Another Night, Another Score

"Well he told me if I saw you, I should tell you he'll be home in a bit, and he was leaving with some blonde chick..." those words just kept on ringing in my head. Jasper looked down at me as I was slowly taking all this in.

Perhaps it isn’t what I think it is, perhaps this is just all a misunderstanding! When my dad comes home later I will ask him about the blonde, he will tell me it was an electrician or maybe a plumber.

I look up at Jasper, “Yeah, don’t worry its probably no one.” I look up at him, his face scrunched up and from the looks of it, he wanted to tell me that I was wrong.

“So,” I say as I get up from the couch I was sitting on “Lets watch a movie, we haven’t done that for a while!”

“Sure! What movie?” He says jumping onto the couch.

I walked towards the T.V. set and scan through the movies on the shelf that my dad and I built so it wrapped around the T.V.

“Well, how about the notebook?” I say as I pull it out, “Or the Little Mermaid!” I squeal pulling that of the shelf too.

“Little Mermaid please!”

“Okay! In goes the Little Mermaid!” I pushed the DVD into the DVD player and press play.
_____________________

We got through half the movie, when my dad came home. “Hey kids! What are you guys watching?”

“Little Mermaid.” Jasper says with an intense whisper while staring at the television screen.

“Ah I see, well kids I am going to get ready for bed, you once the movie is finished I want Jasper to go home, got it guys?”

“Yes dad!” I said rolling my eyes, gosh I really doubt Jasper is going to rape me or anything.
____________________________

Finally the movie ended, and Jasper and I bid our goodbyes, I told him I would see him tomorrow. I knocked on my dad's bedroom door, the whole time I'd been watching the movie with Jasper, I couldn't stop thinking about his words.

"Yes, Dani?" he asked me, and turned to face me, after putting a couple of things in his dresser.

"So, I was just wondering, some people downstairs said they saw you leave with a girl tonight. I was just wondering, who is she?" I questioned.

"Oh, she's just a nice lady from work. We're doing some work stuff together" he said scratching the back of his head.

"But you told me you went to the grocery store?"

"I took her with me, she told me she needed to get a few things for herself, and we needed to get some work stuff for our project at the Staples across the Walmart we'd gone to" he explained. I nodded my bed.

"Well, I'm going to bed. 'Night Dad" I told him, kissing him on the cheek. He smiled at me.

"Night honey" he replied, and closed the door to his bedroom as I made my way to mind. My dad is a liar, a very bad liar.

____________________________

The days had gone by very fast, between hanging out with Jasper, tending to my father, and trying to figure what was up with him, and schoolwork. Finally it was time for another session with Dr. Barnes. I had done good, and gotten way better compared to when I first started, in fact, I wasn't even sure why I was still going to the rehab center. Probably because I was a good influence to the others.

I walked into his office after the secretary called my name, he and another man were waiting for me. The man was wearing ripped jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and a torn up jacket. He had long gray hair and big green scary eyes, with a crooked smile, and half his teeth missing. I smiled weakly at Dr. Barnes as I tried to take in the man's appearance. Dr. Barnes smirked at me.

"Dani, please sit down. This is Don McPearson. Your new alcohol buddy for this week" he smiled. "And trust me, he's not as scary as he seems"

The man let a chuckle escape his lips, and stuck out his hand for me to shake. I took it politely.

"So" I started nervously, "Where's Alex?"

Dr. Barnes looked at me in confusion, then suddenly let out a laugh. "I guess I forgot to tell you two! You get a new buddy every time!" he grinned.

"Oh, great!" I replied and shot a fake smile at them both.

"Don, this is your alcohol buddy, Danielle Robinson, a-" Before Dr. Barnes could say anymore, I interrupted him.

"But you can call me Dani" I said with a bit of irritation in my voice. Dr. Barnes then started to ramble on about how we should make our plans soon, and basically re-explaining the whole 'alcohol buddy' situation to us. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, pretending to listen to him, while Don seemed surprisingly interested and enthusiastic, listening to every word.

Suddenly, I began to miss Alex.