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“You remind me of your mother. At first glance, a defenseless sheep, but deep inside, a feisty lioness.” Despite the smile, I keep piercing him with my stern gaze, waiting to hear more.
“Thanks. Now tell me, what’s the deal with Damien?” Dad shakes his head and smiles.
“I can’t disclose too much because it’d get me in trouble, but there’s a legal proceeding against him, Ava. He’s waiting for a criminal trial. And as the prosecutor, I’m involved.”Legal proceeding?
“So, you’re going to put him behind bars?” I ask, slightly anxious.
“It’s not up to me, sweetie. The judge will decide on that.”
“But you’re against him on trial, and you’re going to do whatever it takes to prove he committed whatever he actually did or didn’t do?” I’ve never been as invested in law as I am right now. Why is my heart beating like crazy at the thought of Damien possibly going to jail? I barely know the guy.
“I’m just going to do my job, Ava. If he’s innocent, the trial will prove that.” I fall silent as my dad reaches for the volume knob of the radio.
“This song reminds me of your mother.” He starts singing ‘The Way You Look Tonight’by Frank Sinatra as my gaze falls to the passing trees once again.
My eyes close as I start to replay the events on the dance floor when the text tone of my phone startles me. A message from an unknown number.
Unknown:
Hey Firefly.
I hope I didn’t get you into too much trouble.
I sit here and stare at the text, and I type a response, delete it, type, delete. I finally give up and throw my phone in my bag.
The rest of the weekend passes by rather uneventfully. It’s the first weekend in a long time when my dad is actually at home, so we are using that opportunity to spend some quality time together. I know the upcoming week will be hectic for him, and I will be spending most of my time alone again. Not that I mind, but sometimes I feel lonely, and I wish my mom were still with us.
Monday morning rolls around, and Lilac has been here talking incessantly while I’m getting dressed for class.
“So what?!” She screams in my face.
“Cheese and crackers, Lilah! So what, what?”
“Stop spacing out,” she says as she swirls her fingers on both sides of her head and crosses her eyes.
“Are you insinuating that I’m crazy?”
Completely ignoring me, she continues, “This isn’t the first time your dad told you to stay away from a guy, Ava. What makes this time any different?” She kicks out her foot, slaps her hands on her hips, purses her lips together, and widens her eyes at me.
“You have that whole look down, don’t ya? Now tuck in that hoof of yours before you trip me.” I kick her shoe to emphasize my point. “This is one time when I believe not talking to those guys would be for the best.”
“Fuck your dad, Ava! He would keep you in a bubble your whole life if he could! You’re twenty-one, the age of mistakes and hot boys and mistakes involving hot boys. It’s not like you are robbing a bank with him. It’s just a couple of innocent dates,” she yammers on.
I pick my phone up to put it in my bag.
“Text him back right now.”
“Now?”
“Right now, or you’re walking your ass to school.”
“Rude…,” I exhale and dig my phone out of the bag.
Lilac stands there, arms crossed, and obviously gets bored and walks over to my makeup.
I can hear her talking about the shades of lipstick. I glance up and watch her trying my “Vicious Trollop” red. I don’t have time to worry about her; my hands are shaking, thinking about how I can message this piece of danger I so eloquently crave.
Me:
