Stay Away from Pleasure

Chapter Forty-One

"Papa?"

It's so dark, and cold. I want my papa.

"Papa! Papa!"

"Lisette!" I hear his voice, but it sounds stuffy.

A small light from outside comes through the crack under the door. I press my ear on the door, sitting on my bottom.

"Papa?"

The light under the door disappears and the shadows of two feet come instead. I step back and see my papa open the door. He kneels down and holds his arms out, then I run into them.

"Papa!" I press my chubby cheeks into his big body. My eyes hurt and I start crying.

"Arrête à pleurer!" He wipes my tears away and carries me onto his shoulder.

The light of the kitchen cheers me up and I smell maman's soup cooking. I look up when I hear her calling my name. She carries me to the table and kisses my wet cheeks.

"Oh, Lisette!" She frowns at my knee.

I have a cut and there's a little bit of blood. She gives some plasters to papa and he bends down to my knees. My small hands wipe my little tears away and maman gives me a tissue to blow my nose. I smile at her, but then papa pulls my little finger to get me to look at him. I see the angry helper in his hand and I hold onto his big hand, waiting for the pinching pain.

There's the happy helper that papa gives me when I have a cold. He puts it on a spoon and I drink it. Some happy helpers taste sweet, but some taste yucky! There are the angry helpers too and they come when I hurt myself and papa puts it on my wound before he puts the plaster on. It hurts a lot, but papa says that's how you know it's working.

He hovers the cream over my leg and I breathe deeply. "Trois..." He starts counting from three. "Deux—"

"Papa!" He puts the angry helper on and I scream.

Quickly, he puts the plaster on my knee and blows raspberries on it as he kisses it. Before I can start crying from the pain, he makes me laugh already. I reach out my little arms and he picks me up and cuddles me, kissing my cheeks and my tiny fingers.

"Tu as quel âge maintenant?" He kisses my cheeks.

I hold up my full palm, "j'ai cinq ans papa"

"C'est la dernière fois que je vais te dire, n'ouvre pas cette porte. Tu es une grande fille maintenant, nous ne jouons pas ce jeu." He shakes his head and puts me in my seat for dinner. "D'accord?" He says.

"Oui papa." I nod.

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Full from birthday cake, I lay on my bed and reach for my science textbook. I open the book and the picture of my crush, Todd Baxter, sticks out the side. Picking it up, I give it a kiss. His beautiful eyes and tattoos drive me crazy. It's a shame guys my age aren't this hot. They all look so puny, they make bad jokes and smell like sweat and old gym socks. Todd is a man though. He's lean, but muscular and knows how to treat a woman. Oh God, his eyes. They're so blue, like the sea. I wonder if he even knows I exist... Probably not.

"Liz!" My father calls.

I stuff the picture of Todd somewhere underneath my pillow and lay on my back, tucked in my bed, ready to sleep. Just like always, my father barges into my room, unannounced, and stands at the doorway.