Luis sighed. He could hear his parents arguing again. Though muffled, his thin apartment walls could only block a small amount of volume, leaving the voices quieter, but still clear enough for him to hear. He curled into a ball on his cheap, uncomfortable bed that laid on the dirty floor, covered his ears with his over-washed pillow, the rough texture of it making him grimace slightly. The strong smell of chemicals he could not identify and one he recognized as bleach stung his eyes, making them water.
Luis pressed the pillow into his ears harder when the voices increased in volume, tears trailing down his cheeks as his lip quivered and his body shook with the force of his cries. He could handle breaking his leg, he could even handle his mother breaking an old wooden broom on his head, but he could not handle screaming. It made him want to shrink into nothing and disappear from existence itself.
He heard it then. The faint cries of an infant, ones that filled him with dread and even more sorrow when he heard the wails. His baby sister, Norma, was still in the living room, no doubt confused and scared witnessing her mother and father fight so harshly. The boy had not even a sliver of hope that his parents weren't hurting each other.
He could hear the harsh thuds as they punched and slapped and kicked at each other. Luis knew that after one of his parents walked out, they would take it out on Norma, as if the green and purple bruises Luis had didn't remind him with each moment he laid there, his head spinning and his body throbbing and aching.
Painfully, he pushed himself up and sat up, wiping his face to rid his face of the tears and snot he had produced moments ago, and shakily walked to his doorway, the chipped, white painted board of wood with a hole for a doorknob and a metal latch for his lock taunting him, daring him to stay inside, safe and warm, while his baby sister cried in confusion and sorrow in the living room.
Gaining courage, he unlocked the rusted latch, wincing when the hinges holding the makeshift door up squealed obnoxiously. He waited, and when his parents didn't stop yelling, he bolted down the hallway and just before they would've been able to see him, he stood and evaluated where they would be.
From what he could tell, they were in the kitchen, which meant he could crouch and snatch his baby sister from the disaster he calls his parents.
Sighing, he shook his head to get rid of any remaining doubts that would make him falter and rushed into the living room, his knees hitting the floor with a soft thud, one not loud enough to catch the attention of his still arguing parents.
"Hey Nor, it's okay, C'mon, I've got ya." The boy cooed, shifting quietly so he could carry Norma correctly, but still be able to crawl hastily down the hallway into his room without alerting his parents. Though, total stealth was not an option with crusted carpet that shuffled every time he moved and the red-faced, whimpering infant he held didn't make Luis's situation any easier.
Sighing, the teen cradled his baby sister with one arm and held himself in a low crouch with the other, his arm shaking with a combination of nervousness and fatigue. Once again, he started creeping his way over to the first checkpoint, which was the bar with a shadow he could hide in. However, he had to risk getting caught by his father, who could spot him from where he was standing.
Even if it was a small risk, it had huge consequences that Luis knew were horrid and he didn't want to take the chance, but if he didn't get to his room, his and Norma's fate would be sealed, and he feared she wouldn't come out of it without a severe maiming.
Exhaling, Luis bolted, trying to make sure his footfalls didn't get them caught. The teen sprinted down the living room, praying his parents wouldn't notice him among their shouts.
Holding his breath, Luis lunged towards the darkness of the hallway once he was close enough, and sat in the dark, holding his drooping baby sister, his body propped against the wall, his chest heaving as his lungs attempted to supply his body enough oxygen to make sure he wouldn't pass out from fear, like always.
Luis couldn't this time, though. Not with Norma with him, unless he wanted her dead, which would be beside the point. If he wanted her dead, he would've stayed in his room and cried for a few more hours.
With a shaky sigh, one Luis noticed he'd been doing a lot in the past hour, he hauled himself up, sliding up the wall, resting against it because he had realized, painfully, his muscles twitched violently when he tried supporting himself, still refusing to work after the sprint that felt like four miles. He let his head tilt back, closed his eyes, swallowed, then slowly began walking back to his room, still dragging himself against the wall for support.
He had thought he was home free when he felt a glass bottle graze his cheek, causing him to lose his balance and fall on his behind on the ground, a hiss escaping his mouth on instinct, and a whine coming from Norma, who was fine, as far as Luis could tell.
His father stood at the entrance to the hallway, face red and nose flared. Luis backed up but stopped when he felt the familiar twinge of pain snake it's way up his spine and into his chest, making it hard for his heart to pump regularly.
"Don't think you can just get away that easily, Luis. You know what she did, and you know she doesn't deserve no sort of saving from the fate she sealed for herself." His father growled, making Luis flinch. Despite the fear he held and how tight his chest felt, the boy's bubbling anger slowly reached the surface, causing him to go red and feel like he was burning with a fever.
"It's not Norma's fault your whore of a friend died! Hell, if anything, it's your fault, you cheating bastard!" Luis rasped, tears glossing his eyes over and making his surroundings foggy. The teen could see his father, a brown blurry blob, bristle in anger. Scared, Luis dragged himself down to his room, kicked the door with his foot, hauled the now wailing infant into his room and onto some blankets he had left on his floor, and slammed the heavy hunk of wood before hastily locking it with shaky hands.
Luis heard his father cuss him out, and was not very shocked to hear the bull of a man start pounding on the said door, though Luis still jumped from the loud bangs resonating throughout his almost empty room. He picked up the whimpering baby, set her on his mattress, grabbed his duffel bag, and began shoving in anything he could, which included his blankets, sippy cups he kept in his room specifically for situations like these, crackers, and three water bottles. He tied his sneakers again to make sure he didn't trip and started climbing out his window and onto the fire escape.
It was cold, not surprising, but Luis knew this was safer than staying there and having his father kick open the door. He held Norma tightly, trying with all his power to not drop her, and when he reached the latter he had to pull down to get onto the sidewalk, he set her down, covered in his wool blanket and circled by his duffel bag.
He kicked the cold metal latter down, hissing when it made a shockingly loud rattle when it made contact with the concrete. He knew his father heard that. Panicked, he hurriedly grabbed the baby once again, along with his belongings, and scurried down the latter, setting his pace into a fast jog, that could not quite be considered running. He was shivering, he felt awkward on his own two feet, and his mind ran a mile a minute, giving him a headache.
Sometimes, he really hated his family.