Chapter 22 - Problems & Assumptions
*Jennie's POV*
[Flashback (continuing from last chapter)]
"Dad?" Lisa called.
Dad? So, this is her father?
But the man showed no emotions at all. He stared at Lisa in disbelief and walked away. Lisa stood there lost. She was frozen. I may not ever understand what she was going through, but I feel like my heart is getting stabbed to see my Lisa like this. It's her father. He can't give up on her like this.
"Lis? Lisa?" I shook her shoulder. She looked into my eyes, pleading. I recognize that look. She was asking me what she should do? "Go after him, Lisa."
"Jennie?" She seemed to be unsure of it.
"He's you father Lisa. You don't need any appointment or pre-planned time to meet him or talk with him."
She still didn't budge. I took her wrist and followed him. "Come on."
At first I thought we lost him, but I was able to spot him in the parking lot.
"Ajhusshi? Please, wait." I called. He turned around and looked at us, annoyingly. Lisa squeezed my hand, and when I looked at her she gave me an assuring smile and stepped forward.
"Dad, I-- "
"Didn't you get the message last time girl?" He growled at her. She was looking at him blankly. I stood there watching everything unfold. "You came to visit me a few years ago, right? I should have made it clear then. But since nothing happened afterwards, I thought the burden was finally off my shoulders." He scoffed. "No wonder you would follow me, after all, you are as pestering as your mother." He took out his wallet to get some bills. "Listen, you can keep this, and if you want anything more, just give me an amount and I will wire it. But that will be it. I have a family now and I am not going to loose anything because of a mistake I did in the past." He said placing the bills in her hand and walked away. I could feel the pang in my chest because of how Lisa looked. I have never seen her like this. Not even in the past. But he's not going anywhere saying those things to her. No one is treating my Lisa like that.
She was crumbling the notes which made her knuckles turn white. I snatched them from her hands and walked towards him. He was opening his car's door and was about to get in when I closed it. He looked at me angrily.
"What the hell do you think you are doing, girl?" He shouted. Fortunately or unfortunately, the parking lot was basically empty of people.
"Me? What the hell do you think you are doing?" I wasn't going to back down either. "Isn't that girl your daughter? How could you treat her like that? And this?" I raised my hands with the notes at him. "You think this cover for everything? Her longing for your affection, her loneliness, the humiliation she felt. Do you think everything can be taken care of with money?"
He scoffed again. "If she didn't want the money, then why come look for me?"
I can't believe this man. Is he really Lisa's father? How can such a pure and innocent girl be the daughter of someone like him? "Are you really a parent? You don't love your parents for money. You don't long for them because of it. Maybe you does, but Lisa is not someone like that."
"Jen-" Lisa tired to stop me, but no, I am not letting her. My blood was boiling.
"Listen here, Mister. She don't need your filthy money. She works hard and she has been taking care of herself all these years. What did you say? She was pestering you? When has she ever come looking for you to ask for something? If she had, then it was because she missed her parents." He was elder than me, but I couldn't give a fuck about it. He was about to talk when I stopped him. "What did you call her? A mistake?" All I could think of at the moment was about her suicide note. "She didn't chose to be born. You were the ones who brought her into this world and abandoned her. You don't get to call her a mistake. You are her mistake." He was already glaring at me, and as soon as those words left my mouth, he raised his hand to slap me but I was quicker than him to stop him. "You don't have any right to raise your hands against me. Let me tell you something, one day you are going to regret all this. You are going to regret every time you have turned a blind eye towards her. And when you do, don't you dare come looking for Lisa. You don't get to apologize to her. You should never."
