Free Leon's Way by Sunniva Dee Page B

halfway down his cheek. His mouth opens, but he can’t form words anymore, and fuck me if I don’t hope it’ll always be this way.
    “Dad, we’re about to take off—got stuff to do—but I wanted to tell you a goodnight story first,” I say.
    The heart monitor reacts immediately, hacking up inconsistent bleeps. Good sign; the monster brain works well enough to comprehend that this story is not one he’ll want to hear. “It’s got a happy ending,” I tell him.
    “Take it easy on him,” Kat whispers, because she is a fucking angel, and I love her to death.
    I’ll try. I’ll try.
    “Once upon a time,” I begin, modulating my pitch down to Disney storyteller level, “there was a father who wasn’t a father. He was an evil wizard, without the magic powers.” I nod, enlarging my eyes for emphasis. A small sob escapes my sister, and I’m sorry, but I can’t stop now.
    “A princess lived in his dungeon. She was an itty-bitty princess, and one night when her brother, the prince, was away on a tournament—” I lower my voice and cup my mouth to indicate how I’m revealing a secret. “That’s me, Father, at the karate black-belt grading test.” I wink before I continue, “—the wizard beckoned for the princess to join him in his chambers. His chalice was empty and his head and his dick were raging. The wizard—or was he a devil?—took the girl to his royal en suite and locked the door.
    “But, see, the brother-prince knew better than to stay behind at the tournament once he’d won. He galloped over the moat on his fair stallion, threw the reins to the stable boy, and dashed into the dark castle.”
    My sister laughs through her tears, laughs at my fairytale, and the pressure in my chest drops.
    “The brother-prince ran to the dungeon and discovered that the itty-bitty princess was gone. He wasted no time running to the wizard’s chambers where he knocked, then used his tournament skills to break down the door.”
    The piggy eyes staring at me from the pillow have widened. They plead of me to stop, but I won’t—can’t—even when Kat’s low giggles fade and die.
    “And guess what he found?” I use the tone of a kindergarten teacher who dreams of Broadway; I’m excited to let my audience in on the conclusion. Fucking ecstatic to rub salt and vinegar, whatever else medieval heroes tortured their victims with, into my father’s wounds.
    “Eeenuff…” my father manages through a cough.
    “Sorry, didn’t get that,” I say, hardhearted like him.
    “The brother-prince barges in and finds the wizard on his throne in the en suite. The itty-bitty princess sits astride his lap, and neither of them wear royal underpants.” I’m not smiling anymore. I’m not in character, because—
    “The fucking wizard was a child molester and the brother-prince saves the princess in the nick of time!”
    I’m done. I’m done. I could so easily destroy the monster on the bed that’s too good for him. Demolish this room. I get up to leave. I rake a helpless hand through my hair and my eyes connect with Kat’s watery brown ones.
    “You didn’t finish,” her small voice nudges.
    “What?” I ask. My chest still needs air, expanding and shrinking too fast. “You want more?”
    “Yes,” she whispers. “This is the best part.”
    Katsu is right. I did promise a happy ending, and I’ve focused too much on the bad. I owe it to my sister to detail the good. The thought makes me feel less wrecked.
    “True,” I say, inhaling a lungful of oxygen. “The brother-prince ripped the itty-bitty princess off the evil wizard who was not a father. He put her behind him, out of reach from the wizard. Grabbed the wizard by his shirt collar, and placed him on his feet.
    “In quick succession, the brother-prince fired off a series of bare-knuckle swipes and kicks. The rising elbow strike caught the wizard off guard and sent him pummeling to the ground, but the brother-prince wasn’t done. No, not at all done.”
    My