Page 2 of Brutal Crown

I glance at the door. It’s probably Mrs. Alvarez from next door, needing help with her new smartphone again. I shuffle over and undo the chain lock.

But when I open it, it’s not Mrs. Alvarez.

It’s my father.

My heart slams into my ribs.

He looks… awful. Gaunt, with dark circles bruised under his eyes, and a sheen of sweat covers his skin. His clothes hang loose on his frame, and he keeps looking over his shoulder like he’s scared of something.

“Hey, kid,” he says in that deep, hoarse voice of his.

Something inside me snaps, and the anger I’ve been burying for the past year flares hot.

“‘Hey, kid?’” I scoff bitterly. “That’s what you greet me with after one fucking year?”

I rarely curse. My father also hates it when I curse. Neither of us seems to care about that now.

“Tesoro—”he starts, but I cut him off.

“Don’t…” I choke. “Don’t call me that.”

“I’m sorry. I wanted to be here for you. I really did.”

I shove the door wider and storm inside, my whole body trembling.

“Fun fact: You missed the graduation of your only child,” I say flatly.

“I know.”

I scoff, turning to face him. I see the thick emotion in his eyes as he steps closer.

“I never forgot.”

“Oh. Congratulations on not forgetting. Why couldn’t you even call or text to congratulate me? To let me know you never forgot?”

He closes the door behind him and leans against it like he needs it to hold him up.

“I wanted to be here for you,” he murmurs. “I tried.”

“You keep saying that.” I cross and uncross my arms in frustration. “Trying is not enough! Do you know how lonely I’ve been? Do you even care? Hell, why am I asking? You don’t care about anything else except yourself and your job…”

“That’s not true.” He glances briefly at the window before walking toward me. “I care about you more than anything in this world.”

“This is what you always do,” I scoff bitterly as my eyes begin to sting with tears. “You say a lot of things and make a lot of empty promises you never even try to keep. They don’t mean shit to me anymore,” I say harshly. “You never back your words with actions, and that’s why I’ll never believe you. Not now, not ever.”

He exhales, running a shaky hand through his thinning hair.

“I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” he says thickly. “I thought… I thought if I stayed close to them and worked harder, we’d be okay. I spent everything I had on your mother’s treatment, and she still left us. We had nothing left. I had to work so I could give you more than this.” He waves vaguely around the apartment. “Take you away from this terrible place. I wanted to make you happy.”

My heart bleeds open at the mention of my mother. After she got sick with cancer, my father spent everything we had on her treatment. She was flown out of the state and taken to a better hospital, all so that she could have a chance at survival.

But at the end of the day, she still died.

We were both devastated, but the blow hit my father the hardest. He has never admitted it, but I know he hates thishouse. He hates being here, because the love of his life died under this roof. He pours himself into work because that’s the only thing that distracts him from the pain.

His grief over her death was more than the love he had for me. I didn’t blame him for it. Heck, I understood. But abandoning me for a whole year is something I just can’t excuse him for.

“You think I care about money or having a better life? I just wanted a father!” I yell as the first tear rolls down my cheek. “You abandoned me. You left me, just like Mom did.”