JOEY

AFTER BUMMING A LIFT HALFWAY THERE, and then

running the rest of the way into town, I was rounding the corner of my girlfriend’s street in Rosewood Estate, when a dark figure stepped out from a side alley.

Startled, because what the fuck, I staggered sideways, knocking up against a row of wheelie bins and dropping my phone in the process.

“What the hell, lad?” I growled, pissed off and agitated, as I hunched down to retrieve my phone, only to reach for it a second too late. “You owe me a fucking phone, asshole,” I snarled, watching in dismay as mine fell through the metal slats of a road drain.

“I figured I’d find ya sniffing around her neck of the woods.” The familiar sound of his voice had every muscle in my body locking tight in fearful anticipation. “Relax, boy, I only want to talk to ya.”

Panicked and off-kilter, I quickly straightened up to my full height, poised for trouble. And pain. “What the fuck do you want?”

“To talk,” my father slurred, holding one hand up, while the other fisted a bottle of his poison of choice. Whiskey. “Just talk, boy. That’s all.”

“We have nothing to talk about,” I sneered, taking a safe step back from him, and then hating myself for doing it.

Jesus, this man made my skin crawl. The familiar smell of that particular top shelf spirit twisted my stomach up in knots. It had been so long since I’d laid eyes on him that I’d almost forgotten about the feeling of terror he could evoke from me.

Almost.

“I’m not talking to you,” I warned, holding a hand up when he stepped closer.

“Did you read my letter?”

“Fuck your letter,” I spat, vaguely remembering the bullshit spiel he’d put down on paper to make us feel sorry for him. But then again, a lot of the past few months was a jaded blur to me. “And fuck you.”

“I need you to do something for me,” he said, somehow angling our bodies so that I was the one cornered in the alleyway entrance, with him blocking my escape. “I need you to talk to your mother for me. She listens to you. She’ll take me back if you tell her to.”

“Take you back?” I laughed humorlessly. “Are you completely off your head? There’s no back for you, old man. You almost killed your own daughter. You’re going to prison, asshole, not home to your wife.”

“I’m not going to prison, boy,” he replied, sounding so sure of himself that it didn’t settle well with me. “But you’re going to hell if you don’t sort this out for me.”

“Then I’ll see ya there,” I spat, unwilling to bend to this asshole, no matter how badly he set my teeth on edge.

In a weird way, his abuse was familiar.

Unlike my mother, I knew where I stood with my father. It gave me a sick sort of fearful comfort.

I knew that didn’t make sense, but it was how I felt – on the rare occasion I slipped up and allowed myself to feel.

His cruelty was home to me. It was all I knew.

I could handle his attacks because I knew they were coming. I never knew what was coming with Mam.

Jesus, I was seriously messed up in the head.

With the hairs standing on the back of my neck, I watched him watch me.

His cold dead eyes were locked on mine, sending a cold shiver down my spine that resulted in my body shuddering.

“You think you know it all, boy,” he said, taking a menacing step towards me. “Think you’re better than me, but you’ll see. As soon as that pretty girl of yours spits that kid out, you’ll see. You’ll understand what it’s like to be trapped.”

“Don’t fucking talk about her,” I warned, hackles rising. “I mean it.”

“You’ll know what it feels like,” he continued to goad me – and step closer. “You’ll finally learn what it feels like to be me.”

“I’ll never be you,” I warned, backing up further. “I’d rather slit my fucking wrists than become you!”

“You’re already me,” he roared heatedly. “You’ve always been me, boy. Look at ya,” he pushed, closing the space between us and clamping a beefy

hand on my shoulder. “You can’t leave her alone any more than I can leave your mother. Isn’t that proof enough for ya?”

My blood ran cold.

His words rocked me to my core.

Because he was voicing my deepest fears aloud. Worse, he was voicing the truth.

Because it was true.

I couldn’t leave Molloy alone.

The resemblance was uncanny, and it made my mind spiral.

“It’s not the same thing,” I gasped, feeling my body tense as I jerked away from him, drowning in the comparison. “I would never hurt her the way you hurt Mom.”

“That’s what I used to think,” he replied. “I thought I’d never hurt your mother like my old man hurt mine. Believe it or not, I’ve loved her my whole life. I remember how special she was, how much I adored her. I swore I wouldn’t repeat my father’s mistakes.” He let out a bitter laugh. “And look where I am now.”

“My mother was a vulnerable teenage girl, and you took advantage,” I said, trembling. “You’re a fucking monster!”

“Do you think I was born this way?” he demanded, taking another swig from his bottle. “I’m a product of my upbringing. Same as you.”

“I’m not you,” I said through gritted teeth. “I refuse to be you.”

“You can’t stop it, Joey,” he replied, using my name to rattle me. “You can’t fight your nature. The only way you’re changing the ending of your story is if you walk away from that girl and her kid, and we both know you’ll never do that.” He shook his head in defeat. “God knows I couldn’t.”