I knew my father had been in my room as soon as I opened the door. His cologne still hung in the air so I knew he had left the room not long before I got home. He was probably looking for the weed and alcohol I kept hidden in my closet, but I knew he would never find it. Our father was strict and conservative and rarely let me leave the house after 9 PM. If my curfew was extended until 10 PM, I was ecstatic. What my father didn’t know was how I often went out the window to meet my friends when I knew he was asleep.
The fact he had been in my room meant that he was keeping an eye on me. He did this every once in a while when he would come around more often to see what rules I was breaking. My father went back and forth between thinking I followed all his rules and being suspicious of me every waking moment. I had left through the window the night before to go to a party that had eventually been shut down by the police. He was probably looking for clues I had been there and not safely in bed. I should stay home for a few nights because I know he’ll be checking. What I wasn’t planning for was my boyfriend sneaking in two nights later. The only night that week my father happened to check in on me.
Standing Room Only 