TUESDAY TEASE

Carmine read the letter and his eyes darkened. A fierce scowl covered his face.

     He crumpled the page. “What are the means of this?” His voice was deep and steady as he spoke through clenched teeth.

     “I…I’ve been meaning to tell you, Daddy, but I just never got a chance.” The words stumbled from her mouth, revealing the lie.      

     “Have I not given you everything you’ve ever needed?” He was angry now and did not care much for her excuses. “Were the private lessons not good enough for you? Are you that ungrateful?”

     Tears sprang up in her eyes and her lip trembled. Amber had never, in all her life, witnessed Carmine’s rage, but she saw it rising in his deep emerald eyes like a sudden thunderstorm ready to strike with its lashes of lightening.  

     “No, it’s not like that. I appreciate all you’ve ever given me. But I’m eighteen now and I think it’s time for me to go out into the world. I need to meet new people…people my age. I want to feel normal.”

     “Normal?” His mouth twisted into a wicked smile. “Amber, you are in no way normal. You have a gift, one that the world will never understand. Do you really want to take that chance?” His tone was mocking and more tears welled in her eyes.