Othello kept nodding. “We meant well, Mr. Constable! She got caught stealing! What else were we supposed to do?”
Dad slowly lifted his head. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Othello and let out a cold, bitter laugh.
“Oh? Then tell me–what exactly did Chastity steal?” Dad asked.
Othello turned quickly to Dixie, flustered. “Sweetheart, quick! Show Mr. Constable what she stole!”
Panicking, Dixie hurriedly pulled out the expensive diamond necklace and held it up in front of Dad. “Uncle, this is what she stole from the glass cabinet. You always kept it there on display.”
Dad’s gaze landed on the necklace, his voice icy as he spoke to her. “That necklace… was a gift I bought for my daughter.”
Dixie nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, isn’t that the necklace you gave me, Uncle? But she stole it from me!”
Dad let go of me, stood up slowly–then without warning, he slammed a heavy kick straight into Dixie’s belly.
She went flying, crashing hard to the ground and curling up in pain, clutching her stomach and groaning.
“Uncle!” she sobbed. “I was just taking back the necklace you gave me! Why are you hitting me? What did I do wrong?”
Dad let out a laugh–more fury than humor–and pointed straight at her, cursing, “Who the hell do you think you are? You were just an underprivileged student I pitied and decided to sponsor–on a whim!”
Word per word, he questioned, “What makes you think you even deserve to be compared to my biological daughter?”
Biological daughter–those two words hit Dixie like a bolt of lightning.
She turned to look at her parents, confused and desperate, only to see their faces twisted in grief as they slowly nodded.
“U–Uncle! I’m sorry! I was wrong!” she said frantically. “I didn’t know you had a real daughter! You never told me!”
“Please, I’m begging you, Uncle!” she cried. “Just forgive me this once!”
Despite the pain, she dropped to her knees, sobbing and knocking her head against the ground again and again, begging for forgiveness.
But Dad kicked her over once more, sending her reeling. Completely panicked now, she sobbed uncontrollably.
“Uncle, I’ll spend the rest of my life serving your daughter! You’ve always cared for me the
most!”
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Dixie broke down in tears, begging for forgiveness until her forehead was cracked and bleeding–but she didn’t stop.
Dad sneered. “Do you know why I chose to sponsor you back then out of all those underprivileged students?”
“It was because your eyes reminded me of my daughter’s,” he explained. “From the beginning to end, you were nothing more than a substitute for the daughter I missed!”
His eyes narrowed as he glared. “And don’t think I don’t know what you’ve done. You bullied the other girls I was sponsoring–you stripped them, shoved their head.”
“You broke their arms and legs. You threatened them to stay away from me,” he added. Taking a deep breath, he admitted, “I let all that slide because of how much you resembled my daughter.”
“But the one thing you should never, ever have done…” Dad shook his head slowly. “…was to lay a finger on my real daughter!”
Just as despair swallowed Dixie and her parents, Uncle Slater came rushing in.
With powerful hands, he grabbed Dixie’s shoulders and demanded loudly, “Where’s Snoopy?!”
“Tell me! Where is Snoopy?!” he shouted again, his voice cracking this time.
Dixie froze, completely dumbfounded.
Trembling, she asked through her tears, “S–Snoopy? Who’s Snoopy?”
Uncle Slater roared, “The guide dog! The one that’s always with Huck’s daughter! Where is that dog?!”
Dixie stood stood there shaking, her terrified expression said it all.
And at that moment, Dad stiffened.
Then he slowly dropped to his knees.
This man–who had survived life–and–death battles on the front lines time and time again, who had taken three bullets to the body and bled out without ever shedding a single tear- now had tears pouring down his face.