Dad, I won't lie to you anymore.

The day my dad got out of prison, the first thing he did was try to sweet-talk my mom. "Brenda, look," he said, his voice low and coaxing. "I'm not gonna get mad. You just gotta tell me the truth. Did you... see anyone while I was away? You know I wasn't an angel before I went in. It's no big deal. Four years is a long time. A woman's got needs. I can handle it." Hearing those words, my blood ran cold. I rushed over, ready to run interference for my mom, to whisper in her ear to deny everything, no matter what. I’d seen what happened to Mrs. Henderson down the hall. After she confessed to her husband that she’d had an affair, you could hear the screaming through the thin apartment walls. We’d see her later with bruises she tried to hide with cheap concealer, a haunted look in her eyes. My dad was an ex-con. He was ten times more brutal than Mr. Henderson could ever dream of being. In that life, my mom listened to me. She denied everything. But years later, she turned on me, her face twisted with resentment. "This is all your fault, Jenna," she spat. "You and your bright idea to keep my mouth shut. Now I'm stuck here, miserable, while the men I was with are all doing great. One of them owns his own construction company! But no, I get to live with the guilt, tied to a damn jailbird for the rest of my life!" In her rage, she shoved me. We were on the balcony of our eighth-floor apartment. She pushed me right over the edge. Later, she told the police I’d jumped. That I was being cyberbullied over some boy at school and couldn't handle it. Now, I’m opening my eyes, and I’m back. Back on the day he came home. I don’t step in to save her. Instead, when my dad turns his questioning eyes on me, I stutter and look at the floor. "Mom... Mom told me not to tell anyone about the uncles who came over," I mumbled. "I don't know anything else." 1 "Jenna, tell me straight. While I was gone, did any other 'uncles' come by to see your mom?" His voice, rough and familiar, pulled me back from the void. His face was too close, his breath smelling of stale cigarettes. I knew, with a jolt that made my heart hammer against my ribs, that I was back. He had just started his interrogation, and this time, it was aimed at me. "Jenna? What's wrong with you?" he pressed. "Did they, or didn't they? Just tell me." I took a shaky breath and delivered the line I’d prepared in a past life. "Mom told me not to tell anyone about the uncles who came over," I whispered. "I don't know anything else." His eyes narrowed. "What did they do? Did they... hug your mom or something?" I pretended to think hard, my expression blank, giving him just enough to keep him digging. "They came over for dinner a lot. They brought us groceries. One of them used to hold my hand and say he was gonna marry me when I grew up." His jaw tightened, a muscle twitching in his cheek. The look on his face had already turned dark. He asked more questions, but I just shook my head and clammed up, playing the part of the scared, confused kid. I didn't want my mom to have any reason to blame me later. He handed me a crisp hundred-dollar bill. A reward. As I watched him sink into the sagging armchair, his expression shifting from suspicion to barely contained rage, the reality of my second chance finally sunk in. I clutched the money, my gaze turning to ice. This time, Mom, you're on your own. Let's see how you handle this. 2 That night, I lingered by their bedroom door. Just like before, I heard my dad's voice, slick with fake understanding. "Brenda, I'm serious. I won't get mad," he was saying. "You know that whole assault charge was bogus. That girl just got pissed I wouldn't pay her what she wanted. So, if you did something... I get it. Four years is a long time. You must've been lonely, right?" My hands started to tremble. This was the exact moment. In my first life, I’d heard this and burst in, making up an excuse to get my dad out of the room before desperately convincing my mom to keep her mouth shut. I’d used the story of Mrs. Henderson to scare her straight. No one else knew the full extent of the beatings, but my bedroom window had a direct view of theirs. My mom, terrified, had heeded my warning. The next time my dad tried to bait her, she’d flown into a rage. "Rick, what the hell is wrong with you?" she had screamed. "You think because you screw around, I do too? I was too busy trying to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table to even think about another man! Maybe if you weren't such a scumbag, you wouldn't assume everyone else is!" He’d actually believed her. After that, no men came around. To make up for his suspicion, and maybe his guilt, he actually cleaned up his act. He got a steady job, stopped running around, and for a few years, things got better. We even bought a house. I thought I’d made the right choice. Then, just before my high school graduation, she snapped. "You must be so proud of yourself, Jenna," she’d sneered. "Making sure your perfect little family stayed together. Did you ever stop to think how miserable I was? The men I was with are all successful now. And what do I have? A lifetime of regret with an ex-con. This is all your fault. You ruined my life!" And then she pushed me. This time, there would be no rescue. Let her learn for herself what Mrs. Henderson already knew. 