Storage Unit 378

“Mom! Let the poor man go home, it’s getting late.” 

“Listen here young lady, you have no right talking to me like-” before she could even finish her sentence she was already passed out on the couch. She's had a big drinking problem for years now, and she wouldn't be trying to quit any time soon. 

“Here sir, let me just show you the way out.” I say to the poor man staring awkwardly from the corner of the room. 

“Thank you so much,” he said before pausing to grab his coat,” I’m so sorry about making your mom yell at you.” 

“It's no big deal. Be safe on the way home, I hear the roads are bad tonight.” He turned around and walked as fast as he could out the door, given he too had a few drinks that night. 

When he drove away, I covered up my mom with a blanket and went to turn off the lights, but before I could even flip 3 switches the power shut off. I got up from my spot on the stained leather couch, it was the only thing mom kept after the divorce, and went to look for some candles to light. 

I went to the most reasonable spot- the junk drawer in the kitchen. Once I opened it I went through the whole drawer, even the back parts, but I saw a white envelope in the back of it, covered by a pair of rusty scissors and a piece of old chewing gum. Like anyone else would do, I opened it up and went to snoop. All that was in it was a key that had the numbers 378 on it. 

“It must be to a storage unit or something,” I thought to myself, and put the key back in the envelope where it was, continuing my search for candles. 

I never thought anything of the key for at least a week, until I overheard my mom on the phone with someone. 

“No one can know about 378,” she frantically whispered,” you promised me. Don't do something you'll regret.” After she said that she slammed her phone on the counter and covered her head with her hands. 

“Is everything okay mom?” I ask her to peek my head through her door crack.

“Yes sweetheart, just a little trouble in paradise that's all,” she said with a worried look on her face,” just go back to your room, i'm gonna be gone for a little while.”

That when it hit me, my mom was hiding way more than a secret husband in a different state, she did something bad, real bad. Right when she left I ran to the kitchen to see if the key was still there. All that I saw was an empty envelope sitting underneath old magazines on the counter. I didn't know what to do, but I knew that I needed to figure out what was going on.

About a week later mom was passed out on the couch again, and while I was walking that same guy to the door, I asked him for a ride. 

“Where would you wanna be this late at night? Would your mother be okay with this?” 

“Does it look like she would care? She's been passed out on the couch almost every day this week. Could you please just take me to the storage unit place down the road? I can get another ride back.” That was a lie. I had no ride back, I didn't know exactly how I was gonna get home at this time, but I'd find a way. 

“Okay, i'll take you there, but you can't tell your mom about this.”

When we finally got there the man said his goodbyes and drove off. It was just me now, all alone, hoping to not find something too terribly bad. 

“376, 377, here it is, 378.”

I took the key, unlocked that door, and pulled it open. My heart dropped, every breath I took felt too heavy for my chest to carry, I absolutely hated what I saw. 

“Dad?,” i could feel my eyes burn from the tears entering them,” is that you?”

The man lifted up his head and gave me the saddest look I've ever seen. His eyes were bruised, his shirt was ripped, he was covered in blood, and I could tell that he was out of breath from just lifting his head up. I ran to the little cage he was locked in. 

“Sweetheart, you've gotta help me. Your mom, she's locked me in here, I think she might kill me. The key is right there, please just, let me out.” Tears rolled down my face while running to grab the key. I quickly ran to open his cage.

“Thank you so much. I'm so grateful that you're getting me out. I've been in here forever.”

I finally unlocked the door and found myself standing right beside my dad for the first time in years, and he was beaten so badly, I was shocked as to how he wasn't dead yet. 

“Here, you're gonna have to help me up,” he said while trying to reach his hand up to me.I laughed and kicked him in the rib cage, which practically threw him against the walls, since he was practically skin and bones by now. I locked his cage door right back up, and threw the key against the wall.

“You deserve every bit of this, you should never have left us for that girl. We had the perfect family, but you just had to start your own life.” I saw a gasoline bottle in the corner of the room and walked towards it,” you were all we had. Then you left, and took everything with you.”

At this point I had picked up the gasoline bottle and started pouring it all around his cage.

    “What are you doing, please stop, please”

    I poured the rest of it on top of his little dog pin, and took the lighter out of my pocket.

    “You see, I would say see you later, but we both know you wont make it out of here alive. I’ll make sure your new kids are okay, don't you worry,” my dad was screaming for his life, begging, pleading,” goodbye dad.” I dropped the lighter, and went to watch it all burn. 

    By the time the whole storage unit had burnt down, the sun was rising, and I knew mom would be awake soon, so I ran to the house. When I got there I saw my mom sitting on the porch.

    “What are you doing up so early?” she asked me while sipping her coffee.

    “Just a morning jog,” I say while giving her a hug,” have a good day at work.”

    “See you later honey,” my mom said while getting in her car to head to her first shift of the day. 

    I walked inside, put the key in the envelope, and went to take a long, long nap.