Pain

The Monster

Logan

During dinner, the mood is tense. Something is in the air, it's hard to describe. Dad, as always, is silent and reads his newspaper during the meal. I, on the other hand, have absolutely no appetite. Even though it's been a few days, the incident with Camille is still in my head.

Kiara tries to fight the tense mood by reporting with exaggerated enthusiasm about her last meeting with Katie. For her sake, I occasionally make a comment and try to show interest, but it probably seems anything but convincing.

Suddenly Dad looks up from his newspaper and says to Kiara, "If you enjoy spending time with Katie, you can stay with her over the weekend."

Kiara shakes her head. "Thank you, Dad, but that's not necessary. Besides, I don't think Katie's mom would agree so spontaneously. "

Dad waves off and gets up. "I will call her and ask."

As soon as he is gone, Kiara turns to me with a horrified face. "Logan ..."

"It's okay, sweetie."

She shakes her head energetically. "I'm staying here! Then he can't-"

"He will do it anyway, you know that. And if you have a choice, you shouldn't be here when it happens."

"But you didn't do anything wrong this time. That's unfair!"

I shrug. "Was he ever fair to me?"

"They'll notice that something is wrong. I can't pretend everything is fine if you-"

"Yes, you can and you will. You know what will happen when others learn the truth."

She doesn't look thrilled, but she knows she has no choice. She nods reluctantly. "Okay. But you have to text me that everything is fine. If I haven't heard from you until midnight, I'll tell Katie's mom."

I nod. "Okay, I promise."

At that moment Dad comes back in. "They're close and agree to pick you up. They are here in fifteen minutes. So you've got some time to pack a few things."

Kiara gets up and forces herself to smile at him. "Okay, thanks, Dad."

Dad brought Kiara to the door and said goodbye. He waits until the car is out of sight, then he closes the door and comes back into the kitchen. He stops right in front of me. I bite my lower lip and look at him challengingly. "Why did she have to leave?"

He tilts his head slightly to the side. "Oh, I thought we could have a nice conversation again ... you know, man-to-man."

"About what?"

"Mmh ... How about this girl who has been here so many times lately?"

I frown. "Camille? Why?"

"I just want to make sure that you don't get the wrong idea."

"Don't worry about that. I don't even like her." These words sound wrong in my ears. Yes, I'm still angry with her, but ... We've got a really good understanding of each other lately and I was clearly right in my guess that Camille is different - but in a good way. However, Dad is not allowed to know about it, otherwise-

The punch comes out of nowhere and hits my lower jaw. I fall to the floor. With a sore back of my head and a throbbing jaw, I look at this monster that I hate more than anything else in the world.

"You shall not lie to me, boy. You know how much I hate it."

"I tell the truth! I don't care about her!"

He gives me a hard kick in the ribs. The stinging pain brings tears to my eyes. He bends down to me and smiles maliciously. "I could believe you ... but I think we should continue our conversation for a while, so that I can be absolutely sure that you are really telling me the truth ..."