3 Without me bursting in, my mom’s voice trembled under my dad’s persuasion. At first, she denied it instinctively. "Rick, what are you talking about? I would never do something like that." But he kept at it, a master manipulator weaving threats and promises together. "If you did, just tell me. We'll put it behind us and move on. But if I find out on my own... well, you know what happens then." A few seconds of silence, and then she broke. "Oh, Rick," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen. It was like you said, I was so lonely... but it was more than that. I was all alone with two kids, trying to make ends meet. The pressure... it was too much. They helped us. I don't know how I would've survived without them. You... you really forgive me?" The air went still. A full minute passed. My mom’s voice rose in panic. "Rick? Honey? What's wrong? You said you'd forgive me if I told the truth." My dad's voice was low and heavy, thick with suppressed fury. "‘They’? So it wasn't just one. Who were they? How many? Tell me everything, and then I'll forgive you." 4 She was in too deep to stop now. "Three," she whispered. "Two you know—Mark and Leo. The other one... his name is Eric." "And how did you manage that, with the kids around?" he pressed. She hesitated. "When they were at school... they'd come to the house. Sometimes we'd get a hotel room. But they always gave me money, Rick! It wasn't for free! I was doing it to provide for the kids..." Her voice trailed off. "You're not mad, are you? You promised you'd forgive me. Now that you're back, I'll cut them all off. I swear. It'll just be us." He didn't answer. The silence stretched on again, heavy and menacing. Then, his voice came, cold and demonic. "You really think I can just 'move on' after you let not one, not two, but three different men in our bed? You forget why I went away? You forget what I did to that bitch who accused me?" My mom finally understood. She’d walked right into his trap. "You were lying," she choked out. "You were tricking me! You bastard, Rick! You're a monster!" CRACK. The sound of his hand hitting her cheek echoed through the door, followed by his cold, cruel laugh. "I knew you couldn't keep your legs closed. But three of them... that's impressive. You know, I've always wondered about Kevin. Tell me the truth, Brenda. Is he my son? Or does he belong to one of them?" 5 I froze outside the door. This was new. I never knew my dad had suspected Kevin wasn't his. My brother, Kevin, was two years younger than me and spoiled rotten by my mom. He treated me like dirt, always using my mom’s favoritism to his advantage. He was there, on the balcony, the night she killed me. He didn't push me, but he didn't stop her, either. And when the police questioned him, he backed up her story, telling them I jumped. He and my mom were a united front. I hadn't seen him since I came back, but now, hearing my dad's suspicion, a memory surfaced. Leo. Every time Leo came over, he wasn't just all over my mom; he was all over Kevin. He'd slip him twenty-dollar bills, buy him new sneakers, treat him like a prince. I never got a thing. Mark and Eric couldn't have cared less about us kids. A cold certainty washed over me. Kevin was Leo’s son. I had to tell my dad. Someday. Another sharp crack from inside the room. "I said, is Kevin my son!" "Rick, you've lost your mind in there!" my mom shrieked. "You get out and you immediately accuse me and your son? You can doubt me, but not Kevin! You were there when he was born, you watched him grow up! Who else's would he be? You were the one cheating back then, not me!" 6 Her denial was fierce, but my dad just went quiet again. I was about to walk away when I heard his voice, dead and flat. "Take off your clothes." "What? Rick, what are you doing?" I heard the distinct sound of a leather belt being unbuckled. "Rick, don't you dare," my mom pleaded, her voice shaking with fear. "Even if we're married, this is assault! It's illegal!" He just laughed, a sound devoid of any humor. Then came the sickening thwack of the leather. "After you've been with God knows how many men? You think I still want you? Don't flatter yourself," he sneered. "I recorded everything you just said on my phone. You call the cops, it's a he-said, she-said domestic dispute. And what happens when I send this little recording to all your friends and family?" Another lash, and she screamed in pain. "Rick! How could you hit me? I'm calling the police!" "You think I'd let you?" he growled. "You're never calling anyone again. If you even try, I'll kill Kevin." That did it. The fight went out of her. She started begging, sobbing for forgiveness. "Rick, please, I'm sorry! Kevin is your son, he's your son, I swear! If you have to doubt someone... then fine! I'll tell you the truth! Jenna isn't yours! She's Leo's daughter!" 