Free Bird

Today is the day! The day I'm finally free, I get to go live my life according to my own rules, in a place where nobody can judge you. California, sweet paradise, the truck will be here in an hour and if I'm lucky I'll be in California within three days. I skip, yes I just said I skipped, down to the kitchen to get a glass of orange juice. When I head up the stairs, I bump into my father on the way.
"Watch where you're going, you have no respect for me, that is the reason your mother left is because you never had any respect, you were selfish, whinny, clingy..." He gripes and complains all the way to the couch.
I give him the middle finger salute as I head to my room to put the last of my stuff in boxes. When the truck arrives I dash for the door and greet the blonde haired boy, I'd say man but he looks like he's 19.
"Who is this?! Why is this man in my house!"
The blonde, clueless man is about to shake his hand and introduce himself, but I steer him away and up to my room to start grabbing boxes.
"We have company, behave yourself..." I demand
Problem is, he doesn't take commands very well, so when my back is turned he charges me and punches me out cold as I proceed to fall down the stairs.

When I come too I hear a horrid Taylor Swift song, something about never getting back together, and when I finally open my eyes all I see are red lights, so I'm assuming its the late hours of night or wee hours of morning, regardless, the highway is too busy for whatever time it is.
"You're alive!"
I look to my left to see the blonde mover looking and me with a smile before returning his attention to the road.
"How long was I out?" I wondered, it couldn't of been that long
"Oh, you were out cold for a day, but I took some basic nursing classes so I knew you weren't dead. We're actually in Texas, El Paso to be exact."
I nod as I anticipate the sweet California landscape and friendly faces. I look down at the floor and see Mr. Fluffles, I pick him up and hold him tight, "you actually remembered my bear?"
He smiles, "Yea, I figured if you're 18 and you still have a teddy bear that looks like it's seen better days, it must be important to you."
We sit in silence for a while, nothing but the radio to fill the silence. But then he sighs, and turns it off, " May I ask a question?" When I don't respond he asks anyway, "How long as your father been hurting you?"
I look down, then out the window, hoping that if I pretend I didn't hear he'll let it go, but when I glance at him, hes focused on me, waiting for me to answer. "13 years."
He nods, but as he puts his attention back on the road I notice his eyes start to get glossy...

Notes