Van flopped down onto the bed just as Taissa emerged from the bathroom, a toothbrush sticking haphazardly out of her mouth.
“Who was that on the phone?” Tai asked, pulling the sudsy brush from her mouth, “If it was another reporter, I swear to god—.”
“It was my dad,” Van mumbled. She didn’t know how to feel, she hadn’t heard from her dad in years, yet here he is out of nowhere, “Apparently mom told him I was staying here and gave him the number. He wants to see me.”
“Are you gonna do it? You don’t have to, I really don’t think you should, honestly.”
“Tai, he’s my dad. I was in a plane crash and then was missing for months. I feel like I should see him at least to let him know I’m okay.”
“He knows you’re okay! He’s obviously seen your face all over the news and now thinks he can get something from you.”
“You always assume the worst,” Van said, rubbing her finger along the scar covering half her face. It was a nervous habit she’d picked up since the bandages had come off. “I’m gonna go see him, okay? You’re welcome to come with me but I feel like I have to do this.”
“Fine,” Taissa sighed, “I’ll take you. We’ll do this together.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Tai asked, squeezing Van’s hand, “we can go home if you’d rather, just say the word.”
The two were walking towards a bar on Main Street where Van’s dad asked to meet up. Van’s hair was falling into her face, partially hiding her scars and Tai could feel how tense with nerves she was.
“I survived a plane crash and a wolf attack, Tai. Pretty sure I can manage an afternoon with my father.”
Tai gritted her teeth as the two walked through the door, quickly dropping Van’s hand as they entered. They’d agreed that it was better to not let on that they were dating right away out of fear that Van’s father would be a dick about it. Which he probably would be given that he had been known to call Van various slurs, even when she was just a tomboy elementary schooler.
“Vanessa!” A man at a corner table called out, waving at the girls. He looks like Van, too much like Van in Tai’s opinion. The same red hair, freckles, the same stocky build, yet rather than the warmth Van exuded, he seemed darker, colder.
As the two approached the table, he pulled Van into an awkward hug, like he didn’t know how to interact with his own kid.
“You look great, Vanessa. So grown up,” he said, “it’s great to see you.”
“It’s Van,” she said, pulling away from him, “and, Dad, this is my friend Taissa. We went to high school together, she played soccer with me.”
He turned to Tai, scanning his eyes down her before extending a hand, “Taissa. It’s nice to meet you. I recognize you from the news.”
Tai took his hand and gave it a quick, tense shake before sitting down, pulling Van into the booth after her. She didn’t understand how Van was able to be so civil to the man who had abandoned her to take care of her alcoholic mother and even before that was nothing but a dick to her. Van put her hand on Tai’s knee, gripping it like a lifeline and Tai placed her hand over it, gently tracing out the words “I LOVE YOU”.
As Van and her dad made small talk, Tai stared at him, silently daring him to say something rude to either of them. His eyes were the same shade of blue as Van’s but without the shine hers had. They reminded her of Van’s eyes during the few horrible minutes she thought that wolves had killed her. Dead eyes. She imagined poking in his eyes like her mother always told her to do as self defense. Those cold dead eyes bursting, no longer able to look upon the daughter he’d abandoned. As if Van could read her mind, she squeezed Tai’s leg, tracing out “I’M FINE”. She wanted to believe her but couldn’t.
“Well, honey,” Van’s dad said, setting down his drink for the first time since he’d gotten it, “I did want to ask you something. So I got myself in a bit of a situation recently and when I heard about the settlement, I was wondering if maybe you’d be willing to help your old man out.”
Van’s face fell. Tai knew how hopeful she’d been that maybe, just maybe, her father actually wanted to reconnect, even if it took a near death experience for him to want to. But of course, he had a motive.
“Van, I think we should get going, we’re…” Tai wracked her brain to make up plans they had later that day, “meeting up with Shauna, remember?”
Van looked momentarily puzzled, then gave Tai’s knee a quick squeeze, “Yeah, Dad, I did not come here to have this conversation with you, we should go.”
“Really Vanessa?” he asked, his face darkening, “I know I wasn’t always the best father but the least you could do is spot me a bit of cash. Who do you think paid the bills when your bitch mother was too busy getting drunk to work? I sent you a check every year on your birthday, remember that? Told you to put it towards college so maybe you wouldn’t end up like your mother. And now you come into some money and you’re too good for your old dad, you little fucking dyke!”
A chill ran down Tai’s spine. No one should be talking to her girlfriend that way. Since they’d met in freshman year, Tai had been Van’s number one defender against assholes.
She didn’t even notice that she was frozen in place until Van mumbled, “C’mon, Tai, we’re done here,” and lightly tugged her away from the table.
“Fuck you,” Tai said, making direct eye contact with Van’s dad for the first time all afternoon. She allowed herself to be pulled away before he could react, the two girls breaking into a run as they reached the bar’s door. They ran to the car, hopped in, and headed off, not towards home, not yet.
“Are you okay? You know you don’t owe him shit, right? I’ll tell my parents to hang up on him if he calls again, you don’t need to see him—”
“Tai, it’s okay. I was stupid to think that maybe he was actually ready to be a father,” Van said, although Tai could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes.
“It’s not okay, Van! He shouldn’t be treating you like that. He’s such a fucking asshole, I could kill him.”
“Tai. I’m fine, seriously. I’ll be okay. I’ve had years to get past his bullshit, spending an hour with him didn’t undo all that,” Van grabs Tai’s thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze, “And I’ve got you now and you’re all that I really need.”
Tai took a breath in, “You’re all I need too. I just can’t believe he’d act like that. But you’re right, you’ve got me and I’m not leaving. I promise that.”