7 Outside the door, the world tilted. A wave of rage and nausea washed over me, so intense I nearly passed out. It didn’t matter if it was this life or the last one. When backed into a corner, she would always, always throw me to the wolves to save her precious son. Was I even her daughter? At this point, I didn't care whose DNA I had. What mother could be this cruel? Fine. If she wanted to play that game, then the gloves were off. I remembered now. The way Mark, another of her lovers, used to stare at me, his eyes lingering too long. How he'd find excuses to touch my hand. My mom saw it. And instead of stopping him, she’d smiled at him like she was showing off a prize pig. "Our Jenna, she's only a pre-teen, but she's already blossoming, isn't she?" she'd cooed. "Some boy is going to be very lucky one day." Mark's eyes had lit up. "Well, I'm too old to be that lucky boy," he'd chuckled, his gaze slimy. "But you know, when she's legal, maybe I could be her first... show her the ropes?" My mom had giggled. "Of course! What a lucky girl she'd be!" She wasn’t just my mother. She was my pimp. "What? Jenna is Leo's daughter?" My dad's roar snapped me back to the present. I didn't wait to hear more. I ran out of the apartment and found Kevin playing video games on his phone at the park across the street. "Kevin, come quick!" I yelled. "Dad is beating Mom!" 8 He shot up and started running, but I grabbed his arm. "Wait! We're just kids, we can't stop him! Call Uncle Leo! He's the only one strong enough!" He didn't question it. He frantically dialed Leo's number, then sprinted toward our building. I let him go first, staying a few steps behind. When Kevin kicked open the bedroom door, we both froze. Well, I was less shocked. I’d seen a naked, beaten woman before. It was just my mom this time instead of Mrs. Henderson. Kevin, however, looked like he'd been struck by lightning. When he finally found his voice, he launched himself between them, shielding my mom. "Dad, what are you doing to her?" he screamed. "You abandoned us for years, and now you come back and do this? She raised us by herself! Are you crazy?" My dad's eyes were bloodshot with rage. "She cheated on me, you little brat! Now get out of my way before I take this belt to you, too!" But Kevin stood his ground, glaring at our father with pure hatred. If I hadn't been betrayed and murdered by my mother, maybe I would have done the same thing. But now, I just watched, cold and detached. I saw the belt rise, ready to fall on my brother. My mom shrieked. "Rick, he's your son! If you touch him, I'll never forgive you! He'll grow up, and you'll get old. You think he won't make you pay for this?" For a second, my dad hesitated. Kevin seized the opportunity. "That's right! You hit me, and you're a dead man when I'm older!" Big mistake. My dad had spent four years in a place where threats were the only language spoken. He brought the belt down hard. Kevin screamed, a high-pitched wail of pain. "It hurts!" A sick sense of pleasure bloomed in my chest. Good. That was a tiny bit of payment for the agony of my fall. But it wasn't enough. Not even close. I glanced at my watch. Leo should be here any second. The real show was about to begin. A minute later, Leo burst through the front door, his face pale with panic. "Jenna, where's your brother?" I pointed silently toward the bedroom. "You better hurry. Dad's hitting him, too." His eyes went wide with fury, and he charged into the room. "Rick, you son of a bitch, stop!" 9 I followed him to the doorway and watched his face go from rage to stunned disbelief. He’d expected a fight, not this. Not Brenda, naked and bleeding on the floor. His eyes lingered on her body for a second too long, a flicker of something—pity, desire, anger—flashing across his face before he flushed a deep red. My dad saw it too. His rage intensified. "What's the matter, Leo?" he sneered. "Does it hurt to see your whore getting what she deserves?" Leo tore his eyes away and saw Kevin cowering on the floor. He rushed over, putting himself between them and my father. "Rick, have you lost your mind? I'm calling the cops! They'll lock you up again!" He pulled out his phone, but my dad's belt lashed out, sending it flying across the room. "Go ahead, call them," my dad challenged. "Brenda already confessed everything. Sleeping with my wife while I was locked up, making me raise another man's kid. You really want to call the cops? Don't you have a wife and kids of your own, Leo? You ready for that scandal?" Leo froze, his face ashen. He glanced at my mom, who just sobbed and hid her face. There was no point in denying it. He tried to cut his losses. "Rick, don't be crazy," he said, his voice strained. "Jenna's not my kid." My dad watched him, a predator enjoying the game. "So you admit you were sleeping with Brenda?" Trapped, Leo’s demeanor shifted from fear to defiance. "Yeah, I was. So what? She was all alone, struggling. I felt sorry for her. And you—you got no room to talk, man. Look in the damn mirror before you start pointing fingers at her. You think a woman is gonna stay faithful for four years to a piece of trash like you? Get real." My dad was momentarily stunned by his audacity. Then, with a roar, he swung the belt at Leo. "You sleep with my wife in my house and you dare to lecture me? You made me raise your daughter for ten years, you bastard!" 10 Leo glanced at me in the doorway, and a look of relief crossed his face. As long as my dad thought I was his daughter, Kevin was safe. His secret was safe. But I wasn't going to let that happen. I stepped into the room, my voice clear and cold, cutting through the chaos. "Dad," I said, meeting his wild eyes. "I'm not Uncle Leo's daughter." I let the silence hang for a beat, then turned and pointed a steady finger at my brother. "He is."

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