Your Average Parent

Blank. The piece of paper is blank. She can’t write, think, speak, can’t smile or laugh, can’t move her face, she’s frozen. His words still ring in her ears, those deadly words that no daughter should hear. And if you are a daughter that has heard these words, stand up. Knock back your chair, maybe flip over the table if it’s not too big, punch a wall, do anything. Just don’t do what she did. Don’t sit there with a nonchalant smile on your face. Don’t laugh it off or pretend it’s a joke when you’re dying inside. Don’t hold all your anger and fear. Do Something.
She thinks back for the fourth or fifth time.
  What did I do? What went wrong?
It was after school and she had come from the science wing. She didn’t mean to be late, she told him. It had taken her a full five minutes to walk to her locker. Then, she had to pack up her things, which was another five minutes.
“No,” he wouldn’t have it. “I see people coming out of the school at 3:00, on the dot.” It’s like he hasn’t heard her. Well. She knows he hasn’t. She spends the ride home looking out the window, trying not to cry. It had been a bad day.
She had been working on homework all evening when dinner came around. She came charging down the stair, urged on by her growling stomach. As she sat at the table, she remembered how he had upset her before. Then, she tried to remember the last good comment he had made of her. She remembered it. “I like your sense of humor,” he had said. But would he remember?
He had had a couple of shots. It meant he was upset about something. She had to ask, though. The deadly question slipped out, “What do you like about me dad?”
He was caught off-guard. Good, she thought. Now you can’t play your little games. He thought about it for a while. Then, he ate a little. Then, he thought about it some more. Her stomach tightened. She knew the answer. She looked somewhere, anywhere but him. It didn’t help. The salt shaker on the table was a necessity to him and the mashed potatoes in her plate couldn’t be looked at because they were made by him. Wait, she thought desperately, give him a chance. Don’t jump to conclusions. After a second, he finally found his saving face. He smiled, an ugly, wide grin, and chuckled a little, “I can’t think of anything.”