''As long as you're under my roof you will not date no old ass freak!''
'' He's not a freak! and I will date whoever the hell I want. It is my life.''
I had come home that evening after a day with my girls to find my dad fuming because Mikhail had come to him to ask for his permission to date me. According to my mom, he kicked him out and told him never to speak to me again.
'' He's a twenty-nine year old man and you're just seventeen. You can get mad at me all you want but you will not date him. That's final!.''
'' I'm turning eighteen in a few months. You cannot do this!''
'' I can and if you see him, I will have him charged with statutory rape.''
Out of anger I slammed my bedroom door which was a bad idea since this would anger my father further. As I cried my eyes out I could hear my mom trying to calm my father and stop him from coming into my bedroom. He was going to severely beat me if my mother did not calm him down.
'' Baina?''
'' What?''
Somehow I had cried myself to sleep and my sister Beca was shaking me awake. She knew I hated my sleep being interrupted and I did not understand why she was waking me up at ten at night.
'' Be nice. You have a call. Mom and dad are in their bedroom so come quick before dad does his nightly rounds.'
My dad always made sure to check if all doors were locked and all windows were closed before he went to bed.
'' I'll look out for dad. Now go talk to him, he doesn't sound too good.''
The joys of house phones. Tears ran down my cheeks as I said hello into the receiver.
'' I'm sorry about my dad.''
'' Now don't cry. It hurts to hear you cry and it's not your fault. I understand though, if I was a father too I would have reservations if a man twelve years older than my daughter wanted to date her.''
'' Mikhail what are you saying, don't you want to date me anymore?''
'' Oh no I do but I still believe that we should respect your father's wishes and maybe wait for him to calm down and then I could try talk to him again.''
'' I don't think his ever going to let us date. We're better off just running away together.''
'' We cannot do that babe. It would hurt your family and you know I have a country to run in a year. As much as I am hurt by your father's decision, we have to respect him.''
My sister quickly made the signal to tell me dad was on his way and without saying goodbye, I quickly hung up the phone. There was so much I wanted to say but I was not going to risk it. I rushed into the kitchen to help Becca with the dishes so my dad would not suspect anything.
'' Thank you.''
'' Don't mention it, that's what sister's are for and I actually like him.''
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