Cinnamon // Sally Face

T h i r t y - S i x

Violet awoke to a knock on her bedroom door at 5:00 the next morning. She frowned while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Yeah?"

The door opened with a squeak and a pair of heavy footsteps approached her. From this, she knew it was her father. He never woke her up, especially this early. Violet pushed herself into a sitting position and looked up at him. He was already dressed and ready to leave for work.

"Did Mom tell you where she went, yesterday?" He asked.

"No," she responded with a yawn, "I didn't even see her leave."

"She's still not home."

This immediately pulled the young girl from her drowsy state and into an incredibly anxious one instead. It wasn't like her mother to just disappear. Even after a nasty argument between her and her father, she never stormed out in anger. It was especially odd that she didn't tell anyone where she was going either. Not a text, not a note, nothing at all. 

"I'll call her," Violet said, reaching for her phone on her nightstand. 

Her father shook his head. "She left her phone behind."

"What are we gonna do?"

"I called the police. They'll be here soon to get some information from you."

"What about you?"

"I can't miss work."

Violet's jaw nearly hit the floor. Her father could not have been serious. He was just going to leave while the police interrogated her? Furthermore, he wasn't going to speak to the police himself to help them find his wife? "Are you crazy?!" She demanded.

"Violet—"

"Dad, your wife is missing! You're not even going to stay to talk to the police? How can you—"

"Enough!" The man snapped. "I will not sit here and be scolded by my own daughter! Get dressed and be ready to answer the door when the police show up. I'll be home at 4:30."

Tears of pure rage welled up in her eyes as she watched her father stomp out of her room and make his way to the front door. How could he do this to his family? How dare he do this to his family? He was supposed to be their protection, and yet here he was, abandoning not only his daughter, but his wife as well just to go to work. Their family wasn't struggling financially at all. There was no reason for him to be acting like this other than the fact that he didn't care. He didn't care about his wife or daughter anymore and that was why he had no problem walking away from the situation at hand.

Trembling, Violet threw a long hoodie on over her pajamas and stuffed her feet into her sneakers. Fury and terror fought for dominance in her mind. So many thoughts and questions were rushing through her brain at once that she began to develop a headache. 

"Please be okay, Mom," she breathed as she stared into her mirror. "Please..."

It wasn't long before a loud knocking sound came from the living room, followed by a man's stern voice calling, "Police!"

"Coming!" Violet called back, hurrying toward the front door. 

Upon opening it, she was met with 2 rather tall police officers. They seemed to tower several feet over her. One of them was a dark-skinned and bald man, who was much wider than his partner, but still obscenely tall. The other officer had black hair with a matching mustache. Their expressions were hard. Judging by the rather deep grooves on their foreheads, Violet concluded that they made this intimidating expression very often.

"Is this the Sinclaire residence?" The dark-skinned officer inquired. His voice was deep and rumbly.

"Y-Yes, sir," Violet stuttered.