Poker
Avalynn sat up in her bed with a kick and rubbed her forehead. She stilled when she heard the voices from the other room. Her father had men over again. She should call them friends, as they were over quite frequently, but her father didn't have friends; he just had men. She heard laughter from the living room, which meant they probably weren't in some important meeting but instead were playing poker. She recognized the laughter as her father's, which put a smile on Avalynn's face. Not that she was particularly happy to hear her father laugh, but she figured it meant he wasn't losing, and that made her pleased. Usually, when her father did lose, his mood would be tremendously dampened, and he would need to release some pent-up anger, which was sadly always pointed at her. So yes, Avalynn was happy to hear her father's laughter, if it meant he wouldn't hurt her in the morning.
Avalynn swung her legs off the side of the bed and stood, the cool hardwood of the floor sending a shiver up her spine. She walked over to her wardrobe, her tall, lanky figure casting shadows on the moonlit floor. She pulled a sweater over her head—a navy one that her mother had gotten her when she was still alive—and sat down on the edge of her bed again. She listened to the sounds of the men in the other room. Listened to the rumble of their low voices, the vibrations of their laughs, and the scraping of their chairs. She smelled the smoke of one of their cigars as it was lit and passed around and scrunched her nose up in disgust. She liked listening to them and pretending to sit and laugh with them, pretending to be less alone.
She shifted on her bed, accidentally making it squeak beneath her. She stiffened, holding her breath and praying that her father hadn't heard her, but alas, he did.
"Ava, come here!" his voice thundered from the living room.
She took a big breath before rising from her bed slowly.
"You heard me, Avalynn. Don't make me wait."
She quickly opened the door, not wanting to ruin his good mood.
"What is it, Father?" she asked softly.
"Why are you awake?" he asked, lifting a brow. "Look at me when I talk to you, girl."
She lifted her gaze to his angry face and dared it to fleet around the room filled with his 'men,' who all had their gazes fixed on her.
"I... couldn't sleep," she said, looking at her father again. "I'm sorry, Father."
Her gaze lowered to the floor again.
"She couldn't sleep," her father repeated, looking at his men. "This girl has a roof above her head, food in her belly, clothes on her body, but she. Can't. Sleep."
He looked at the man closest to him and shook his head. "She's a pathetic, ungrateful little kid, isn't she?"
Avalynn flinched with every insult but took them silently, not wanting to anger him any more than she already did.
Her father's voice cut through the room again, thick with disgust. "Look at you, practically shivering in front of all of my men."
Tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes, threatening to leave their confines and roll down her cheek. She could feel the stares of everyone in the room like hot coal on her skin.
I cannot break, she reminded herself. It will only make things worse.
"All I have given you, and you can't even bother to give me some respect." He scoffed, leaning forward on his armrest, swirling around the liquor inside his crystal glass. "You think that just because you are my daughter, you are special, that you are some sort of princess. But let me tell you how wrong you are. You are nothing. You are just a ragdoll listening to my every command. You are but a tool, a weapon."
Ava breathed slowly, reminding herself constantly: I cannot let him see me break. Not like my mother did.
"I know what I am," she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I am someone."
His laughter rang through the room.
"You are nothing. Yet. But you will be so much. You will be... everything."
Her father's words raced through her mind. Did he have plans for her? What was going to happen? In that moment, that moment of uncertainty and fear, she decided that if she were to become anything, she would become her father's undoing.