Selena

Stuck in daydream mode, I stared at the kitchen knives.

'Earth to Selena? are you alright?' Amy snapped me back into the moment, where I was washing the dirty dishes.

'I'm alright, yeah'.

'I said I'm leaving', Amy repeated, after her long evening of baking a cake with Layla for father's day. Together, they had just finished cleaning up the kitchen mess.

'Oh right. Sorry. There's a-hundred-dollars in my jacket pocket – just grab it on your way. Thanks for today'.

'You already paid me', Amy reminded me.

'Oh'.

'Amy – Amy! You're going already?' Layla squealed, squeezing her arm, 'but you won't get to try any of the cake we made for Dad'.

'Post it to my address once it's done', Amy replied, making Layla laugh. I envied their unique bond, 'bye little boss'. Once more, I nodded at Amy, who gave me a concerned glance before she left.

An hour had passed.

'I thought Dad said he was coming home today' Layla murmured, as I put her to bed, 'where is he?'

'He-err...' formulating an excuse for him felt like I was being stabbed by a knife, 'he erm... he's very busy. Sorry honey'. The drowsy frown on her face didn't help. I kissed her goodnight.

Another hour passed. Back in the kitchen staring at the knives, I daydreamed, and ate cake. Suddenly, I heard a silent crack from the front door, so crept towards it.

3:00AM.

'Eh-hem!' I cleared my throat loud enough to give Sergio a shock, while he tried to enter in stealth mode. 'So you thought you'd sneak in silently?' For a moment he faced the front door, avoiding my confrontation. 'What time do you call this?'

'I had a – late night at work', he rubbed his head and tired eyes.

'Funny. Because after I called you, I called Morello'. Fully aware of where I was going, Sergio rolled his eyes, 'and Morello told me you left work six hours ago'.

'Can we do this later?' he whinged, 'I want to wake up in time for us to take Layla out tomorr –'

'And what about all the other nights? Did you work overtime too?!' I boiled with contagious anger, 'huh?!' While he walked passively through the hall, I kept pushing him. I pushed and slapped... and pushed.

'Selena, I'm tired', he finally responded.

'Rita wished you were never born', I nudged him harder, growing darker. One thing he hated was when I knew certain family secrets I wasn't supposed to know, because it reminded him of the nobody he used to be. 'She said that to me. But I finally understand why...'

'Excuse me?'

'Good thing Rita's dead now, right? Because she actually preferred to die than to see you become the whore your favela mother was –'

Sergio slapped me in the face.

It was so hard I rotated over 180 degrees slamming into the hall cabinet. Curled over on the floor, paralysed, I collected my stream of blood.

'Get up', he seethed, below his breath. Now, I was the pathetic one. 'Get up!' Too soon, he caught me secretly texting my sister from my huddled position on the floor.

'No. NO!' I squealed. While he wrestled for my phone, I yanked on it like a fish on a hook, instantly overpowered. Slammed and pinned against the wall, I gasped from the shock. Before I could hit send, he smashed my phone to the hard ground.

'Don't ever speak to me like that again', Sergio raged in a scary whisper, 'understand?!'

'Yes! Y-yes', I nodded like a ferret.

'Rita's dead because of you! And I took all the blows, got crucified by the whole media, all for the murder you committed! Remember?' I kept nodding, 'and after all that, this is how you speak to me?!'

'Should I congratulate you?'

'I'm still here – doing more than you can imagine for us! Maybe I'll make mistakes along the way – but I'm still here, and I'm still Layla's father. Don't congratulate me, just start showing me some damn respect!' he lectured, knocking my forehead like a bad nut. Ow.

He walked to bed while I ran to the bathroom, just to discover through the mirror... a mess. A bloody nose, and freshly bruised left cheek. Sinking to the bathroom floor, I wept. And that night, I wept myself to sleep.

In the morning, I made Layla's favourite breakfast, nicely laid out like a buffet on the dining table.

'Good morning mom!' she leaped with excitement.

'Good morning sweetie pie'. Today was the day we promised to take her to a theme park, which was why I tried very hard to un-live last night's horror.

'I like your gym cap, mom. Can I try it?' Layla reached out for my cap, which dimmed my bruised face.

'Err-actually, it won't fit on all that hair', I dodged her fingers.

'Awww', Layla frowned. Little drama queen. Then Sergio burst into the room, awoken from his voluptuous sleep, 'Daddy!'

'Hey Princess', Layla ran into his arms as he elevated her onto his back, giving her a ride. Just in the little time she had with her father, Layla seemed the happiest, and it made me angry.

According to Layla, he was more... fun.

'Are you gonna come on the rides with me too, mom?' Layla inquired.

'Oh – no I'm not coming. I don't like rides'.

'Yes. She is coming', Sergio spoke on my behalf.

'Yay!' Layla squealed, 'oh – you forgot to try your cake'. She scouped up a piece of the almond and cinnamon cake and lifted it to Sergio's mouth. He ate.

'Actually, I'm not feeling too well today. I think you and Layla should go together', I added, trying to stay calm.

'Layla, why don't you go get dressed, honey?' just to retaliate, Sergio excused her. Excitedly, she ran to her room. Then, like the devil, he transformed, 'Selena, what are you doing?'

'Not coming! That's what'. I stood up from my seat. But he chased me around the table, grabbing my arm, 'get – off me!'

'Listen', he lowered to his scary whisper voice, 'don't pull any tricks today.'

'When Layla start's asking what happened to my face –'

'Put some make-up on, and get ready', he demanded. I snatched my arm away.