My Father Threw Me Out When I

Rachel shrank behind me.

Noah stood close at my shoulder, breathing hard.

Daniel’s eyes moved over all of us, then landed on Noah.

For the first time, his smile faltered.

“Well,” he murmured. “That’s unfortunate.”

My father stepped in front of us.

“I gave you money,” he said. “You should have stayed gone.”

Daniel laughed.

“You gave me enough to disappear. Not enough to forgive.”

He raised the gun.

Everything happened at once.

My father lunged.

The shot exploded in the enclosed space.

My mother screamed again.

Daniel staggered into the workbench, and the gun slid across the floor.

Noah kicked it under the car before I even realized what he was doing.

Rachel grabbed a metal jack handle and swung with every year stolen from her.

The blow cracked against Daniel’s skull.

He dropped.

He tried to rise.

My father, bleeding heavily now, grabbed his collar and rasped, “You don’t get another girl.”

Then he slammed his head into the concrete pillar.

Daniel went still.

Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder.