34 minutes

Asher turned around to see his dad standing in front of him with his arms out for a hug. Asher’s jaw went slack. His eyes filled with tears and his body shook with anger. This was his father, who took him to every basketball game, who cheered obnoxiously from the sidelines, who joked with him and knew him better than anyone. Who cheated on his wife, blackmailed his son, and left his family.

Asher ran at his dad and punched him as hard as he could, right in the stomach.

“You-left-us-you-cheated-on-mom-you-left-us" Every word was punctuated with a sharp kick.

Asher’s dad backed away slowly and looked up shamefully. He had a black eye and looked like he was going to be sick. Good, Asher thought. He is sick. 

“Asher, I can explain”. His dad looked at him pleadingly. He had looked at him that exact same ten years ago, when he left Asher, his brother, and his mom, who was pregnant with his youngest brother at the time. Asher had been on vacation with his mom and brother in North Carolina. Every day they watched the sun rise over the mountains. The colors splayed out across his mom’s face, highlighting her beautiful smile and sparkling eyes. Both features were long gone, scrubbed away by her long hours cleaning the local hospital all day and half the night. Asher had left for home early to see his dad, who had stayed home to “work”. It turned out his “work” was another woman. He wanted to surprise his dad, but no one was more surprised than him. He had come home to them on the couch, and his dad had looked up and jumped off the couch, saying he could explain. Asher didn’t like his explanation. He told his dad he was telling mom no matter what, but as he ran for his hover, his dad held him back and gave him an uppercut so hard it knocked him out. When he came to, his dad promised him that he would beat him until he was dead if he told anyone. Asher cried and pleaded, but it was no use. He went to his room and pretended to be sick when his mom came home. She kissed his dad on the cheek as Asher steamed red-hot inside.

Asher brought himself back into reality and look at his father’s apologetic face and hard, cold eyes. He started towards him like he was going to hug him, and then ducked under his arms and ran as fast as he could to hide.

“Asher!” His dad screamed. “Wait!”