Day After, PT. 1

Violet woke before daylight. She tiptoed to the bathroom and washed her face and teeth before she opened the door to her bedroom. She was surprised to see a glow from the dining room. She hesitated before she walked down the hallway. Dad sat at the dining room table, reading his Bible.

“Hey, kiddo,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay.” Her heart was in her throat as she came forward and gripped the back of the chair. “What are you doing up so early?”

“God woke me up, told me I needed to read the word.” He tapped the open Bible. “Mom told me you weren’t feeling good yesterday. I checked on you before I turned in, but you were out. I prayed over you.”

She gave him a tremulous smile. “It worked. I feel much better.”

He pulled out Lynne’s chair. “Coffee?”

She made a face. “No!”

“Cocoa it is.”

She sat as he got to his feet and made his way to the kitchen. She tucked her hands between her thighs as Dad made her a comfort drink. She thought that by just looking at her, people should be able to tell some monumental change had happened, but even her sharp-eyed father seemed oblivious. That was a relief.

“There you go.”

She grinned when Dad set a mug heaping with marshmallows in front of her. “Thank you.”

She popped a few in her mouth before she realized Dad was watching her closely. She froze.

“What?”

“When Lynne told me you weren’t feeling good, I thought something else happened.”

Her pulse skipped. “Like what?”

“I don’t know.” He took a long draw on his coffee. “I thought, maybe, boy troubles?”

She wrapped her hands around the mug, staring at the quivering marshmallows.

“Vi?”

She met his serious gaze.

“You rarely get sick. Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Tucker and I broke up,” she heard herself say.

She hadn’t realized she’d made a conscious decision until the words left her mouth. She’d been trying not to think about anything beyond getting something to eat—the primary reason she’d gotten up at this hour, but apparently, her mind had made some decisions while she slept.

Even if Tucker didn’t hate her for Jesse beating the hell out of him, she wasn’t the same person she’d been yesterday. She couldn’t resume her position as his girlfriend and act as if nothing had happened. Jesse was partially right. Tucker had been pressuring her sexually and eventually, she would have given into him, and it wouldn’t be because she had any deep feelings for him. It would be to assuage her body’s needs. Now that Jesse had done that for her, there was no need for her to use these boys as a distraction or outlet. All these months of emotional turmoil had been washed away by yesterday’s events. She was a new person and had officially stepped into womanhood.

“I thought that may be the case,” Dad said.

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re smiling.”

“Can you blame me?” He held up a hand before she could say a word. “I’m sure he’s a good kid, but I don’t like the way he treated you—yanking you around, and he always had an arm around your neck like you were his property…” He shook his head. “You want a guy who looks after you and respects you. Tucker only cared about himself. You can do way better.”

She pushed her marshmallows down into the hot cocoa.

“You want to tell me why you broke up with him?”

“No.”

“Maybe you should take a break from dating.” When she gave him a steady look, he held up a hand. “Or date one of the guys from church or something.” When she gave him a baleful look, he tacked on, “Please. For my sanity.”

“Morning.”

They turned their heads as Jesse entered the dining room. He’s clearly come straight from bed with messy hair and a wrinkled shirt. Jesse came straight to her. Her stomach clenched as he clasped her face between his hands.

“You feel okay?” he asked.

She tugged on his hand. “I’m fine. Just hungry.”

Jesse nodded and kissed her forehead. “I’ll make you something.” He moved to Dad and clapped him on the back. “What about you?”

“I can eat.”

She cut into her melted marshmallows with her spoon, dunked them in cocoa and shoveled them in her mouth.

“Vi said she had boy problems. You know anything about it?” Dad asked.

She choked as Jesse turned away from the open fridge with an egg carton in his hand.

“Boy problems?” he echoed.

“She said her and Tucker are done.”

“Dad!” she exclaimed and swatted his arm.

“What? I’m spreading the good news. We’ve all been worried, especially Jesse. He didn’t tell us any rumors about Tucker, but I didn’t need him to. All you had to do was look at the kid to know he was bad news.”

“I get it!” she said loudly. “It’s over.”

He looked up at the ceiling and murmured, “Thank you, Jesus.”

She was considering kicking him when Lynne appeared, tying the sash of her robe over her nightgown.

“Everything okay?” she asked with a yawn.

“Yeah, we’re just thanking God for answering prayer,” Dad said.

Before she could make a retort, Lynne clasped her face, just as Jesse had done.

“How are you feeling, honey? Do you need to stay home from school?”

“No, I want to go to school. I feel fine. I’m just hungry.”

“I’m on it, Mom,” Jesse called out.

Mom patted her cheek before she gave Dad a kiss and made her way to the kitchen. She gave Jesse a kiss on the cheek before she grabbed a cup of coffee and settled at the table.

“Do you have a scripture for us, Isaac?” Lynne asked.

“I opened my Bible to this.” Dad bent over the page and tapped a passage. “Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build...”

Lynne nodded along as Dad continued to read the passage that described the unpredictability of life and the fruitlessness in trying to control it. All one could do was accept things as they were—that change was inevitable, and let God take control.

“There’s a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace,” Dad finished and cocked his head to the side as he contemplated the highlighted passage. “I’ve had my fair share of worries and internal battles lately. I’m always trained to control every outcome, but…”

Violet was caught off guard when he suddenly beamed at her.

“God heard my prayers and answered them. There’s no need to worry. What isn’t meant to be, God won’t allow.”

**This is a raw draft of the prequel for Corrupt Idol. Please do not share or distribute.

Copyright © 2024 Mia Knight. All Rights Reserved.