Meliah stays for dinner with us. Afterwards, Joey keeps Anna occupied with something upstairs while Meliah and I watch a movie on the couch.

I have a little trouble paying attention to the movie. All I can focus on is my Mel. Once in a while, she catches me staring. I look back to the screen it becomes a game that lasts throughout half of the movie.

Meliah snuggles herself against my chest and falls asleep. I smile down at her and stroke her hair. I could've sat here for hours, playing with her hair and just looking at her.

Joey comes down the stairs, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Anna doesn't trail down behind him, so I assume she's asleep. He glances at Meliah and smiles, "You two a pretty cute, you know."

I smile back and blush, "Do you have a guest room? I don't want you to have to surrender your room to me again."

"It's pretty old, but yeah. It's in the basement, just to the right of the door by the stairs. We can redo it if you want to," Joey tries to get the topic rolling.

I gently pick Meliah up and start down the stairs. She fidgets a little, but she stays asleep. Her body curls around mine like a child's. I almost don't want to let go of her when I walk into the guest room.

The walls are a vanilla color. Some of my mom's old things are in the room. Dresses, jewelry, books, makeup, and quite of few other things strike me as familiar. The bed is quite old and rusty, but it's enough. I lay her down on it and pull the comforter over her. She's spent a lot of time helping me. I want to stay with her and be here when she wakes up, but I know what has to happen. If it doesn't happen now, it might not ever happen at all.

I keep the door open in the case that she gets confused as to where she is. It feels weird to walk up the stairs, knowing I'm leaving her alone.

Joey's still sitting on the couch, fiddling with the remote.

"I swear, this remote has something against me," he says and smacks it against his palm.

My sweaty palms hook around the leather couch, "Let's go do this. Let's do this tonight."

He sits up, "Are you sure?"

I nod and take my jacket from its hook. Joey grabs his keys and follows me out the door without a word.

Again, it's dark walking into the house. Joey waits in the street, not far from the house. He balances himself against his car and watches me.

"Hey Caleb!"

I nearly have a heart attack and jerk around.

"Whoa, relax, it's just me," Gary says with a raised eyebrow. He takes his mug out of the coffee maker and drinks a sip.

I stare hard at him. He still thinks he can act like a good parent. I've had it over my head with him. I ignore him and walk up the stairs. He watches me until I take my first step and then he follows me up.

"Caleb, what are you doing?" he stands in the hallway to my bedroom.

I don't answer him. Actually, I don't know how to answer him. My heart is racing and words don't come to me clearly. My hands take control over the packing as I continue to think of what to say. They grab a big bin of my old projects from school. I toss them into a pile in the emptying closet.

"Caleb?" my dad asks again.

Finally, I drop the bin on the bed and look at him, "You're really that ignorant, are you?"

He looks puzzled. Just as he's about to say something, I cut in, "You think that you can just make up for it by talking nice one and a while. It's sick. I can't do this anymore."

With a newfound anger and rage pumping adrenaline through my body, I pack faster. Albums, CDs, shoes, everything fit into bins and bags.

"Caleb, I don't understand. What are you doing with all of that?" he questions.

I pause for a minute and look back to his eyes, "I'm going to live with Joey."

He widens his eyes, "Joey? Why?"

"Because... Because he's a better parent than you," I insult him. I instantly regret it. I know how bad it must hurt to hear it, but if he doesn't, he'll never change.

"What's he got that I don't have?" he laughs, but sounds more upset than confused. I peer through the curtains. Joey's eyes race towards me, ready to react at any sudden movement.

"See that? Joey is caring and kind," I look back to him, "You are vicious, cruel, mean, and dangerous."

I lift up my shirt and show him the gashes he made with the baseball bat, "This is not healthy. Thanks to you, I have to walk around hiding this and making up excuses for you. I wouldn't want to let out your little secret. Well guess what, Pops? People can already guess what's wrong with me. People already know what's up around here. I have friends who can help reverse the things you've done to me. I'm not going to sit here and argue with you. I'm done here. I'm living with Joey until you can get your head on right."

He looks at me like I just kicked a puppy, like he doesn't deserve any of this, "Caleb, I can change."

"Enough!" I shout at him, "Don't you understand? You will never change!"

He backs away as I take everything with me through the door and down the stairs. It felt good to let this all out and tell him what was wrong with him, but I still feel guilty. I'm guilty because I'm just going to up and leave him. It's not like he didn't have a warning though.

I open the door for me and he follows behind me. Joey stands up straight and nods, "Gary."

"Joseph," he grumbles back.

I toss my stuff in Joey's trunk and shut the lid.

"I'm sorry. It's only for a little while. Only until you can prove to your son that you've changed," Joey tries to tell him.

I'm actually kind of proud of him. Gary looks like he wants to strangle Joey with his bare hands, and maybe could've done so. Although, he keeps his ground and eyes me.

"Okay," he says, still looking at me, "I can change."

I give him one last look. If he's ever going to change, he needs some serious help. I doubt it's ever going to happen. My fingers close around the passenger door handle and I pull it open. He watches my every move.

Joey slowly backs into the driver's seat and shuts himself inside the car. I look out of the back window at Gary. Tears glaze in his eyes, something I've never seen before. He makes an attempt to wipe his eyes, but new tears keep replacing them.

We start driving and his tears become more frequent. His mouth opens to breath in air between his soft, inaudible sobs. I keep my eye on him until he's out of sight, and then I look forward.

This is a new beginning. It's time to look to a new life and start over.