles of booze, and you’re giving me such a hard time. What’re you gonna be like when you grow up?!”
Trying to reassert his long–lost authority as a father, Gabriel whipped out his belt, just like he used to do when Lucas was a
little kid.
Lucas balled his fists, ready to fight back.
But Gabriel could only stagger a couple of unsteady steps before he leaned against the wall for support.
Gabriel realized his son had grown into a young man and wasn’t as easy to boss around as before. His eyes darted around furtively, and then he resorted to being a pain in the neck.
“If you don’t get me that booze, I’ll march straight to your school tomorrow and tell those two rich girls all about you. Let’s see if
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they still wanna be around you!”
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Even though Lucas had known what a lowlife his father was for a long time, he just couldn’t hold back his anger at that moment.
I’ve finally found a glimmer of hope to turn my life around, but why does my father keep dragging me down into the mud?
His hands were clenched so tightly that he teetered on the brink of losing control.
Lucas wanted to lash out at Gabriel several times, but in the end, he managed to hold himself back.
It’s not worth screwing up my whole life over a good–for–nothing.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, he wordlessly strode out of the door to buy the booze for Gabriel.
Shame welled up in his heart, and faintly, he could hear Gabriel’s smug laughter trailing behind him, as if Gabriel had won yet another round in their never–ending battle.
Lucas clapped his hands over his ears, as if that simple act could shield him from the harsh reality that was his life.
When he first got in touch with Eleanor, she had proposed finding him a new place to live. But then, his father got wind of everything.
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Gabriel demanded that Luces take him along. With Gabriel’s rough, hooligan–like appearance, if Eleanor and Victoria found out he’d been pulling the sympathy card on them all this time, all the hard–fought progress he’d made would go up in smoke in an
instant.
Helpless, Lucas was stuck in this dilapidated dump, enduring
those agonizing moments day in and day out.
The grimmer his real life became, the more he seethed with hatred
for Kenneth!
He resented that Kenneth had it all, living such a charmed life.
If Kenneth hadn’t crossed my path back then, if I hadn’t tasted
that slice of a better life, would I have ended up like this?
Closing his eyes, he knew this shabby road like the back of his hand; he’d walked it thousands of times and still strode steadily.
When Lucas opened his eyes again, he’d made up his mind.
I can’t keep struggling like this. What Kenneth has, I should have too. Everything should be mine!
After he got back, Gabriel’s eyes lit up at the sight of the bottles in Lucas‘ hand. His wobbly legs suddenly steadied, and he rushed
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forward, eager to take a swig.
“Hold it!” Lucas stopped him, his eyes cold and emotionless.
“If you blabber something outside and mess things up for me, not only will I be in trouble, but your lazy, booze–filled days will be over. Think it through.”
As Lucas spoke, Gabriel chuckled and snatched the bottles. He was lazy, but not stupid. He wouldn’t be so daft as to ruin this good life.
“Good boy, all I want is for you to be okay. Whatever you say, I’ll follow. Since you don’t want me to spill the beans, I won’t.”
After saying that, Gabriel gulped down the booze, sighing in
contentment.
Lucas turned away in annoyance, went into his room, and locked the door, ignoring the noise outside. If something happened to Gabriel, it might even be a blessing in disguise for him.
Early the next morning, when Lucas opened the door, there lay his father, passed out cold right in front of his room. Lucas knelt down briefly, checking for his breathing.
“Still kicking,” he muttered under his breath, disappointment
lacing his voice. With a swift kick, he nudged his father aside.
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It was the weekend, and last week, he’d dropped some subtle hints to Victoria about taking him to the game.
Excitement bubbled within him as he prepared to head out. As hel stepped outside, he saw Eleanor waiting in the car. The sunlight. glinted off the vehicle, making it look like a beacon of hope in hist otherwise dreary world.
Lucas waved at them, his face lighting up with a sunny and cheerful smile.
“Whoa, what’s the hurry? Look at you, all sweaty,” Eleanor said, grinning as she handed him a tissue.
Victoria leaned forward from the backseat, adding, “Yeah, check out that sweat. You can cool off in the AC.”
Lucas took the tissue and wiped the water he’d sprayed on his head just before coming out. He blushed slightly, smiling shyly as he held out something to Eleanor.
“I went out to grab a gift. I was afraid you’d start getting antsy waiting for me, Eleanor. Look, this is what I just picked up. There aren’t many decent things around here, and I’m not exactly rolling in dough. But I thought it’d be a nice gesture to show some respect to your mom. I still feel like I need to give her a proper apology for what went down yesterday.”
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Eleanor was caught off guard. She never saw it coming that Lucas Would buy a gift. A whirlwind of emotions swirled inside her.
Last night, her mom had sat her down and dissected Lucas‘ possible motives.
Yet here he was, having prepared a present for her mom and fretting that his apology might seem insincere.
As Eleanor thought about how she’d let her mom’s words make her second–guess her feelings for Lucas, a pang of guilt shot through her.
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