I looked down at my Converses. I was too ashamed to admit it infront of him. I finally decided to stare into his intimidating eyes. "Yes, Sir", I felt a wave of nervousness come over my body as I awaited his response.
He sat back in his chair "Sit next to me", he patted the couch that sat next to him.
I sat down waiting for a lecture. "I would kill Jackie for doing drugs but only because she's never truly known struggle. I also simply raised her better than that."
"I know Mr. Mayes, we still study that testimony you gave during court for your friend Jack. I-I'm not a junkie I swear, I just need to get away from it all, two… three weeks wasn't enough. So ecstasy took the edge off today."
He stared at me "Your Father was a Prick, I'm not surprised , Adler Dawson, right?"
"How did you, know?", I asked.
"He threw house parties, he was a friend of my wife's for awhile. She forced me to get along with him, and I've seen him hit your mother countless times. I couldn't fucking stand the idea of all these rich shallow pricks laughing thinking it was a joke, including my wife. So I left, and never came back to any of his after-game parties… I think that was a bit after his injury."
I nodded.
He looked at me again with sympathy "I saw you in the corner that night, it was probably 2am and peaked around the corner, so I'm guessing you witnessed the same slap I did."
I started to tear up.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-", he spoke.
"I'm fine, I was just caught off guard is all", I leaned back, sinking into the couch."
I started at him " Do you love your wife?", I asked.
He glared at me, I immediately sensed that I had struck a nerve.
He coldly replied "No."
After a brief silence, he stood up to grab wine from his bookcase " Just because I don't love her doesn't mean that I don't love my daughter, and it certainly does not give me any excuse to hit my wife."
I sighed "I'm not defending my father for any of his actions but he had some twisted type of love he showed my mother."
He grabbed the wine and two glasses, setting them on the table in front of the couch "That isn't love… or twisted love. It simply is a nasty product of Limerence."
"Limerence?", I asked.
He poured two glasses of wine, handing me one.
"Romantic Obsession, but what your father did doesn't need an explanation, it's just plain old abuse", he spoke.
He handed me the wine glass before he sat back down. I shook the wine glass a bit before sipping it "How could such a smart woman end up with an idiot", I clenched the wine glass.
Her dad chucked "He had money, and when she had you, she stayed with him to protect you. But, it was probably the other way around… because you tried protecting your mother."
He finger-combed his dark brown hair giving me a distant stare "I'm sorry, I've gone too far, haven't I?"
I smiled at him "No, I like hearing what you think."
I continued "I like that you're not bullshitting or sugar coating", I chuckled.
He smiled looking at the fireplace "You're smart, I don't want to see you wallow in your own self pity.
"It's fun though", I smiled.
"I like to be edgy", I continued.
He chuckled at me. "Hey, Mr. Mayes, can I ask you something?"
He poured another glass of wine for us "Please, call me Lior."
"Nevermind", I spoke.
He chuckled "Well, Spit it out will ya, Caden?"
"Caden?", I asked in confusion.
He froze in place as his eyes widened in shock.