Traded

2- That's my life

I walked into my house and immediately heard laughter coming from the living room. I didn't need to go in to find out that he had already been drinking with the company he had. I turned my back on the danger in that room and entered the kitchen, where I found my little sisters playing cards at the table. The two of them were playing war and snacking on chips and salsa. "Hey, what are you two up to?" I asked taking a bottle of water out of the fridge and drinking the ice-cold liquid.

"We cannot sleep with that laughter going on, you need to stop it and put him to bed like you do Naomi!" Lydia begs while placing a chip with salsa on it in her mouth.

Kendra clears her throat, "Hey why are you late? I know Dad loses his temper when you're late! I don't want to see that!" she sulks as she drinks her grape soda.

"Hey! I am only like five minutes late... and it wasn't my fault! I think there was a traffic accident or something because traffic was horrendous. I hope he doesn't notice since he is distracted!" I tell her.

"Then, I hope he won't get mad about it. I want to be able to hang out with friends, too, so I don't want you to ruin it for us." She gives me a sad look like she's worried. She smiles her soft sweet smile at me, they are identical twins and I can hardly tell them apart. The only way I can tell them apart is by their birthmarks. Lydia's is on her ankle, while Kendra's is on her right shoulder. They both have my Mother's strawberry blonde locks, hazel eyes, and freckles on their slim noses. They both have full pouty lips and are the picture of perfection if you were to ask me. They have always been so beautiful and to tell you a truth I have always admired them.

If you were to compare us, I am sure I would have drawn the short straw on looks. I've always had straight natural bleach blonde hair, I promise it's all-natural. My eyes are blue like my Dad's, and my lips are pink with dimples on either side when I smile. I don't think I'm much to look at, or at least I never thought I was. "Okay guys, I'll ask whoever is there to leave, and then I'll put him to bed. But first, you two should really start getting ready for bed, I wouldn't want you guys to get in trouble, you know how he gets when we don't follow his rules. You're both up past your bedtime, and that alone wouldn't make him too happy." I say softly as I wink at them. They are two years younger than I am, so they are freshmen. I love them so much, I often refer to myself as their protector.

I turn on my heels and head into the living room; I instantly get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach as I saw exactly who was here with my Dad. The two guys who were sitting in the room with my dad looked extremely mean and both were big. I knew it, I thought to myself, as I saw him finish off a beer as he laughs about something one of the others said. Feeling brave, "Hi Daddy... what is happening? I apologize for not having brought you a new can. Would you like another one, Daddy?" I ask as I strode towards him to place a soft kiss on his cheek. I had to play the dutiful daughter when his company was around. He seemed to always have some company here, I resented what he was doing to himself with all the drugs and alcohol he was doing lately. He was beginning to lose his appearance as he looked so tired and haggard today. Substance abuse was changing him in a lot of ways, and most of them were bad.

"Oh, hey Naomi, you are late! Yes, please another beer, you be a doll and get one for me and the guys!" he mumbles, a look of disgust on his face as I walk out of the room to fetch his beer. I open up the fridge, grateful to find that the twins have both gone to bed. Stepping back into the room, I hand each of the guys a can of beer and give my attention back to my father. "Thank you, princess, we are just having a small meeting here." He gestures between the two big guys and himself.

"Who is this little lady John?" one of the guys asks, staring at me, which made me feel really uncomfortable.

"This is my eldest daughter, Naomi Clark." My dad replies to the question, and I see a smile cross his face as he stares at me. I see him pull out a phone from his pocket and begin to punch something into it. I immediately thought that was strange, and as I heard the sound of a camera click and saw the flash go off, I felt my stomach drop. He had just taken a picture of me, and I felt uncomfortable.

"She sure is beautiful, isn't she?" the other guy says.

"Yes, she is..." I hear my Dad slur out, why was he just answering their questions like that. Didn't he find it a little off? None of this felt right to me, none of it.

I turn to the one who took my picture, "May I ask what is going on here?" I ask, placing my hands on my hips. I knew how much my Dad disliked it when I interrupted meetings or asked questions, but this was involving me and I didn't feel right about it.

"Nothing sweetness." He said, and it made my stomach twist, I looked at my father who was smiling at me. I tilted my head and looked him in the eye, wondering if he was okay.

"Do not worry your pretty little head about what's going on here, Princess!" He slurs. Princess??? Since when does he ever call me princess? As I stared between the two men, my stomach began to flutter with butterflies and my heart began to beat a million miles per hour. They both straightened up and had serious looks on their faces.

"Can I ask, exactly how old is this one John?" One asks him, he sends me a wink. I looked over at my Dad and silently begged him not to answer. But to my surprise, he freely gave them my age.

