"I've had enough of you, you stupid litt-"
*smash* a beer bottle smashed against my head leaving my scalp bloody with shards of glass sticking out.
"I'm sorry I'll do better I promise." I shouted through clenched teeth trying to hold back my tears from the pain "you better I paid for that food." "I'm sorry." "And what do you do? You go and burn it" Debbie threw a spoonful of the burnt casserole at me hitting me in the face. I cry out in pain wiping the scolding hot chicken and rice off my face "I-I didn't mean to. It was an accident I swear." "I brought you in to my home, gave you food, a place to sleep, and a roof over your head. All I ask is that you do a few chores, but you can't even do that! You screw everything up." I fought back tears while I listened to her rant "I'm so sorry, let me run to the store and get some more ingredients. It won't happen again, I promise."
I grabbed on to the edge of the kitchen sink and hoisted myself up. "One more chance. If you mess anything up you'll regret it. I want you back by 7:00 I'm getting hungry." I looked up at the clock 6:15 "but that's only 45 minutes the store is a 15 minute walk away I'll never make it back in time." I heard panic growing in my voice "well then you better hurry." "Don't I have a bit of time to clean up a bit?" I said pointing to the bloody mess on my head "throw on a hat." Debbie rolled her eyes and lit a cigarette "you're so sensitive. It's not that bad."
I choked back a sob, thew on a pair of black Birkenstocks, a black beanie, and quickly headed out the door. The walk was miserable. My head felt like someone was constantly hitting it with a hammer. With every step I took I grew dizzy and nauseous. It felt like decades till I finally got to the store though in reality it was probably only 15-20 minutes.
When I arrived at the store I grabbed a cart. I headed down to the deli and picked up 1 whole cooked chicken and some ready made rice. After that I started to head down toward the canned goods.
"Crystal" I heard someone shout my name. I turned to see who it was. Tall young man around the age of 18 with dark brown hair and eyes started jogging towards me. I smiled a smile of pure happiness and it seemed my troubles had floated away. "John!" I started to walk towards him trying to make it look like I wasn't in pain. In one swift movement he picked me up in a hug and swung me around. I tried not to wince in pain when he did that though it was nice aside from the fact that my whole body hurt. After about 15 seconds of hugging he let go.
"So Crystal, it's been forever! How have you been? How was your summer?" He asked me and gave me a smile. I thought back to my summer. The constant beatings, the nasty words, the week and a half I wasn't allowed to eat, and worst of all the punishments from Frank.
Frank, he's Debbie's boyfriend, and possibly the most sketchy, sleazy, and scary guy you'll ever meet. His breath smells constantly of cigarettes and alcohol. He's always touching me in places I don't want to be touched, but probably the worst thing about Frank are his punishments they're the worst, burned in my brain like a branding on a cow. No matter how many years of therapy you can go through, memories and trauma like that will never go away.
"My summer was fun!" I lied "and how was yours?" He smiled a worried smile at me. John was always great at reading people he always knows when people lying. Which is why I'm surprised why he hasn't caught on to the stuff going on at home.
"It was a blast! Cuba was so much fun! I'm not ready for school to start tomorrow. Summer is never long enough." He gave me a playful nudge on my arm. I hissed in pain and grabbed my arm. He looked at me with a look of worry "you okay there Crys?" "Oh yeah, you just bumped a bruise, but I'm fine." His look of worry didn't falter though. "A bruise? What happened? What'd you do fight a shark?" He gave me a smile and a wink on the last question. I couldn't help but smile back and giggle a bit. "No, you know me I bruise like a peach. I just bumped into the edge of my table. Though the shark story sounds more epic."
I glanced at the clock and my eyes widened in panic I had five minutes to finish. "Oh no!" I shouted with out realizing "what? What's wrong!?" John looked at me confused "I have to be home on 5 minutes or else I'm grounded." I said telling the half truth "oh, well I can give you a ride if you want one." He said scratching the back of his head. I hugged him in relief. "That would be great! Thank you so much!" "Yeah no problem!" He said returning the hug. I quickly gathered up the rest of the ingredients in record time and quickly checked out.
When I got to the car I looked at the clock 7:03. I felt anxiety well up in my chest as I knew I'd be in big trouble. "Alright. Where to?" John said getting in the car "331 Bad Wolf Ave." He typed the adress into the GPS and started down the road.
The whole car ride I said nothing I was too afraid of what would happen when I got home. I think John caught on to the fact that I was afraid. "Hey Crys, you okay?" "Oh yeah, I'm fine. I'm just really tired." I forced a smile. "Alright, if you're sure, but you know you can tell me anything right?" He said while he pulled up to my house "yeah I know that. Well thanks for the ride! I'll see you tomorrow at school!" "Yeah see ya Crys!" And with that he was gone
I walked up to the door and braced myself. I glanced at my phone 7:08. I sigh and walked in "Where have you been!? You weren't at the cops were you?" Debbie's raspy voice rang out from the kitchen. "No, I was having a bit of trouble finding some ingredients." I lied, I couldn't tell her about John. That could put him in danger. "You were talking your own sweet time, that's what you were doing. You took so long I had to make my own dinner. Just wait till Frank gets home." My eyes widened in fear. "Debbie, if you just waited I would have made you your dinner. I'm sorry that I was a few minutes late, please just cut me some slack." I said on the verge of tears. "DON'T TALK BACK TO ME YOU UNGRATEFUL BITCH!" She yelled while she punched me in the eye "I-I'm sorry, I'll stop." "YOU'RE RIGHT YOU'LL STOP."
Just then the door opened revealing a very drunk Frank. "Debbie get me a beer." He slurred "Frank come here for a second." Frank got up and waddled to the kitchen. Debbie pulled me up by my arm. Her long claw like nails digging into me. "Crystal here needs to be put in her place. Why don't you take her upstairs and remind her who she's dealing with again." Frank rolled his eyes and dragged me up the stairs.
When we got up the stairs he took me to a room and tied my hands to the bed. All the rest is a blur, a painful blur, a blur that will stick with me forever. The next thing I know I was on the ground with only a blanket wrapped around me. Frank was already out of the room by then.
Still in pain I hobbled to my room got a pair of pajamas and headed to the bathroom to clean up. The warm water from the shower stung, but felt nice at the same time. I looked down at the floor of the tub. Little shards of glass left over from earlier all washed away along with the blood. I felt peace though like as the blood washed away, my troubles went with it.
After a half hour of staying in the shower I got out, dryed off, and got dressed. When I got to my room I shut the door and allowed myself to cry. Things weren't always like this, I used to be happy, I had a mother, a father, sisters, a home. Then I lost it I lost it all.
I opened my windows and peered out allowing the cool wind of a September night blow away my thoughts. I looked at the stars and how they shined. They looked like sparkles on a big black piece of paper. I was lost in thought looking at those beautiful stars. Then I saw it. I saw what looked like a blue box floating in the sky. Then as fast as it was there it was gone.
