Sometimes good people do bad things

It was ironic that he was the one playing that song when she was the one who embodied the lyrics. She almost turned back in hesitation but she had promised herself and her boyfriend, Jacob that she was going to do it so she urged her feet on, stopping only when she was a few inches from his tapping feet. He seemed to have noticed someone was there so he rolled himself out from under the hood, squinted for a while, then exposed his rotting teeth in a sly grin.

"Now, if it isn't my turtledove all the way from college. Come give Daddy a hug"

Alice could not control the pounding in her heart or the trembling of her hands. With two steps he had reminded her of how short 8 years was. When he wrapped her in his embrace, she couldn't lift a finger to return the gesture. Instead, she employed great willpower in resisting the urge to puke. She was finally home.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, come in, let's put some color on your cheeks" He had a firm grip on her wrist before she could protest, pulling her along with him.

Alice knew the game too well having watched a similar episode between him and her mom 10 years ago but this time, she was the player not just a spectator and she wasn't going to get killed.

He led her past the rooms to the kitchen and then tossed her away from him to get two shot glasses and a bottle of vodka.

"You should let me pour you a drink"

She kept that big, innocent grin on her face, eyes on him, then got the bottle. A brow went up on his face when she spilled some of the drink but she widened her smile and raised her glass as if nothing was off. If there was anything she needed, it was for her head to be as clear as possible while she brought her stepfather out for who he really was.

They drank to nothing. She poured him another drink. This time, he grabbed her hair and crushed his mouth to hers before emptying the contents of the glass into his system. She stopped herself from shattering the bottle against his head and poured them another drink instead.

"This is to...mom?"

The sudden darkening in his eyes made her lips lift. It was game on.

She expected the blow to the left side of her jaw but not as swiftly. As she came crashing down, she took some pots and pans with her. He was going to reach her in three steps but halted midway when she assumed the lotus position, not perfectly though, but well enough to remind him of his dark sins. It was the position her mom assumed whenever he began hitting her. She said she did it to relax.

"What do you think you are doing!?" He roared seizing her collar with two large palms and holding her against the wall.

The pounding had long moved from her heart to her head. She made a silent prayer and then opened her eyes. This had better be worth it.

"I love you, Henry, you used to compel me to say it but now, I really mean it."

Tears stung her eyes. She wasn't tearing up because she was reciting the last words her mother had on her lips, it was the fact that she could see that moment all again, this time from her 14-year-old body, hiding behind the kitchen door, trembling like a volcanic eruption.

"One more word and I swear I will kill you mistakenly, just like I killed her!"

"No, you won't" He dropped her suddenly. Alice lifted her eyes to see her knight in shining armor at the door of their kitchen with a couple of officers brandishing guns.
It was game over.

"Keep your hands where I can see them. Get on your knees, now!"

She felt hands grab her with instructions to take her to the ambulance and place ice packs on her swollen face. She was drifting away when she felt warm hands on her head.

"It's all over Alice, we got him"

She lifted a hand to Jacob's face and winced when her smile brought blood to her mouth.

"What will he be charged with?"

"Oh, all his sins. Sexual harassment, physical abuse, murder…"

Hearing that was satisfying enough, because only then did Alice allow herself to drift into a peaceful slumber