Smoke Screen

Chapter 28

Layla hesitated as she looked out the window, not wanting to step out of the car. Once she got out, she would have to go inside. Once she went inside, she would have to see her dad. She was not looking forward to that at all.
"This your house?" Tony asked.
"Yeah."
"I didn't know we lived so close to each other."
He said but it went past Layla's ears. She was distracted with working up the courage to go inside her house. After taking a deep breath, she was ready.
As Layla stepped out of the car, Tony went around to the trunk to grab her suitcase. "Thanks for driving me home." She said to Dom.
"Anytime." He said. "It was good to meet one of Tony's friends."
She nodded. "It was nice to meet you too."
"Take care of that reckless troublemaker for me." Dom said and she nodded with a small smile.
"Hey, I am not reckless." Tony said as he brought Layla her suitcase.
"Sure you aren't, Toretto." She said. "I'll see ya later."
"Yeah, see you at school." He waved to her before getting back into the car. After they drove away, Layla stepped up to the front door of her house, pulling her suitcase behind her.
    When she stepped inside, she found that the house was dim and quiet. She had seen her dad's car in the driveway, meaning he had to be home. But for some reason he was not in the living room like he usually was. She was not sure if that was a good or bad thing.
    A noise coming from another room caught her attention and she followed it to her bedroom. When she opened the door, she froze. The place looked like it had been ransacked. Everything was everywhere. All of her belongings were thrown around, sloppily covering every inch of the floor.
The drawers of her dresser were all pulled out, emptied, and thrown onto the bed which had been stripped of its blankets. Everything in the closet or on the shelves were all out of place. There was not a single thing in her room that had not been overturned or trashed.
In the middle of the room was her dad. He was crouched over with his back to her. Despite being caught red handed in her ransacked room, he did not seem startled or bothered in the slightest.
"What the hell happened here!?" Layla shouted.
Her dad slowly stood up and turned to her. His eyes were cold, dark, and dull. "Where is it?"
"Where's what?" She asked.
"Where the hell is it?" He yelled as he stormed up to her. Layla automatically took a step back as he got closer.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She said. "What did you do to my room?"
    "I looked everywhere but couldn't find it. I know you've got it. Where did you hide that vape?"
    "Vape? What va- oh." Her fists clenched when she realized what he was talking about. That vape that had been stolen from her. Her dad still thought she was lying! "I already told you I don't have it."
    Her dad's glaring eyes grumpily glanced around the room, trying to find any place or thing he had not searched yet. His eyes stopped when they landed on her suitcase.
    Giving her a cruel smirk, he pushed her out of the way and grabbed her suitcase. Without wasting a second, he ripped it open and emptied it out. He searched through every pocket in the suitcase but found nothing.
    Muttering curse words under his breath, he threw the suitcase at Layla before storming out of her room. As soon as he was gone, Layla collapsed onto her knees. Her teeth clenched, her nails digging into her palms as she looked around the mess through a blur of angry tears.
    After a while she decided that she could no longer stand the sight in front of her. Storming out of the house, she began to walk to the park that was near her neighborhood. By the time she got there, the sun was already beginning to set.
    Sitting down beside a tree, resting her back against its trunk, she pulled out her vape and brought it to her lips. The smoke that filled her lungs made her feel comforted. The smoke that left her mouth made her feel in control.
    She did not want to stop. She did not want to go home. So there she stayed long after the sun had gone down, not giving a care about anything.