Chapter 7 - Desperation and Threats
Cornered animals are the most dangerous.
My parents were out on bail, awaiting trial, and their lives were completely falling apart. They were forced to sell their mansion before the bank foreclosed, moving into a cheap, cramped apartment across town. Their friends abandoned them. The country club revoked their membership.
One evening, I was taking the trash out when a dark sedan pulled up to the curb of my driveway.
My father stepped out. He looked like he had aged twenty years in three months. He was disheveled, smelling strongly of cheap whiskey, and his eyes were manic.
"You think you've won, don't you?" he slurred, stumbling toward me.
I didn't back away. I reached into my coat pocket and gripped the handle of my pepper spray. "You're violating your bail conditions by being here, Richard. Leave."
"I am your father!" he roared, pointing a trembling finger in my face. "I gave you everything! And you destroy me over a kid who doesn't even know what money is? Call off the dogs, Sarah. Tell the DA you made a mistake, or I swear to God—"
"Or what?" I interrupted, stepping closer to him, my voice turning to ice. "You'll throw me away like trash? You'll humiliate me in front of the family? You already did that. You have nothing left to threaten me with. You have no money, no power, and no family."
He raised his hand, as if he was going to strike me.
Instantly, the front porch floodlights flared on. My neighbor, a retired police officer who knew exactly what was going on, stepped out onto his lawn with his phone in his hand.
"Hey! Back away from her!" the neighbor shouted.
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My father froze, his face twisting with pure hatred. He slowly lowered his hand, spat on my driveway, and got back into his car.
I called the police before his taillights even disappeared down the street. By midnight, his bail was revoked. Richard Vance was going to wait for his trial in a jail cell.
