Djinn Read Free

seeped onto his face and I let out the breath I had been holding.
     
    * * *
     
    I held the front door open for Dad as he limped inside and dumped the groceries on the table. I felt a pang of guilt for not stopping him on the run earlier, but Dad always said everyone was responsible for their own actions.
    I had to say, I did quite like this house. It was a lot nicer than some of the shacks we'd stayed in over the years with its two-storeys, windowpanes and locks; everything you need to live a happy normal life. Except my life wasn't exactly normal.
    Dad hobbled around the cramped kitchen fixing us some ham and cheese sandwiches while I put away the groceries in various cupboards. I took a seat at the small, Lino, fifties-style table and broke out the first aid kit. There wasn't much I could do for the bruises already coming up, but I also had some scratches and cuts. I dressed the wounds and stuck "Hello Kitty" band-aids all over my body.
    Dad only struck me in places that wouldn't show when I wore clothes, so people wouldn't get suspicious and think he was beating me or anything. That happened once in another town, and one of my teachers called child services. We had to leave in the middle of the night before they arrested Dad but, to be honest I was glad; I didn't like living in the crappy motel room, and the school library was almost non-existent.
    I cleared the first aid stuff off the table when Dad went to hand me the sandwich and glass of water. I bit into the bread like I'd been starved for a week. Training always made me hungry.
    "What's the plan for the rest of the day, kiddo?" Dad asked.
    "I have some homework to do," I replied. "But it's math."
    Dad chuckled. "Math isn't that hard."
    "Maybe back in your day, old man." I punched him playfully on the arm.
    Dad shook his head, smiling, as he swallowed the last of his sandwich. He placed both our plates in the sink.
    I couldn't help but smile looking at him; I couldn't have asked for a better father.
    "I'm going to take a shower," he said.
    "Shore fing," I replied, my mouth full of bread.
    He stroked the top of my head down to my cheek as I give him a wide open-mouthed grin, exposing all my chewed food.
    "That's my girl," he said, and headed out of the kitchen into the hallway. I heard his feet hit the creaky staircase, the eerie orchestra starting up.
    "Don't fall over in the shower or anything," I called after him. "I don't want to have to help you and see you all naked."
    "Very funny, Kyra." But I knew he was smiling.
    I picked up my school bag from the couch in the adjoining lounge area and sat it on the chair next to me, weighed down by all my books. I pulled out my math homework and spread it over the kitchen table until the flat surface was entirely covered and fiddled with the pen in my hand, staring blankly at the gibberish in front of me.
    I had never understood math. I mean, sure, I could put one and one together and get two, but anything the slightest bit complicated and my mind went blank. Teachers had tried to help me, and failed many times. My brain just wasn't wired to work out those kind of problems.
    Seconds later, the phone rang like a chirping bird.
    "Oh, thank god," I said and jumped to answer it. "Hello?"
    "Hey, Sally. Is Bill there?"
    "Hi, Kenny. Yep, I'll just go get him."
    I placed the phone on the bench and headed up stairs. Sally was not my idea for a name, but Dad said we had to change it every time we moved. The least he could do was let me pick my own. Once I was called Tiffany. I wanted to kill myself.
    I walked down the hallway to the bathroom door on the left. I knocked twice, watching the steam flow between the gap at the bottom and the floor, like mysterious fog in a horror movie.
    "Dad?" I called through the door.
    "Yeah, kiddo?"
    "Kenny's on the phone."
    "Give me a sec," he said. "Just got to put my contacts in."
    "You don't need to see. He's on the phone." I shook my head and smiled.
    "I'll be there soon."
    I shrugged and headed