It was supposed to be the best day of her life, one that would change how everyone saw her. She was annoying, hyper, stupid, the other dancers thought she was beneath them. But just an hour and a half ago, Katia Wellson had won the young female solo division for her studio. It was her first prize ever, one that she expected to change her dancing career. She’d get more solos now, better clothes and routines, and maybe even some real friends. Maybe it’d make her parents happier too. Maybe they’d realize what a good job they did with her and get along again. But, of course, he had to ruin it again. Why was he mad? Why was he always mad? Katia could feel her ears heating up. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry. As she stared at her phone screen on her bed in the hotel room in New York, her father clenched his fist, getting increasingly mad at her mother. It wouldn’t be long now.
Katia was so tired of his unpredictable nature. He would be so kind one day and so evil the next. Tonight was meant to be about her, for once, and here he was making it a nightmare again. She usually didn’t get in the middle of it all but, as her father knocked a glass of water from the nightstand, she felt herself rising. He was saying something about not listening to him, about trying to wear his patience, he raised his hand. Katia jumped to her feet, standing on the bed she was taller than them both. She scrunched up her face, her hair still in a high ponytail from her dance routine. Sparkles and hairspray slowly fell from strands and she regained her footing.
“You’re the worst! You’re such a big baby and a bully! God, I can’t fucking stand you anymore! You’re insecure and mean! This is my night, you’re here for me! Why don’t you-” Katia felt herself falling. Suddenly she was back to lying on the bed. Her sparkling hair was in her father’s left fist and she could see his other hand raised behind him. Katia let out a scream, partially furious and partially terrified. She could hear her mother screaming too. Her father told her she was ungrateful and bratty and to stay in her place. It was hard to hear him exactly as he filled the beats of his syllables with hits to her face, her arms, her chest. Katia tried to push him away at first and then just covered her eyes. His strikes began direct but as she fought back, he became clumsy and frantic. Suddenly her mother was next to them, trying to pry him off. The whole ordeal was probably about a minute long but it felt like an hour. And then, he was gone.
Katia hadn’t even realized she was crying. She sat up, trying to find her breath as her ears rung. He’d stormed out and yet she looked around the room for him. Her mother had tears in her eyes, hotel staff rushed in, but Katia couldn’t hear anything they said.Â
She never thought he’d hurt her. Sure, he hurt her mother all the time but she was always his little angel, his ol’ sport, his pumpkin pie. She thought it was different, that she was the hope of a happy family. Maybe she was. But now she’d ruined any chance of that. She shouldn’t have yelled. She shouldn’t have gotten him even more angry. She should have kept quiet and been nice and bubbly like she always was. Maybe if she had just kept trying to make everyone happy, then they would have been.
