One Eyed Victor 3 Complete

One Eyed Victor Part 3

Assorted medicine, locked away. Scalpels, stored at the lab. Fridge, stocked. Candy horde, hidden. Now all that was left to do was pick Eliza up from school and prepare her. He looked at the picture by the door. It was one of the first pictures they’d ever taken together. Victor was grinning like an idiot while Opal laughed. He smiled as he grabbed his keys off the hook. “Don’t worry, I’ve got a handle on things. I’d tell you not to worry, but you always worried no matter what I told you.” He stepped out the door to pick up Eliza

    Victor leaned against the wall near the other parents as he waited for the bell to ring. A few still gave him looks, probably due to him wearing a labcoat in the middle of summer. They all avoided talking to him, even the chatty ones he always tried his best to ignore. They had not however, avoided talking about him. That much was clear. Some gave him pitying looks, and still others looked at him like he was a monster. He couldn’t convince everyone Opal killed herself, and he didn’t really care what people thought of him. There was only one person in this world that mattered to him anymore and she was inside that school. As he was spacing out, one of the moms actually walked up to him, much to his displeasure. Samantha wasn’t bad to talk to, but she could get a tad nosy. “Hey Victor, I know we haven’t really talked much, ~God how he wished it could stay that way~ but I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright.” He sighed, this conversation was obviously happening whether he liked it or not. “I am surviving.” He kept his expression perfectly neutral and calm, trying not to betray any emotion. “That’s good to hear I guess. If you want I could make some dinners you can reheat for you and Eliza.” She was making an active effort not to stare at his eyepatch. He let a small frown come across his face. “I can feed my own child.” Her eyes widened a bit. “No, I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant that you might not want to cook right now all things considered.” He looked at his bare wrist like he was checking a watch that wasn’t there. “God, I would love to keep this conversation going, but the bell is about to ring. Kids should be out any minute now.” His voice and face were completely deadpan. She looked confused and checked her actual watch. “But there’s still 5 minutes left?” He sighed. “Really? How lucky. Don’t worry about me. I’m absolutely fine.”  “Are you sure? No one would think any less of you if you weren’t.” Victor shot her a glare. ~Like I care what any of you people think of me~ “I told you, I’m fine.” His voice took on a sharp tone that make her flinch a bit. Before she could respond, the bell rang and children started to pour out. Eliza ran out and Victor’s glare turned into a wide smile as soon as he saw her. He squatted down and opened his arms wide as she ran and jumped into his arms and gave him a hug. “Daddy! I learned how to do math today!” He kissed her cheek and grinned. “Was it easy?” She nodded and he ruffled her hair. “That’s my girl! Come on, we need to head home, but we’re getting you a snack on the way home.” Her eyes widened. “Yay! McDonalds, McDonalds, McDonalds!” She kept chanting. Victor laughed and chanted with her as he carried her to the car. Samantha looked on confused. “Is that really the same man I was talking to a minute ago?”

    Victor dropped the bag onto the table as his daughter sat in her chair happily. He sat down next to her. “Eliza, someone is going to be coming by later. They’re just going to look around a bit and ask you a few questions. Just tell the truth and everything is gonna be fine, alright?”  She nodded as she bit into her burger, although she seemed a bit confused. “Why is a strange person coming over?” He smiled. “They’re just coming over to make sure you’re happy and that I’m taking good care of is you all. You are happy, right?” She nodded and a frown crept onto her face. “I am, but I wish mommy was here.” Victor sighed sadly. “I know sweetheart, I do too. Just know that she’s always with us, whether we know it or not.” She nodded sadly and ate the rest of her burger. He got up and gave her a hug that she returned, wrapping her little arms around his tight. “Eliza, I just want you to know that you mean the absolute world to me. No matter what happens, you are my darling little girl and that will never change.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I love you daddy.” She said quietly. He patted her back and smiled a little. A knock on the door interrupted their moment however. He grabbed the food bag and tossed it in the trash. “Remember, just tell the truth.” He told Eliza before heading over to the door.

