Ultraviolet ✔️

15.2

Chapter Fifteen, Part Two

"Lily!"

A man, swaying on his feet, slurs his words as he drags her through the parking lot of an all too familiar biker bar. He's wearing a stained wife-beater under a half-unbuttoned plaid shirt, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Stupid bartender cut me off," he slurs, pulling her by the arm onto the sidewalk. He's not even paying attention, ranting drunkenly about how pissed off he is.

"Daddy—" Lily begins to protest. She's wearing a dress— the dress she's wearing in the present time. And she's still got her coloring book.

"Shut your mouth!" he snaps at her, amid other expletives. "Remember what Daddy said? Keep your mouth closed."

She purses her lips, to terrified to continue.

"Good," he says and stumbles into the road.

It's not their turn to cross. He doesn't notice and keeps leading her like he couldn't care less. A giant truck is coming, barreling through the light, and even though she drags her heels to try and get away, she can't get back in time.

Her father has no idea. He doesn't see the damn thing coming until it plows right into them.

Both of them die almost instantly.

"Don't mind her," the bartender finally says when I come back into reality, pale and shaking. "Her dad's a regular. I keep an eye on her. He's in the bathroom right now, griping about how I stopped his drinks after he could barely speak English anymore."

The man of the hour emerges from the restroom as if it's his cue. His shirt half-unbuttoned and he's getting ready to light a cigarette with no regard for the No Smoking sign hanging by the exit. He must be Lily's dad and he's fuming.

"It's time to go, Lily," he orders sharply. "Get your things. We're leaving."

She's unable to stand up for herself and reject his orders. She's too young to know better, too young to know that he is going to kill both of them with his recklessness.

"Sir," I begin, trying to stay calm. "Are you sure you should be taking her out with you this late?"

He looks appalled that I would even talk to him, blowing smoke in my face as he talks. "Are you trying to tell me how to parent my own kid?"

I shake my head, digging my nails into my palms. "I just think that if you're going to be hammered, a child shouldn't be around for it."

He grabs her wrist, hard, fingers sure to leave a bruise if he keeps it up. "Thanks, but I'm not going to listen to a stuck-up little kid. Are you even old enough to be in here?"

Oh, sweet irony.

He shoves past me with his daughter in tow, her little blue eyes falling back on me as they disappear outside. I start to follow, but Joel grabs my hand before I can.

"What was that, Vi?" he asks, genuinely surprised by me.

Larry takes the liberty to grab the long-forgotten coffees and set them back on the table, turning his head respectfully so he can talk to Manny instead of eavesdropping. The whole thing is about to become a debacle, I just know it.

Tears begin to fill my eyes as my voice breaks. "He's wasted. He could get them killed. There's no way he can pay attention to anything around them and she could be in danger."

Joel cups my cheeks in his hands and wipes my tears with his thumbs, trying to soothe me. "Hey, hey, no she's not, Vi. She'll be okay. You don't know—"