argyle_princess | OOM: Ultimatum (Reply)

Sometimes, things happen that make you stop and think and reassess some portion of your life.

Hannah's had her share of those things, over the past few years.

And eventually, they start spilling over into each other, and into the other portions of your life, and you wind up stopping and thinking and reassessing the whole thing.

Hannah's reached that point. She's been up most of the night reaching that point.

When Tom Griffith comes downstairs on Sunday morning (not quite awake yet), his daughter is sitting at the end of the kitchen table, her hands folded neatly on the table in front of her, like she's about to call the meeting of the Board to order.

There's no greeting, no preamble, no chance for Tom to get coffee.

"You still using?"

He blinks at her. "What?"

"Cocaine, Daddy. Are you still using?"

"Hannah, I really--"

"A yes or no will do," she says.

He doesn't answer, and she lets the silence go on longer than she needs to.

"I see. Okay, look, this isn't a threat, but it is an ultimatum. You have two weeks, Daddy. By the next weekend I spend in your house, you're in rehab, or Narcotics Anonymous, or you've gone cold turkey, whatever, so long as you've taken definite steps to correct that problem."

Tom stares at her. "Now wait just a minute, Hannah--"

"No. This isn't up for debate. You get clean, or I tell Mom. And she'll have you in court to terminate parental rights so fast, it would make your head spin, and we both know that. I love you, Daddy, but I'm not putting up with this any more.

"You let me know what you decide."

And Hannah gets up and walks out of the kitchen.