• tab “What I did—what I did was a mistake.” It was two days later, when my mom finally allowed me to see dad. I’d have never guessed…Me talking to my dad, behind the glass barrier.
    tab “A mistake?” I spat, standing up. “A mistake?! You murdered someone, Goddammit! That qualifies as more than a mistake!” He didn’t even tell me to watch my mouth. He knew he wasn’t in the place to say something like that.
    tab “How long have they sentenced you to?” I said quieter, sitting myself back down. He didn’t answer. Just stared down away from me.
    tab “That long, huh?”
    tab “Stacy…”
    tab “Why’d you do it?” I asked urgently. “I need to know.” Nothing. He said absolutely nothing.
    tab “Are you just going to sit there and stare at the ground?!” I shouted. “I’m here for a reason, you know!”
    tab “You wouldn’t understand…”
    tab “Don’t even…”
    tab “I don’t even understand,” he quickly interrupted “…why I did it.”
    tab “So, you killed someone…for no reason. Is that it?” He bit his lower lip, as I repeated myself,
    tab “Is that it?!”
    tab “Jacob,” he suddenly said. I raised my eyebrows.
    tab “What?”
    tab “That was his name, right? Jacob.”
    tab “What the hell does he have to do with this?”
    tab “I still remember what you said…” Suddenly, something just popped into my head. What if…
    tab Jacob’s still a douche.
    tab “Oh my God…” I gasped. “Dad, who did you kill?”
    tab “Jacob’s…Jacob’s dad.”

    tab First, my dad was a murderer. Then, he was the murderer of Jacob’s dad. What the hell was going on?
    tab “You didn’t…You killed him because…” I couldn’t believe it. He killed Jacob’s dad…because of what I said?
    tab “I was drunk. I didn’t know what I was doing.” I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t.
    tab “It’s not your fault,” he assured me. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t. I tried to tell myself, that if I hadn’t said that, nothing would have changed.
    tab But no matter what I told myself, I just couldn’t forget.
    tab Jacob’s still a douche.
    tab "It is my fault."
    tab "No, it wasn't!" he exclaimed. "And don't you dare tell yourself that. You had no way of knowing. It's my fault, for being the drunken father I am."
    tab "Tell me what happened," I whispered. "I want to know."

    tab "When I saw Jacob's dad there...I was already drunk."
    tab "And how did you know him?"
    tab "He was a fellow worker of mine. Never really talked to him much before, but...
    tab "When I looked at him, I just remembered what you said. Other than that, I don't remember much. I was drunk and , and I just...lost control."
    tab "You killed him...because of what I said?"
    tab "I don't know what I was thinking. I just remember...screaming at him, telling him how useless of a father he was for raising a son like that. Then, I threw him to the ground, and..." He paused and said through gritted teeth,
    tab "The rest was a blur of pictures. Before I knew, he was dead."
    tab "Because of me. Because of what I said," I repeated firmly.
    tab "Stacy..."
    tab "Sorry, dad. I gotta..." I got up, and looked towards the door. "I gotta go." And with that, my session was over.

    tab I didn't know what was more ridiculous: my dad killing someone because of a small insult I threw, or if I never threw that insult, someone on this world would still be alive.
    tab But regardless of how ridiculous the whole thing was; my dad's motive, what I said, all of it, I knew one thing:
    tab I would never be able to look at Jacob the same way. Ever.