Read Apples & Oranges (The This & That Series) for Free Online Page B

Marisol. I’ve got to go”
                  He’d not yet said so, but I knew he was leaving for good. “Take me with you,” I begged. “I’ll bring the kitty, and we can all go on vacation.”
                  “I’m not going on vacation.” His mouth pulled into a line. “And you’re not coming with me.”
                  Tears rolled down my face, and my nose was running. But I didn’t care. “Why not?”
                  “Because your place is here with your mother.” He glanced in the rear view mirror. “She needs you. She’s sad.”
                  My mother wasn’t home. She’d gone to a spa for the weekend with her friend, and I’d heard her telling Hanna she’d never been happier. “She’s not sad, Daddy. But she’ll be mad when she comes home and finds out you left.”
                  Even at seven years old, I’d been acutely aware that my mother had better things to do than raise a child. Especially one who’d given her stretch marks that had to be surgically corrected. That’s why Hanna was there to take care of me.
                  “Come back inside,” I pleaded, tugging on the door handle. It was locked. “We can play with the kitty, and then you and Hanna can go swimming in the hot tub again. I’ll be a good girl, and go watch TV.”
                  My dad winced. “I don’t want to swim with Hanna anymore.”
                  I looked over my shoulder at my nanny, who was glowering at him with her arms folded across her chest. “Then you can give her the day off, Daddy. Come back inside. We still need to name the kitty. I vote Puffy. Or Sparkles. What do you want to call her?”
                  He laughed, and for a millisecond, I thought things were looking up.
                  “Freedom.” He slid the glasses back onto his face. “I want to call her Freedom.”
                  “That’s a silly name, Daddy.” I smiled, even though I could feel something bad looming. “Can you come inside now? P-please?”
                  He shook his head. “No, baby. Not this time.”
                  “Can I go with you?” My voice got higher. “I can pack super fast.”
                  “They don’t let kids come to Fort Lauderdale, Marisol.” His voice was low, resigned. And I knew his mind was made up. “It’s a grown up city.”
                  I thought about what it would be like when Mom got home, and it was just her and me in the giant house. She was going to be annoyed with me, so much more so than she already was. The only time we were ever together was when we had company over and I needed to come down in a pretty dress for everyone to see. At least when my dad was around, he noticed me. Sure, most of the time, it was to tell me not to leave my toys around, or that I needed to be quiet because I was giving him a splitting headache. But being noticed and getting hollered at was way better than being ignored all the time.
    “I don’t want to be alone.” It was all I could think of to say. “If you leave, nobody will talk to me.”
                  “Go let Hanna take care of you. She’ll make you some chocolate milk.” Dad threw a glance in his rearview mirror. “I gave her a big, fat bonus check, so she’s not going anywhere.”
                  “Daddy, I—”
                  “I gotta go, Marisol.” He put the jaguar in gear. “Back away from the car.”
                  “Please don’t go.” I wept, snot creeping out of my nose. “Please don’t leave me.”
                  He grimaced at me. “Pull yourself together. You’re face is a mess.”
                  “I love you, Daddy.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt embarrassed. We didn’t talk like that in our family.