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Creed had always been an open book for me, but I wasn’t a kid anymore, and he wasn’t the teenager I used to know, either. We’d both grown, become who we were meant to be. Jury was out whether that was a good thing or not.
When I tell you I hated shopping, I meant shopping with anyone besides Creed, because really, it wasn’t so bad with him. Even if he didn’t say much, it was still fun. I still felt free—it was also a relief to know that we were shopping at places my dad would never go to, so it wasn’t like he’d see us.
I didn’t know what Dad would do if he saw me with Creed. He wasn’t exactly the kindest man, so I was sure he’d have some furious words for me, maybe some name-calling. He’d have some for Creed as well, probably demand some kind of money for abandoning him all those years ago, because he’d gotten used to having a wife who could help pay the bills and fund his drinking.
Yeah. My dad wasn’t a good guy. I knew that, of course. I wasn’t stupid. I knew a parent should never do the things he did or say the things he said, and yet I still caught myself making excuses for him, like he needed me to defend him and his honor.
He didn’t have any honor, though. My dad was as dishonorable as a person could be.
Anyway, back to the shopping. After we got some breakfast, we went everywhere. Like, literally everywhere. To the local mall, to the department stores, to a few places in the mall where I was able to get makeup and a few other things.
And I got everything. Clothes, shoes of all kinds, a few jackets, pajamas. Fuzzy blankets, a new set of sheets for the bed. More pillows. Soft towels, along with the other essentials.
We went to the office store, where Creed bought me a laptop to replace the one I’d left at home, along with a phone charger. He asked if I wanted a new phone, but seeing as how mine still worked, I said no. Maybe a part of me still viewed that cell phone as my one link to my dad, and I wasn’t quite ready to give it up yet.
The man had choked me out. He might’ve killed me if I hadn’t done what I did, so I shouldn’t want anything linking me back to him. He was an ass, and yet he was still my dad, the only family I had. No grandparents or aunts or uncles for me. Just me and dad. Maybe that’s why I’d taken his crap for so long.
As the day went by and Creed’s car grew full of bags and boxes, I lost track of how much he spent on me. He’d told me a few times not to worry about the price of things, that if I wanted something, I should get it. He’d persuaded me against getting a cheap laptop, guiding me to one that cost four times as much. The guy at the store said it was the best model they had.
As for my textbooks, I had to order them online, because the last thing I wanted to do was go to campus right now. Besides, I could find them cheaper online, anyways. Save a little bit after blowing so much of it today, even if it wasn’t my own money.
Creed didn’t seem to mind being dragged from place to place, nor did he seem to care about spending so much money on me. I didn’t think his card had a daily spending limit.
He didn’t talk much, though, and I wondered if it was because of what I’d said earlier, if me bringing up his mom had upset him. I hoped not, and I tried not to think about it too much. If he didn’t want to tell me, that was okay. He had every right not to tell me everything. We might be stepsiblings, but we were pretty much strangers after ten years, not knowing much about each other.
It wasn’t right, being strangers with Creed.
When we were done shopping for the day, Creed said he was going to put an order in at a restaurant and we’d pick it up and take it home with us… along with a literal car-load full of stuff, all for me. I didn’t think I’d ever gotten so much stuff in a single day before, and as uncomfortable as it was to spend someone else’s money, it was also kind of fun.
We got Chinese, and soon enough we were back at his place, sitting on the couch, eating. I’d turned on the TV and put something on—yes, thank God, the man had Netflix. He also had a bunch of other streaming services, which meant I’d never have nothing to watch. Anytime I wanted to watch a show that was a streamer exclusive, I had to go to Beth’s dorm room and watch it with her.
Beth. She was probably my best friend, I guess. We’d become friends after being partners in chem lab last year, and we’d commiserated enough that we’d bonded. She brought me into her friend group, a bunch of semi-nerdy girls and guys that all had the same interests, something I never had in school before.
I did miss Beth, but she was someone who didn’t know the dark truth of my life. She didn’t know about my dad or even that I had a stepbrother. I’d wanted her to be the one normal part of my life.
We’d brought up the bags in multiple trips, but nothing was unpacked. They littered the floor in the front area and the kitchen, some of them on the island countertop. I’d probably spend all night unpacking and getting everything how I wanted it.
Tomorrow was play with makeup day, figure out how to best cover the bruising on my neck so I didn’t have to wear a hoodie all the time.
I finished eating, leaning forward to set the empty to-go container on the coffee table in front of the sectional Creed and I currently sat on. When I turned my head to look at him, I found his dark eyes on me, not the television hanging across from us.
As I leaned back, tucking my legs under me, I said, “Thank you for today.” My textbooks were scheduled to be delivered later this week; I’d have to start anew on my papers and other homework, but I liked to think I was pretty good at that stuff, so I could whip it all out.
Creed was measured in looking away, dropping his stare to the small amount of food he had left. “You’re welcome,” he said. “When are you going back to school?”
“Probably not this week. I want to give this some time to heal before I do,” I said, lightly touching my neck. “I don’t want to answer a million questions if I can’t cover it up good enough.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to talk to your dad?” Something in his voice hardened. “I can set him straight.”
“No.” Never before had a word flown out of me so quickly. “No. Don’t.” Creed didn’t appear too thrilled at that, but I hoped that meant he’d begrudgingly listen to me. It wasn’t the first time he’d offered to speak to my dad, and I doubted it would be the last.
And, anyway, I was pretty sure he meant more than just talk. I had the feeling Creed would unleash his inner beast on my dad—but I wasn’t the kind of person who took glee in the thought of having someone else hurt like that, even if they did deserve it. My dad definitely did.
“You don’t really talk a lot about yourself,” I said, trying to change the subject. “What have you been up to the last ten years, besides working?” I always assumed he’d left, like, really left—as in the state—not that he was less than a half an hour away, just ignoring me and my existence. It still hurt when I thought about it… which was why I tried not to think about it.
Creed shrugged. “There’s not much to tell,” he said. He set his container near mine, leaning back and lifting his arms, resting them on the back of the couch. He sat two feet away, his knees apart. Wearing all black, with that dark hair and piercing black stare, he was the kind of guy a lot of ladies would love to latch onto. Handsome. Devilish, almost.
“Oh, come on,” I said, grinning at him. “There has to be something.”
