“You’ll hear more bad things about me, angel. Don’t let anyone make you think differently.” “Your father isn’t in your life-which just goes to show that he’s stupid-but I am part of your life. I had a father, but he wasn’t in my life, so he wasn’t my daddy. There’s a very big difference between a father and a daddy. Said that Mommy married you while you were already in prison.” They’d also said that my real dad was married to someone else and that he was a lot older than my mom. Lots of them.” My mom sucked in a breath.

One of them heard their parents talking about it, and she told the others.” And then they’d all teased me about it at recess and called him horrible names, but I didn’t say that. “I heard something.” I hadn’t meant to whisper it. But there was no point in saying that I was fine. Didn’t want my mom to know that anything was wrong. What’s going on in that clever head of yours, my Kensey?” Now I have another to stick on my wall.” He tipped his head. Holding my picture like it was something precious, he smiled.

Sometimes his eyes would turn hard, but never when he looked at me. Always told me that he loved me and was proud of me. He always smiled at me, hugged me, and kissed my cheeks. He drew me pictures, wrote me poems and stories, and sent me lots and lots of letters. My daddy loved me, and I loved him right back. Daddy did something bad, and now he has to stay here.”Īt the time, I’d thought the “something bad” couldn’t be very bad. I’d thought about the times my mom told me “no TV” when I didn’t tidy my room. He’d said, “Daddy did something bad, angel. Only the sounds of door buzzers, echoing footsteps, and iron doors sliding open and closed.īefore I was old enough to understand what prison was, I’d once asked why he never went home with us. There were no homey sounds of a fire popping, curtains rustling, or a washing machine chugging. Just like I tried to pretend we were sitting at the kitchen table at home, not at a desk that was fastened to the floor in the cold, dull place that smelled of metal and concrete. Just like I tried to pretend that he was wearing a normal shirt, not a bright orange tee.

Like always, I tried to pretend they weren’t there. He reached for it with a smile, and his handcuffs rattled. “I love all the stories that Kensey writes for me.” “Well, of course she was impressed,” he said. “And her teacher was so impressed with Kensey’s story that she read it out loud to the entire class.” My dad’s eyes briefly slid to me, gleaming with pride. I sat on the hard chair, legs swinging, as my mom boasted, “She received the Student of the Week award.”

Shiver manga