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"I asked you a question." My father presses, taking two steps closer to me. I can't help but react by taking two steps backwards.
"Nowhere in particular. Just went out for some fresh air." I simply reply as I turn around to enter my room. To my horror my father grabs my upper arm in a forceful way, making me turn around to face him again.
"Don't lie to me." He hisses under his breath, "You know what happens when you lie."
"I'm not nine anymore." I spat back, pulling my arm away from him as I continue. "I'm not afraid of you. I do not have to explain myself or my actions to you. I'm an adult now."
"Are you really?" He takes a threatening step closer to me while narrowing his empty eyes, nearly fuming at my words. A bitter silence falls as I take another step backwards, my back hitting the wall and indicating that I will not get out of this situation easily.
"Ryan?" A sound interrupts us, immediately making my father take a step backwards and try to hide his monstrous side. I turn my head around to what seems like my guardian angel and see Cole striding towards us.
"I heard noises coming from here." Cole continues, looking at my father with a frown and then turning to me. "What's going on Brooklyn?" He asks me, nearly pretending that my father, his head guard, is not standing in front of me and knows he is the cause of all this.
I don't say a word as tears well up in my eyes, taking this opportunity to quickly go into my room and lock the door behind me.
I get into my bed and curl up into a tiny ball, trying to disappear beneath my sheets. As I lay there in complete silence, I hear my father and Cole talk in front of my door. Cole tells him that we were together and that he was just telling me about some memories he made in this prison because I couldn't sleep. My father has a stern tone and tells him that he should just mind his own business, or he would take away his night shifts.
As their slightly hushed conversation goes on, I force my eyes shut and feel the tears stream down my face.
Maybe I really shouldn't have come here because only then I'd be able to avoid my father more often. But how right would it be to let go of some of my dreams just because of him?
I lied earlier. I am in fact terrified of him. I'm afraid of what he'd might do to me. I've seen too much that confirms this man does not have any patience or genuine love, not even for his own wife and daughter.
Drowning in these melancholic midnight thoughts, I slowly feel my exhaustion and sadness take over as I fall into a deep slumber.
The next morning, I wake up early and after grabbing my cup of coffee, I head straight towards the room. Taking out my phone, I text Lexi, my closest friend since high school, asking her when she'll be able to apply for an internship here.
Before I started a week ago, I tried convincing her to do her nursing internship here, at the healthcare of this prison. She wasn't sure and even though she loves me, she told me she'd apply to other places first. For as far as I know, she hasn't gotten any positive answers yet.