"She's 18." I stared at him wide-eyed. Why was he so concerned about my age, why did he care how old I was? I was still in high school, although I was graduating this year and would be heading off to college after that.

"That's really good news John, we need to talk about something in private!" he says out loud looking at me with a sinister smile on his face, I wondered what he was thinking or what he wanted to talk to my father about without me present.

"You go on and go to bed, Princess!" I hear my Dad's voice interrupting my thoughts.

"Oh... okay, if you are sure you don't need me, Daddy. I really only wanted to let you know that I was home safe from my Homework Study session with Sutter. Good Night, Daddy." I almost whisper as I place a small kiss on his forehead before turning to walk out of the room.

"Good night Princess... make sure the others are in bed as well, will you?" I nod at him, walking out of the room with dread washing over me. I knew something was not right, the way those guys were looking at me and it all made me wonder what was going on. It all felt so...weird to me.

After climbing the stairs to my room, I realized my friends were still waiting for my signal. I had to let my friends know that I was fine, and this was the only way as my Dad never let me have a phone of my own. First things first, I flash the signal at them from my window. They were still parked there on the side of the road and I wave towards them with the flashlight I kept in my room for this purpose. I see the flash of the headlights before they drive off knowing I was safe in my room. Turning back around, I change into my soft cotton sweat pants and add a thin white tank top on top. That is what I typically slept in, I slowly approached my sister's room from across the hall to tell them what Dad said and ensure they were in bed. "Did you know that Dad is meeting with two scary mean-looking men downstairs in the living room right now?" I ask them as I walk into their room, noticing immediately that neither of them are visible.

"Yeah, we did, but I thought they would be gone by now!" Lydia spoke from her closet, I knew she was getting ready for bed like I was.

"I actually heard them talking earlier, right after they got here, and they sounded angry with Dad. They asked him if he had the money for their boss yet. I thought he was trying to be done with that? Kendra emerges from her closet in her cloud pajama set, which is white and blue with puffy clouds printed on it. It was cute but definitely showed her age.

I squint my eyes as I stare at her, "I didn't know Dad borrowed any money lately. I could have sworn he was serious when he told us he would stop gambling, and that this was our last move. I thought he would get a job, instead of borrowing money from all these loan sharks." I said almost in a whisper.

"Oh, he did promise us that... but I don't think he actually intended on doing it. I think he just told us what we wanted to hear and kept doing things the way he did." Lydia says sitting down on the edge of her bed. I watched my sister and realized that she was probably right! That's the kind of dad he was.

"I didn't know he borrowed any money either guys, but the minute I saw these two, I knew he was in trouble. I thought he was always looking for a new job, not borrowing money every time he left the house. When he told me that he had found a temporary job, I was convinced it was legitimate... but it was more likely just another loan from someone else." Kendra said while brushing her hair out.

"I guess we were just too hopeful that he would actually stick to his word," I reply.

"Yeah, probably, I think the guy said that it was close to like half a million," Lydia says as she emerges from her closet.

"What?" I ask as I watch her walk to her mirrored dresser. My eyes widen at the idea of just how much money he borrowed. I watch as she sits at her mirror to remove the makeup she caked on her face. She was wearing a nightgown. It was black with rainbow stars on it. "That's a lot of cash, but I don't think Dad has ever had that much's money!"

I scratch at my scalp, trying to remember the last six months. I tried to locate a time when my Dad might have seemed less worried because a substantial amount of money was coming in, but I couldn't think of any. Which meant that he probably gambled all of it away immediately after getting it. "I don't think he has either unless he gambled it all away!" Lydia says what I was thinking out loud. I look at her in disbelief because she just read my mind.

"Well, good night, you too. I am going to bed. You two should be in bed too." I say as I leave.

"Good Night Naomi!" they both exclaim in unison. I walk back into my room but don't climb into bed right away as I had to finish my English paper on Romeo and Juliet. It wasn't due until Friday, but I have always had a knack for getting my homework done early. See, I had a plan, a plan to go to college and find my mom to take Lydia and Kendra away from my dad.

After I finished my English paper, it was getting late, so I decided to go to bed. I could do my calculus homework tomorrow evening since I had to clean my Dad's garage tomorrow. I promised him I would help him with it over a week ago. I only agreed to do it to avoid a beating that night, but all well... I am one who keeps her word. So tomorrow I'll be cleaning out the garage with him, while my sisters go and hang out at the mall with their friends. Almost doesn't seem fair, does it? But that's my life.

I get up from my desk and head over to my bed where I pull the comforter down and climb on top of my soft mattress. I pull my blanket up to my shoulders and roll to my side, closing my eyes, wishing I could drift off to sleep.