Not Finished

After deciding on a movie, the group enjoyed their food and were soon growing tired. Tam looked to Serenity, asking if it was fine to ask if she could get her driver to take Chris and herself home for the night. Once home, she tucked Chris into bed, and was thankful her father was passed out in his recliner. She then decided to take a shower and head to bed.

In the morning, she found Chris up and watching cartoon while her father, Duncan, was mindlessly flicking through a book. He looked up at her and frowned.

"You two have fun last night?" he asked her.

Tam nodded. "Yeah, it was..."

"It was so cool!" Chris said, blurting out. "Tam's new friends are awesome! They let me play video games!"

Duncan stared at Chris then at Tam. "You said you were going to a school thing..."

Tam's heart sank. Chris had gotten too excited.

"You lied to me. Where were you?" Duncan asked again.

"At a friend's... She invited me and Chris..."

He got up and started towards Tam. Tam got ready. The slap struck her across the face. "YOU LIED!"

"Dad! No!" Chris cried out.

"Quiet!" Duncan bellowed at him. Chris began to tear up, too scared to speak.

"Don't scare him..." Tam turned, the pain in her face superseded by her concern for her brother.

Duncan grabbed her collar. "You don't tell me what to do in my house..."

Tam stared into her father's eyes, something was different than the last hundred times they'd fought. She didn't feel like backing down. She wasn't going to back down. "I do the work. I pay the bills. This is MY house!"

Duncan's eyes filled with fire. "You... BITCH!" He raised his hand again.

"Hit me again. I dare you. I'll call the cops. The black eye you gave me just now will be enough to get your ass locked up. Then I tell them what you do when you get really drunk..."

Duncan lowered his hand, but he kept staring at her. "Just like your bitch mom... Though you're tighter..."

Tam hissed at him. "Do what you want with me but don't you dare scare Chris. Don't you touch him. Or I end what remains of your worthless fucking life."

"Do it..." Duncan smirked.

Tam didn't answer.

"That's what I thought." Duncan chuckled. "I can keep my end of the bargain then..."

Tam didn't believe him. Yet she nodded. "I'm gonna be late for work."

Duncan just rolled his eyes and went back to his recliner.

Tam went to her room and something inside her twisted up. She wanted to cry. She hated this. Hated everything. Then she recalled having shared contact information with River and Serenity. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and decided to text River.

Something told her she'd understand.

Hey, it's Tam. I'm sorry to bug you but I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor?

---
Earlier

Max looked to Kevin and shook his head. "Umm... No. You aren't getting out of this so easily! I didn't even get to enjoy my ice cream!" He looked to Bonnie. "You don't want to part ways with me yet, right? How about we stop by a Fuel-n-Food and grab some snacks and seriously chill out?"