Changes(Star Scott) My knuckles were turning white as I gripped the steering wheel. I looked back at Anne-Marie swiftly.
“Mommy?” she said briskly. “Why are the cars taking up so much space?
I heard how she sounded so impatient, almost like her father. “Well kid, something must have happened”.
The cars were starting to increase a lot faster, but we were still moving at the pace of a snail. I was still irritated because Anne-Marie was going to be late for school. I pulled in front of the school I once went to. I quickly unbuckled Anne’s seatbelt. “Hurry Anne, we have to get you inside”.
“Okay, mommy”. She seemed way more excited than she was in the traffic mess we were in.
I watched her as she walked in the door. After she went inside, I quickly shifted the gears and took off. I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket, trying to ignore it as I pulled up to the house. As I walked up the stairs I could hear Pickles scratching at the door. In my mind, I could tell she was out of cat food and probably water, too.
My phone went off one last time as I answered it, but to my surprise, it was my father.
“Hey Hannah”, he said eagerly. I could tell he wanted something from me, but I answered him.
“What’s it this time, dad? Wanting a ride, food, gas, mon-”. He shortly cut me off and replied,
“No,” he sighed deeply, “I and Daniel got kicked out of the apartment this morning.”
My heart sank. Did he not pay for that darn electric bill again?
“Hannah, I'm coming over to talk with you”. I could hear him swearing at someone, then silence.
As quickly as it all happened, I felt like I wanted to cry for some reason, but I couldn’t. I went outside to see if the rabbits needed more feed. I did a lot of thinking about what dad said, but did he mean to not pay the bill? Could he not have enough money to afford it? I jumped when I heard the sound of a truck honking. A big black Duramax pulled into the driveway.
My dad got out of his truck and walked over to me. “Hannah, you’ve gotten so much taller, and your house. BMW m5? Holy cow, is that a car?” He walked over to the white car to get a look.
“Come on inside, it’s starting to rain,” I said, hurrying to the door to unlock it. When we got inside, my dad sat on the couch, then got into serious mode and even put his hands on his legs.
“So, Hannah, I wanted to ask you for a favor.” He said, looking down at his boots.
“Okay, go on.” I think I had a slight feeling of what he was going to ask, avoiding eye contact.
“Could me and Daniel stay here? I don’t want to put him in that type of trauma, you know.”
Now he's done it, wanting to invade my home, my family’s home. I looked at him in anger.
“You know Tyler has to pay rent already. You guys being here will make the rent go up more.”
I knew he was going to not listen because he kept going asking until he got his way. My anger grew. I felt like punching him right there, with no regrets.
Tyler walked in the door and I watched as he froze up. Then questioned, “Hannah, why is he here?” My dad got up and went over to Tyler in his face, “You listen hear punk, you have no control of my daughter.” I grew afraid at the thought of how my dad just disrespected my husband. I felt a very sick feeling in my stomach, then got lightheaded and almost fell.
Tyler was furious. “You sir are in my house, and you want to get in my face like that?”
My dad threw a punch but missed. I pushed my father out the door and he drove off squealing his tires. The next day I felt really bad and told my father he and Daniel could stay with us. My father apologized to Tyler, and they shook hands and vowed not to fight. Things were going all right. I took Daniel and Anne-Marie to school every day, but sometimes I thought the bus would be good. Then again, I don’t want Anne being picked on. Daniel was always shy around his nieces but still cares for them. Dad usually babysits while I and Tyler are working. The girls say he always makes up fairy stories that make them laugh. I got home later than usual. Both girls were already asleep. My dad came into the kitchen where I was looking for something to eat.
“Oh! You're here late, huh?” he asked, pacing back and forth, which was a nervous gesture.
“Yeah, one of our workers called out, said she felt ill or something like that,” I said swiftly
I walked down the hallway and to my surprise, Daniel was already sleeping. I wondered how he had picked up going to bed early. When we were younger, he would always stay up past midnight and dad would never find out. Dad has changed a lot; he's become more aggressive and drinks more than he used to. I wonder if I and Daniel will ever go through those changes dad had. Change? What does this have to do with anything now? I'm pretty sure I will experience more difficult changes throughout my life. It's been a year since Tyler and dad’s fight whenever my dad threw a punch at him. Tyler is getting a little fed up with my dad being in our home. He has even considered kicking them both out. I went out to my car, but I felt angry when I looked in the passenger seat. My dad had left his drink in there and it busted open because of the coldness. I decided to talk to Tyler about my dad. Pretty soon it came down to us kicking them out. We were stressed out and I decided to tell my father he needed to leave our house. “Hannah, what did I do to you?” he raised his voice, practically screaming.
“Listen, dad, I'm sorry. It’s just me and Tyler are becoming more stressed lately.”
He told Daniel to grab his things as he stomped to the guest room, enraged. I knew it was wrong, but I know also it was a good thing to do for Tyler and the girls. Anne-Marie was upset, as well as Emma-Lee. They were both bawling and screaming in anger, but Emma asked, “Mommy, why are Papa and Uncle leaving us?” her eyes were very puffy from crying.
I felt a knot in my throat as I tried to swallow it. I knew I was crying at this point. It hurt a lot.
Could these be the terrible changes I was going through? Leaving my brother and dad homeless? I felt like a terrible person for months, living inside my own sorrows and despair. I am going to probably regret this for the rest of my life, but come on this is my home and I didn’t want it destroyed after all the money I and Tyler put into it. I decided to talk to my dad today. I was a little nervous as I walked up to the hotel door. “Hello miss, I would like to know what room Axel Miller is located in.” I knew she could see I was stuttering by the look on her face.
“Yes. he’s in room 325.” She guided me up to the third floor, and pointed all the way to the end.
I knocked on the door, my heart was pounding that it felt like it was going to burst out.
“Hannah?” I heard him say, looking out the little peephole, as he unchained the door.
“Dad, I'm sorry,” I rushed in the door and flew my arms around him, tears dripping from my face.
“Hannah don’t apologize, it wasn’t your fault that you had to do that.” he sighed “it was my fault.”
We decided to go to the mall for the rest of the day. Being with my dad again felt amazing.

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