“No, he always goes out after dinner.”
Winter cleaned her glasses. “He meets Skip and his other friends at the pool
hall.”
“He said he was gonna help me with my
homework tonight.” Paige turned around in her chair. “He said he would all
weekend, but he’s leaving.”
“Hold on, okay?” Trina left the kitchen.
“Neil?” She ran into the living room. “Neil, can I speak to you for a second?”
“Sure.” He turned from the front door.
“What is it?”
“Where are you going?”
“To the pool hall.” He rubbed the back of
his neck. “Meet my friends for some beers.”
“Paige said you were gonna help her with
her homework.”
“And I am.”
“When? It’s Sunday night and she said she’s
been asking all weekend.”
“What is this?” He scoffed. “I’m on trial
or something?”
“The girls won’t be up much longer. Aren’t
you going to put them to bed?”
“Can’t you do it?”
She sighed. “I can but—”
“Then I don’t see what the problem is.” He
took his keys out.
“The problem is, you’re their father, not
me. Your daughters need you and you’re doing nothing for them.”
He squinted. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. This might not be my place,
but I don’t bite my tongue. I’ve only been here for a few hours, and it’s
really getting to me how you push your daughters aside the way you do.”
“How dare you?” He marched to her. “Who the
hell do you think you are? I hired you to clean the house, not give me
parenting tips.”
“Someone needs to. At first I felt sorry
for you, but now I’m pissed off. You’ve got your daughters living in this
filthy house, where you can’t even pick a sock up off the floor. I had to come
in here and clean this place up from top to bottom.”
He stood to the side. “Isn’t that what
you’re paid to do?”
“You need to be here for your girls.”
“I have everything under control.”
“Oh really?” She laughed. “When I got here,
your daughter was hanging off the roof. Is that control? You’re not the only
one hurting here, Neil. They need you more than you’ll ever need them.”
“That’s enough!” He stuck his hand in her
face. “You’re the maid , Trina. That’s it.”
The girls stood at the doorway. “Where do
you get off telling me I’m a bad father?”
“I didn’t say you were a bad father.”
“It
sure as hell feels like you did.”
“Okay, maybe I did.” She shrugged. “Am I
lying?”
“Let’s get something straight, right now.
You’re supposed to look after the house, and help me out around here. You worry
about that, and not what I’m doing.”
She crossed her arms. “You mean what you’re not doing?”
“Who are you to judge me? You don’t even
have kids.”
“And if I did, I certainly wouldn’t treat
them like you treat yours.”
“You don’t like it, Trina?” He stomped to
the door. “You’re free to leave. I don’t give a shit. But if you wanna work
here, then you do what I ask, and nothing more. What I do with my daughters is
none of your damn business. Do you understand me?”
“Dad,” Paige whimpered.
“Do you understand me, Trina?” He opened
the door.
“Yes.” She glared at him. “I understand you
just fine.”
CHAPTER
SEVEN
“You think she has a point?” Neil sat at
the end of the bar with Skip, watching his friends play a game of pool. “Have I
been neglecting my girls?” He slurped beer from the glass mug.
“Ah.” Skip belched and licked fuzz off his
thick mustache. “What the hell does this Trina person know, anyway? She just
met you.” He scooted back on the stool. “I hate