Zero Respect Short Story

Zero Respect I’m 24 years old now, but my life changed at the age of ten when my father hurried the family up to Anchorage, Alaska, leaving behind the city I had called home. Victoria, British Columbia is where I grew up, learned to walk, took my first breath into the world I now realize is full of wretched people you think you can trust.

When my father came home from work early on that cold day of January 14, 2002, I could immediately tell something was wrong. He rushed in and ran to his bedroom, so I followed him down the hall.

“Father, why are you home so early?” I asked him excitedly as I peeked through his bedroom door. I was happy my father was home, I didn’t see him too often because he worked and my mother stayed at home with me, but something didn’t feel right.

He hated it when I got out of line and questioned his authority.

“Must I explain everything to you?” he said loudly and angrily.

After he raised his voice at me, I followed his orders and shut my mouth. We needed food desperately. We had only two pounds of meat in our home made freezer and melted down ice for our source of hydration. We all knew that we could not keep living like this. I walked four miles to get to a corner store, but what I saw… scarred my mind and thoughts forever. My father, the man I knew and loved so much, who worked so hard for our family, was plastered as a hit and run criminal in every window. From the boutiques to the grocery store he was known as a killer, and in all honesty, it didn’t surprise me.

Was this all a dream? Was I hallucinating? No, of course not because that would mean I didn’t actually run into the street post while looking around hazily, but unfortunately I did. Moving on, I knew I had to rush back and get an explanation. My father cannot get away with this if it were even real. When I reached home, I approached cautiously, wary of how he could react to my