The Beautiful You

Twenty-six ~ Matilda

"Comprendes? You leave the house like that again and find out what happens," my dad said, clutching onto my car keys.

I crossed my arms against my chest, and stared at the door behind him as he punished me for storming out of the house last night. He never yelled at me like this. I had never done anything to upset him. Diego was always in charge of that.

Diego had left before I got back, and for some reason a part of me wished he had stayed or at least came out to find me. Instead, I just came home to find Mom and Dad in the living room waiting for me. Mom had been crying, and Dad was trying to comfort her by rubbing her shoulder.

"No car for two weeks, and—April can't come over," he said.

"Fine, easy," I said, shrugging. "It's not like I go anywhere, and April isn't even my girlfriend." I rose from my chair and started walking towards the stairs, but stopped as my dad said,

"You're not going to say anything else?"

I turned toward him and shook my head.

What was I supposed to apologize for?

His expression hardened as he clenched his jaw. It was a stone-cold look he only saved for Diego. He raised his arms into the air and laughed in disbelief.

"Have you lost it?" He asked. "You disrespect me and your mother, you leave the house in the middle of the night and don't come back until sunrise, and you have nothing else to say?"

"No."

He frowned and glanced down at the ground. He was confused. I could tell by the way the silence took over him. My dad stuck to a script when he punished me, and I always knew my lines.

Yes, Sir.

I'm sorry, Dad.

It won't happen again.

That would end it all, and I'd go through my punishment without any pushback. When I went off script, he was stumped.

"No eres niño. I can't punish you like a child. I know this. So you have to understand that there are rules. You know that there are rules. Under my roof, you listen, you follow through, and you apologize," he said.

I shook my head and stared down at my feet. "I was just telling you the truth," I said. "You know, try something new for a change. Instead of hiding how I feel and keeping my head down."

"There's a difference between the truth and disrespecting your parents."

I raised my head and said, "How? How did I disrespect you?"

Dad stood closer to me and grabbed my shoulder. "Running off in the middle of the night without telling us is disrespect, taking the car without permission is disrespect, leaving us to wait for you until the crack of dawn is disrespect."

"God forbid I do anything without asking for permission," I said through clenched teeth.

"Where is this coming from?" He asked. "Has Diego gotten something into your—"

"I don't know, Dad! He didn't stay long enough for him to talk shit about you."

"Apollo!" My mother's voice cut through the room as she stood at the entrance of the kitchen. Her hair was pulled back, and there were strands of hair all over the place. Her face was pale, and the dark circles under her eyes were prominent.

"¡Mira cómo habla tu hijo!" My dad shouted.

"You act like Diego is a bad influence when he's never done anything!" I shook my head, feeling the heat rise to my face. "Diego's never put anything into my head 'cause he's never fucking here! You're the one who drove him away!"