Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas

one will feel like me. She should’ve waited for me.
I don’t know when I fall asleep, but when I wake up, the sunlight
streaming through my windows is gone, and the room is dark. I blink my
eyes, my head still aching, but I register voices. The ones that woke me up.
“Get out, then!” my mom yells. “Get out! Run to her.”
“It’s not about her!”
I sit up, my eyelids heavy and tears dried on my face as I listen from
inside my room.
“I’m not even in love with her,” my dad says. “Goddammit, Regina!”
“Just leave!” Footfalls hit the stairs. “All you care about is yourself.
You’re always gone anyway.”
“And you’re here?” he retorts. “Is that what you think? I can’t do this
anymore! I’ll be back for the rest of my stuff.”
Something breaks, a door slams, and I hear a car start.
I throw off the covers, bolting from the room. “Dad…” I pull open my
door and race down the stairs, seeing my mother standing in the foyer as
headlights skim from one window to the other outside.
I run to the door, open it, and leap out into the driveway as his taillights
speed farther and farther away.
“Dad!” I cry.
No! I hurry to my car, reach inside, and pull my phone out of my school
bag, dialing his number.
“Baby, no!” Mom calls out.
But I shake my head, all the rage and despair and heartache pooling into a
fucking boiler inside my gut, and I can’t stop myself.
He left me. He didn’t talk to me or say goodbye or…
I head back into the house, walking and not even paying attention to
where I’m going, only that my mom stumbles after me in tears.
I hear the line pick up, and I’m speaking before he says a word. “Don’t
come back.”
“Clay…” he whispers, and I can hear the tears in his throat. “Baby, I…”
“Clay, baby,” I mock. “I…uh, uh, uh…God, enough!” I roar. “Just say
you found a new life, and you don’t want us anymore! Just have a fucking
backbone! I hate you! Say it, so we can finally be free of you! Say you don’t
want us anymore!”
My eyes burn so hard I can barely keep them open, but I feel good for a
hot minute, having someone to take this out on.