Candy Girl

an uber-venture at midnight

Daddy Issues — The Neighbourhood

"Go ahead and cry, little girl
Nobody does it like you do
I know how much it matters to you
I know that you got daddy issues"

Chapter Fourteen
Carrisa

I don't think there is anything as worst as waiting, it's a point where nothing is in your hands and there's nothing you can do. It's the deciding point of the accumulation of your actions about to turn into an event. I sat in the waiting room of the animal hospital, hoping the little kitty would be alright, but there was nothing I could do from this point on.

"Hey," Gwen's voice was comforting. She took a seat next to me, and lightly placed her hand upon my shoulder.

"It's okay." Ellie said from the opposite site from Gwen, "You did all you could."

I nodded as I tried to fight back the tears, "I just don't understand why people are this cruel." Someone had clearly tried to strangled the cat and placed it on the container. To this question, none of them had an answer.

"Carrisa Gheller?" The vet called my name out, I immediately rose from my seat. In the arms of the vet was the little kitty cat wrapped in a blanket. "She's okay," the vet said. "But unfortunately, she did lose a paw."  The furry kitty was white as snow now, there was thankfully no sight of blood anymore. She had her little eyes closed and her little stripped tail was waving softly.

"Can I hold it?" I asked the vet.

"Of course," she said as she handed me the kitty in my hands. I took a peak through the blanket and softly caressed her with my index finger. I felt tears leaving my eyes as a mixture of happiness and sadness flooded my heart. I was happy she made it alive, but the thought of what her life would be like without one leg made feel so worried. I bought her food in the animal hospital and a little bed for her. We drove towards my house. Thank god, my mom had a meeting at work.

"Thank you so much for driving me," I said to Elliot. "I'll repay you the gas, I'm sorry."

Aiden opened his door and walked out of the car. He walked towards me and opened the door. This took me by surprise.

"Um," I tried to speak. "T-thank you."

"You forgot this at the waiting room," he said as he pulled out my sweater.

"Oh," I said as I felt my face blushing, "Thank you." I tried to get a grasp of it, but I didn't.

"Mom is gonna kill that cat," Serenity said as she stood in front of my house door with her arms crossed.

"I'll see you tomorrow, thank you." I said as I walked towards Serenity. "What am I suppose to do, Serenity? we found the poor kitty in a container and she's got a broken leg. Mom will have to go through me before she gets to the cat."

"Okay, let me rephrase that in a language you understand. Mom is gonna kill you first and then kill the cat." Serenity stated seriously. "I'm not a monster. I won't say a word, but she's gonna find out. What if she finds out while you're at school and she hurts her?"

"I can take her," Aiden suggested from afar. "It's totally fine, I live on my own."

We all turned towards Aiden.

"There's no neurotic moms' trying to kill it."

Serenity frowned, "Hey, only we get to call out our family." She warned, "Are you really going to trust him, Carrisa? He might cook her up or something." She said all this without carrying for a second that Aiden could clearly hear her.

"Serenity!" Gwen and I called her out.

"What? That's what I heard in the bathroom stall. You can speak up and tell me I'm wrong."

Aiden approached me, as he took the kitty in his hands. "So what's her name?"

"Um, I don't think I can give her a name. But, surely you will figure a great name for her."

"This cat is yours," he warned. "I'm only letting her stay in my house until she finds a home. But you're the one in charge." The kitty purged through the blanket, this caught Aiden's attention. "So until then, you'll be the nameless cat." He patted her gently, "Nameless, you feeling better?"

"Thank you," I said, "Really."

He nodded and walked back to the car, I waited for them to drive away before I went inside my house. I noticed Serenity's strange civility, something must have happened.

"Dad's back," Serenity said. My heart dropped and that's when it hit, my mom's meeting was just an excuse to leave the house. I rushed to look for him, "He's out. They fought again."

"Was it that bad?" I asked worriedly.

"Maybe if you had been here, you would've known." She said coldly as she walked away. It was difficult with Serenity. She mostly hated it when we went out on a family gathering, but she had no memory of the time mom and dad were civil with other. I would dare to even say in love. I treasured those memories fondly of dad kissing mom's forehead and her waiting excitedly for his arrival home. I just couldn't understand what happened for them to hate each other. Every time we went to my mother's, my grandmother would tell me all this stories about my mom and dad. Or looking at pictures of them younger. How in love she was with my father and viceversa. Serenity had turned resentful against our dad and his constant absence.

Night came quickly, Serenity's sudden noises woke me up. I glanced at my phone, the brightness of the phone's screen forced me to squint one of my eyes. It was 11 o'clock. Dad was sleeping in Serenity's room, so we were sleeping in mine. She stood in front of the mirror all dressed up.

"Where are you going?"

"None of your business." She said as she put on a hoodie. This was highly suspicious, a) she was surely meeting someone. b)  she would NEVER wear a hoodie because that would hide her outfit.

"Serenity, you can't go right now. It's super late."

Serenity ignored me, and simply opened the door carefully. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards me.

"You send me your live location or I wake up mom and dad."

"Ugh," she said annoyed. "Why do you act like you care?"

"Cause I do. When are you going to get it inside your head?" I looked through the window. A car was outside waiting, surely an Uber to get her somewhere. "You choose," I warned her.

"Fine." She said. I felt my phone vibrating. I glanced at my screen and read the newest notification.

"If you don't keep it on, I will wake up dad and mom."

I waited for about ten minutes to order and Uber. I left the house quietly, but scared I would get caught. I stuffed my bed with some pillows hoping that would pull the trick. I followed Serenity's live location. I wondered where she was going this time. I just wanted to make sure she was alright. I just wanted to understand what was going inside that head of hers. I frowned at Serenity's location. We were driving towards the town's limits. This only made me worry even further. We arrived to a CVS. This was only getting sketchier. Serenity stood in front of the door, arms crossed waiting. I asked for the Uber to wait and park. He did as told.

A white convertible fancy as fudge car entered the parking lot. It was a really luxurious car. There was no way any of Serenity's friend had it. It also seemed oddly familiar. I tried to look through the car's windows. But I couldn't make it out. The car pulled right in front of the store's door. Serenity raced toward the car and got inside. My eyes widen and immediately told the Uber to follow the white car closely. We drove for about twenty minutes, the street began to look sketchier and dangerous. We were heading toward the airport of the King City. There was nothing, but motels and hotels. My heart stopped as the car entered a motel.