    When he opened it a man in a suit was standing outside with a clipboard. Victor gave the man a small smile that he used when he wanted to be polite. “Hello, can I help you?” The man gave an equally fake smile. “Yes, this is the Angelo household, correct?” Victor nodded. “I’m from Child Protective Services. There has been concerns raised that we need to look into I apologize for the poor timing of this, I know you’ve been through a lot these past few months.” Victor shook his head. “It’s quite alright. I know you’re just doing your job, please come in. I’d like to get this over with.” The man nodded and stepped inside. Once they were inside he smiled at Eliza at the table and walked through the house, checking the medicine cabinets, fridge, anything that would be important to a child’s wellbeing. Seemingly being satisfied, he walked up to the table and sat down across from Eliza at the table while Victor watched on. “Hey there, you’re Eliza right?” She nodded. “I just need to ask you a few questions about your dad, alright?” She nodded again, obviously a bit scared. “Does your dad make sure you get enough to eat?” Once again she nodded. “He cooks really good pancakes! Even if he burns the eggs every time…” The man couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “That’s good to hear. What does your daddy do when you’ve been bad?” She pouted. “He makes me sit in the time out stool.” “Oh? What’s the time out stool?” “It’s a tiny stool in a corner. I have to stare at the wall until I can behave. It’s boring.” The man nodded. “Alright, last question. How does your dad touch you when he plays with you and such?” She grinned wide. “Daddy always gives me lots of hugs and kisses! I like it when he picks me up but he can’t hold me for long. He says he has noodle arms!” The man laughed at that and got up. “Alright, thank you for your time Eliza.” He walked over by the door and turned back to look at Victor. “You have a wonderful home Mr. Angelo, sorry for taking up so much of your time.” Victor just nodded as the man left. As soon as he did Victor’s face erupted into a grin as he rushed over and picked Eliza up and kissed her on the cheek. She giggled and flailed a bit. “We did it Eliza! Everything is going to be alright!” “You’re a weird daddy.” He looked at her with a deadpan look. “Yes but I’m all you got, so don’t sass me young lady.” She grinned and hugged back. “I love my weird daddy!” He smiled and ruffled her hair. “And I love my silly daughter.”



Victor settled himself into the grass in front of Opal’s gravestone like he did nearly every day. “I did it. It took a lot of effort making everything look good, but I did it. CPS should have no reason to take Eliza from me. I even had to take the scalpels out of my lab coats.” He laid down and stared up at the sky. “The CPS guy seemed satisfied luckily. In other news this really annoying woman keeps pestering me at Eliza’s school. Her name is Samantha and you would absolutely hate her. She keeps trying to give Eliza and me food, like I can’t cook for my own daughter! And she cannot take a hint either! I try to be passive aggressive and she just keeps going!” He sighs. “She wouldn’t have dared to try and talk to me when you were around. I think the other moms were kind of afraid of you after you picked me up in the super market. You know I even miss moments like that. I would do something stupid, you would get mad at me for it, before too long we’d make up and I’d cuddle up with you, glad that you’d forgiven me.” A tear rolled down his good eye. “The bed doesn’t smell like you anymore you know. I really miss it. It felt like there was still a small piece of you there. And now it’s gone.” The tears were flowing in full force now. “I know I keep telling Eliza that you’re here with us still, but it’s not the same! I can’t hold you, or hear you laugh, or lean against you and get pet after I’ve had a bad day! I can’t even cry anymore unless I’m here so I don’t upset Eliza!” He curled up in the grass. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be bothering you with stuff like this. I just miss you so much. I try and hide it most of the time but it still hurts so much. I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but I can’t wait till I can see you again. It’s going to be a tough wait. You’ll wait for me though. I know you will. We promised to spend forever together after all, Just think, the next time I see you nothing can ever separate us again.” He closed his eyes. “I’m getting ahead of myself here. I should get going about now though.” He got up and pulled a rose out of his coat and placed it in front of her grave. “I love you Opal. See you tomorrow.”