A confrontation

Submitted into Contest #76 in response to: Write a story told exclusively through dialogue.... view prompt

0 comments

Drama

"Where have you been?"

"Just out. There's no need to worry."

"I've been up waiting for you to get back! Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Get off my case, I know it's late."

"I have work tomorrow and so do you! It's irresponsible to be staying out past two-am!"

"I already told you not to worry. I'll call in sick if it's a problem. Now it's late, I want to go to bed."

"You're not going anywhere until we talk about this!"

"Alright, fine, but only for a minute."

"First, you don't tell me that you're going out, let alone tell me you won't be home for dinner. Second, you don't answer any of my texts or calls-"

"My phone died, I couldn't get them."

"Don't interrupt me! This is the second time this month! Are you ever going to learn?"

"I'm just having a little fun. You shouldn't try to stop me."

"It's like I'm the only one who tries in this family! You know it isn't easy working eight hours a day, picking up Hannah, cooking dinner, doing all the chores! All I'm asking is that you tell me when you're going out with your buddies! That's not much to ask!"

"Grace, you can't control the world. I'm my own person and I don't have to conform to your standards."

"I know that the world isn't in my control! Believe me it would be so much easier if it was! And I'm not asking you to give up your individuality! I'm asking you to be just a little but reliable!"

"I'm out all day working too, you know. It's a man's job to provide, and you should let me relax a little afterward."

"Jacob, for all the years I have known you, I have always made more money than you. I have always been the breadwinner. It has never been just you providing for us. And yet not once have I ever come home to you making dinner, to you taking care of our daughter."

"That's your job to do and you know it. I was raised right and I know how Hannah should be raised. She needs to know that a woman's place is the home and a man's place is outside it. It's a woman's duty to care for the men and children in her life."

"No, Hannah needs to know that she is capable, that she is loved by her father! She needs to know she is every bit as smart and able as anyone else, and that she can do anything she sets her sights on with hard work! She is not just a caretaker in training."

"You shouldn't raise your voice at me, Grace. You know this by now. Let's calm down and go to bed. I'm sure that in the morning you'll feel better. You'll come to your senses."

"You're the one who needs to come to their senses! I know that you've always said you're one for tradition, but this I won't tolerate."

"It's not your place to decide the way I act or the way I treat our daughter. She's going to be raised to know what's essential, and that's all. I don't want you planting any of these ideas in her head."

"Jacob, I don't like the way you're talking. I'm not going to let you dismiss this argument. You can either discuss this with me, or you can leave. For good."

"Let's talk this out then. For however long it takes you to understand your errors."

"Hannah will not be raised thinking she's meant to be a housewife when she grows up. She will not throw her life away like I did for this family. You will let me reach her ambition and not tell her otherwise."

"We can talk that over later, so we can change it."

"No, this is final. You will let me know in advance before you spend the night out, and tell me when you will be getting back."

"You can't impose a curfew, that's not something a wife can do to her husband."

"I'm not instilling a curfew, I just want to know when you'll be getting back home. We won't fight in front of Hannah."

"She needs to know about the real world. You shouldn't shield her from what she'll have to do when she gets married."

"She doesn't have to think about that now, and it's better if her parents get along, at least when she can see."

"You shouldn't argue with me at all mind you. It's not a woman's place to challenge the rules. You shouldn't be trying to enforce your own."

"I'm just trying to lay down guidelines for a stable home. If you can't stick to these basic rules, you aren't meant to be a father."

"You are in no position to tell me anything when you don't even know your place. At this rate you're going to have Hannah believing this nonsense you're spouting, and she's going to grow up to act worse than you. Thinking she can be better than a man, take their professions, be independent entirely. It's hard not to laugh at the idea of you dictating any part of my actions."

"Jacob, I do believe we are finished here."

"Finally. I'm going to bed. Thanks for wasting my time."

"No, that's not what I meant. You are finished here. Get out."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"I've let you stay near Hannah for far too long, and it's clear that you won't do any help as opposed to harm in raising her. Leave my apartment."

"You can't do that! It's in no way in your power to-"

"Jacob, it is my name on the lease, and if you do not get out of here in the next minute I swear I will call the police."

"You can't be serious, Grace."

"Fifty seconds."

"Grace, think about this."

"Get out of my apartment."

"Grace, you can't!"

"Yes, I can. Thirty seconds."

"I'm going, I'm going! But we'll see how this goes in court."

"We will. Twenty seconds."

"Don't come crying back to me when you change your mind."

"I won't. Goodbye, Jacob."

January 13, 2021 09:04

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

0 comments

Reedsy | Default — Editors with Marker | 2024-05

Bring your publishing dreams to life

The world's best editors, designers, and marketers are on Reedsy. Come meet them.