On Thin Ice

20

Dad didn't say anything when he came home Sunday evening. He was oddly quiet and calm, not what I'd expect from him just coming home from my mother's. Even without the situation at hand, their relationship was strained.

After I cleaned off my face and grabbed some ice for my swollen skin, Fox and I sat in the living room waiting for my father to return. He hadn't been gone long, but I was still nervous about what might have went on.

"Dad?" I timidly called out as he sat down on the recliner.

"Hm?" he hummed, looking over at me.

"What happened?"

He sighed, looking to Fox and then back at me as if debating whether he should say anything in front of him. I nodded, assuring him he could speak in front of Fox.

Dad sighed. "Your mother is not allowed to contact you anymore. If she does, you need to tell me."

I nodded in agreement. I assumed he would do something like that, and at the moment it didn't bother me too much.

"And I'm pressing charges against Dave," he added.

I groaned, pressing the ice harder against my face. I exchanged a look with Fox, who had an emotionless expression on his face, before looking back at my father.

"You don't need to do that," I told him.

"He assaulted you," Dad retorted, raising his eyebrows.

"Please," I pleaded, "I don't want to deal with going to court or whatever."

"You probably won't have to," Dad assured me. "He'll probably just end up with a fine."

I was about to argue with him further, but Fox put his hand on my shoulder, signaling for me to stop. I knew I wasn't going to win this argument with my father. He cared too much for me to let Dave get away scot-free.

"Then what's the point of pressing charges?" I asked with a pleading look.

"To send a message that I'm not going to let him get away with touching my kid," Dad seethed in a low tone.

I had never seen him look so angry. He was always such a laid back guy, but I watched as he huffed and puffed in anger, not even looking like himself. Dad glanced over at me and his face softened.

"Are you alright, Elijah?" he asked me, glancing toward the ice I was holding up to my face.

I sighed. "I'm fine." I stood up from the couch and looked down at Fox. "I'm going to just head to bed."

Fox nodded and stood up as well.

"Keep icing that," Fox told me with a stern look before moving to leave the living room. Dad pulled him to the side and said something to him too quiet for me to hear as I was already heading toward the stairs.

The next morning, I got a good look at myself in the mirror to see that the side of my nose was swollen and underneath my eye was bruised. There was still a dull ache in the area of my wound, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was yesterday.

When I went downstairs, I was met with three pairs of wide eyes. Mindy looked as if my father had already told her about what happened, but Josh and Ava looked completely shocked when they saw my bruised face.

"What the hell?" Josh asked, pointing toward me. Mindy slapped him lightly on the shoulder and shook her head at both of her children, Ava looking as if she was going to speak up as well.

I didn't want to discuss what happened with any of them, so I just walked through the kitchen to get myself some breakfast, not paying their intrusive stares.