"I'm not saying you have to like him," I told Lily as I steered the car left.
"Then what are you saying? You bring this stranger into our home and expect me to just be okay with it?!" She yelled, arms crossed, sitting in the back seat.
"Lily, please, I know you're mad, but – "
"But, but, but. You always have an excuse for everything, don't you?"
"Lily!" I shouted, frustration searing in my chest.
Silence fell quickly, though tension stayed thick in the air. Lily scoffed and tightened her arms across her chest, eyes looking out the window, but seeing nothing.
"Lily you have no idea what this boy has done for me," I said quietly. "You don't know what I owe him. And I wish I could tell you but it would be too dangerous, for all our sakes. But all you have to know is that I made a mistake and I was about to get into some serious, serious trouble, but Benjamin... he took the blame for everything. He helped me when he didn't have to. And if he hadn't, you would have died and I would have been sent to prison."
Lily's eyes flicked up at me, confused.
"What did you do?" She asked.
"Don't worry about it. It's over now."
"No, what did you do? What did he take the blame for?"
I turned left into Lily's school car park, weaving between soccer mums and mini vans.
"I can't tell you," I said, pulling the car to a stop. "Not right now, at least. But one day, when you're healthy, I'll explain everything to you, and you'll understand."
Lily's eyes dropped under her artificial fringe.
"I'm not going to be healthy again, Dad."
"Yes you are," I said, turning to look her in the eye. "Believe me, you are. I just need you to trust me right now. You keep fighting from your end. Keep strong. Do what you have to. And I'll be fighting from my end, no matter what happens. You will be healthy again, Lily. I promise."
Lily looked at me and I stared right into her very soul. Under all her defences, I watched the fear simmer just beneath the surface. She was terrified, just as I was terrified for her. Lily leaned forward, sitting on the edge of the middle seat, and kissed my temple.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It's okay," I told her. "Just... please don't steal his coffee again."
She laughed, loudly, but I heard the sad undertone.
"Bye, Dad." She smiled, opening the back door.
"Goodbye, love."
© A.G. Travers 2015
YOU ARE READING
Charade
General FictionDo you think good people are capable of bad things? Vic and Benjamin think so... Victor Langley loves his daughter with all his heart, so when she's diagnosed with cancer, he knows he has to do everything to save her. He makes a deal with a rogue do...
