I watched as my mother cooked out dinner. I sat there and stared. I slowly breathed in and out. "Happy birthday, baby!" I looked to see my mom place a plate of rice and gravy in front of me. I looked up to see my mother's warm smile.
"Thanks, Mom." I looked forward as she took her seat at the head of the table. I looked at the chair directly in front of me. That chair is supposed to be where my father sits.
It's so empty. "He would have been so proud of you."
My eyes lingered back to my mother's hazel ones. "Don't talk like he's dead," I said through clenched teeth.
She looked down. "You know I didn't mean it like that, baby," my mother said with regret in her voice. "It's just you have grown up to be such a responsible, caring, intelligent, young lady. You also have achieved your dream. That's all your daddy ever wanted."
I smiled reassuringly. "I know. I'm sorry, Mama."
She returned the smile. "It's okay, baby. Now, dig in before it gets cold!"
I did as I was told and put a forkful of rice and gravy into my mouth. I sighed. This is my most favorite food in the world!
"Hey, sorry I'm late," Emily said as I heard her come in the front door and close it behind her. "Happy 19th birthday, sis!"
I watched as she place a present in my lap and took her usual seat next to me. "Thanks, Em," I said, not as enthusiastic as it was supposed to come out as. I never liked birthdays, at least, ever since my tenth birthday.
"Ha, Daddy! Higher!" I squeezed my daddy's hand, asking him to swing me once more.
"Philip, it's getting pretty late," my mom said. I looked up at her as she glanced down at me with a smile.
I heard my dad chuckle. I love my daddy.
"I hope you had a great tenth birthday, Squirt," my daddy said. "It's the big two digits! Wanna ride on my shoulders?"
I nodded excitedly as he smiled and gently lifted me up onto his strong shoulders. "Be careful with her," my mom warned my dad.
"She's fine," my dad said.
I looked up to see the streets of L.A. I always like to count how many people I saw. Strangely, my count came down to zero. No one was out tonight. We were just now passing a small store called Big Steve's. I've never been in there before.
"Hey, man!" My daddy turned around and I was faced to see two, muscular, like my daddy, but they looked a lot rougher than him. They had unshaved faces and stained clothes. I was afraid, but I also felt protected at the same time since I was with my daddy.
"Yes?" my daddy asked as he lifted me off of his shoulders and handed me to my mommy. I didn't understand what was going on. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, I want your money!" he yelled as he pulled a knife out of his jacket. I squeezed onto my mommy.
My dad put his hands up and moved in front of my mommy and me. "Come on, now, we don't want any trouble."
"Then give us your money," the second man said.
"We don't have any money," my mommy said slowly with a cracky voice. She sounded scared, she's never sounded scared before.
The guy holding the knife smiled. "We'll just take the girl then." He roughly took me out of my mom's hands and the last of my protection. "Mommy?" I questioned her. I still didn't understand what was going on.
"No!" my mommy shrieked. I started to cry and kick at the strange man, but he only grabbed tighter, hurting me in the process. I stopped kicking after him violently digging his nails into my hands.
My dad moved closer to me and the strange man. "Give her to us," my dad said. I was even more scared. I have never seen him so violent or scary before.
The scary man roughly pulled me to his side. I took in the smell of cigarettes and alcohol. "What if I don't?" The other man punched my daddy in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground clutching it.
"Daddy!" I screamed. I felt the tears starting to fall down my cheeks as I looked at my mother when she screamed also. She was already crying by the time the other man grabbed her roughly.
I watched as my daddy stood up, still holding his stomach. "Please, just let them go and we won't report you to the police… I promise." I watched as he slowly walked over to the strange man and me. "Just please let them go."
The scary man put the knife up to my throat. "Each step you take will force me to push this blade harder. Now if you're smart, you will know what that will end with."
My daddy immediately stopped moving as I heard my mommy sob. I think this is when I'm supposed to die. I looked up at my daddy's eyes. They had become much more softer now, filled with pain and suffering. I looked at my mother. She was staring at me, eyes blood shot, also with misery and regret. "It's going to be okay, baby," my mother whispered, her lip quivering as she said it. I have always believed my parents. Strangely, I don't think this will be "okay". My dad quickly said, "There's no need to do this. Just let her go or-"
"Or what?" the man asked. My dad stepped closer to me and I felt the cold, sharp blade get pushed into my neck harder; I screamed in pain. "You're killing her!" the strange man screamed.
Again, my dad stopped in mid-step. "Mark, take care of him," the strange man said as he nodded towards my daddy.
What happened next went by all too fast.
"Mark" let go of my mommy and punched my daddy, but my daddy grabbed his hand and punched him in his stomach. I screamed at how scary he looked. Before I knew it, Mark was on the ground, blood seeping from his head. I looked up slowly to see my daddy, staring at the strange man, who was slowly releasing his grip on me.
"Mark," the man breathed.
"Come here, Brittany." I slowly got out of the strange man's grasp and ran over to my daddy, clinging onto his legs for life. The strange man ran away, running as fast as he could. I expected my daddy to run after him, but instead, he grabbed hold of me tightly. "It's going to be okay, Brittany," my daddy said in a surprisingly soothing voice. This time, I believed him, but I couldn't stop staring at the dead man lying in front of me.
I watched as my daddy was declared guilty in the murder of Mark Monroe. Of course, I didn't know what that meant at the time. I also watched as my father was sentenced to ten years in prison. I watched as my mother silently cried and clung onto both Emily and I. Emily didn't know what was happening either, since she is three years younger than me and was 7 at the time. Eventually, when I spent about a year asking where my father was, my mother finally explained it to me.
Ever since then, Emily and I have been joining charities about alcohol and drug abuse and other things. We can also relate to other kids who have gone through what we have gone through. But, the main thing we stood up for was injustice, people who were treated unfairly, like my father. I use him as the perfect example. The court declared him guilty which was false: he did kill Mark but in self-defense, which is not against the law.
"Brittany?" I looked up to see Emily staring at me with a concerned look. "Are you okay?" I nodded. "Are you sure?"
I laughed and smiled. "Absolutely fine." Not exactly, but lying is when being a famous actress comes in handy.
"Open your present real quick!" Emily said with a big smile. "I'm definitely positive you'll love it."
I slid my plate away ad put the box on the table. "I better," we both laughed. I unwrapped it and saw it was an envelope with Brittany in script written on the front. I looked up to see my mother smiling. Hesitantly, I opened my letter and saw even more scripted words.
Dear Brittany,
Hey, Squirt. It's your daddy! Happy birthday my beautiful little girl! Or, should I say young lady! I've missed you so much! Your mama sent me a letter and a picture to remind me that it was your birthday. Of course, I already knew. Well, Squirt, I don't have much more time to write this, so I'm going to make it short and sweet. I love you. You know that, right? Of course you do! Well, about one more year and I get to see your beautiful face again. Once more, I hope you have a great 19th birthday! I love you my little angel.
-Love,
Daddy
I smiled and wiped away the single tear that was crawling down my cheek. It was a rare occasion when I would get a personal letter from my father. "Love, Daddy," I said one more time aloud. My mom rubbed my arm as Emily gave me a tight hug. I looked at his chair and smiled. "I love you too, Daddy."