jailbait.

jim lahey is a drunk bastard.

i desperately heaved a melodramatic sigh, rolling my head across the suddenly immensely comfortable passenger's seat to gaze with deep, chocolate brown puppydog eyes at my mother. "do i have to go?" i whined, hoping my childlike demeanor would win her over, as it had a few times before. my pleading expression wasn't enough to override the guilt she harbored about preventing my father from seeing me. besides, we were already in front of his place.

"yes, hon," she murmured, her face softening with sympathy. it was as if she were dropping me off on my first day of kindergarten all over again, except this time an emotionally unstable boozehound awaited me instead of a bunch of glue-sniffing degenerates.

begrudgingly, i pushed the wide car door open and was immediately greeted by the pungeant scent of whiskey mingled with the obnoxious voice of ted nugent blasting from a radio somewhere. i wasn't religious, but in that moment, i meant it when i somberly asked her to pray for me.

i slowly climbed out, grabbing my bag, and slammed the door shut before glancing around at my dull yet oddly charming surroundings. my mother hurriedly drove away, leaving an unbearable cloud of dust in her wake. as i coughed up a storm, my father tumbled outside, bottle in hand. i wondered if he always wore that stupid uniform, which reminded me that he was indeed sunnyvale's "trailer park supervisor." pathetic, considering he used to be a cop. i wasn't granted much time to mentally rip apart his career, or lack thereof, before he called to me hoarsely.

"my little girl!" he hollered, taking rushed, unsteady steps until he was swaying in front of me. his breath reeked. "it's been so long.." his tone trailed off into what was practically a whisper. he caressed my face, looking like he was about to cry. i would not have that.

"ah, don't get all soft, lahey!" i playfully scolded, masking my contempt for him with crass bravado and punching his arm. i called him by his last name just as any other resident would. as far as i was concerned, he hadn't been in my life for nearly enough time to be considered "dad." in my heart of hearts, i knew it hurt him. but maybe that was the point.

he seemed to get distracted, slipping into a horrid, offkey echo of the song that was playing from inside. "i've got no inhibition, to keep my key outta your ignition.." he belted, rocking to and fro in a complete circle. his nonexistent sense of pitch wasn't what disgusted me. rather, it was the fact that i recognized the words to jailbait.

"that song's about a pedophile!" i spat, crossing my arms and aiming my scowl at the yellowing grass on the ground. in reality, i was simply projecting. i had just turned seventeen a few days ago, but every guy i'd ever been involved with had been no younger than twenty one. of course, neither of my parents were aware of that.

disrupting the dead air that was lahey's reply, a battered black car with one door completely missing came barreling down the road. it passed as soon as it'd appeared, but i could just make out the frantic bickering of two men. they must've been fleeing from something that wasn't good. i found it intruiging, but he was slightly sobered up and absolutely enraged, huffing and clenching his free hand into a fist. smirking at his passionate reaction, i gently placed a hand on his shoulder and coyly asked, "who's that?"

any ounce of anger he'd managed to build up since the sudden interjection of the vehicle dissolved, and he lectured me as if i was still ten years old with slurred words. "honey, those are the biggest losers you'll ever meet. i don't want you to have anything to do with them, okay?" he prompted shakily. his ominous warning assured that i was going to have everything to do with them. who did he think he was, to control me in any way? i allowed a wide grin to spread across my face and cooed, "of course." the naive trust he'd vested in me would be his much-deserved downfall.