Hello again! I wasn't going to update so soon, but I got reviewed! I'm so excited! You don't even know how much that made my horrible week so much better! So, thanks to bitten-sln, Edwardxlovesxme, La tua cantate (sorry, they wouldn't let me put in your actual username, so I sort of paraphrased...), meli, and jaspersgal1861 for the lovely reviews!
And now, without further ado…here's chapter 2: (hey, that rhymed!)
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Chapter Two
BPOV
I was getting dinner ready, singing along to the radio, when he came home. I tried to be as cheerful as possible, tried not to remember the night before when he had…well, it was nothing new. He did it almost every night now.
I shut off the radio, and brought out the lasagna. He was already sitting down. His stomach grumbled, and he answered its call by digging in without a word of greeting to me, his only daughter. I followed his lead, what I always do, and started eating as well. I was only half way done when he was finished. He frowned and left the table for the TV room, most likely there was a game of some sort on tonight. I wasn't interested, and even if I was, he wouldn't let me watch TV; I wasn't allowed to do anything that may have caused me pleasure.
I finished, and started to clear the table when Charlie clumped back into the room. He grunted, "What's for dessert?"
Uh oh, I didn't have any dessert. "What would you like; I thought I would wing it today." I lied brightly.
He saw through me easily, I had never been a good liar. "Yeah right. Don't lie to me. That's rule number one in this house, you know that."
I had a very different set of rules,
Do whatever Charlie says
Don't anger Charlie
Don't break Charlie's rules
Don't show that you are in pain
and Don't spend time with Charlie if you can possibly help it.
But his rule number one was 'Don't lie to Charlie.' I knew what was coming. He slapped me hard, "That was your punishment."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't you apologize to me!" he kicked my knees out from under me. "You're just like your worthless mother, always blubbering, apologizing." My mother left this insane torture. One day she just packed her bags and left me forever. She tried to get a judge to get me out of Charlie's house, but she couldn't prove that he was abusive, and he was (still is) a police chief, so it was just her word against his. I'm stuck with him now. He blames me for her disappearance, and everything else.
Charlie kicked my left leg, I felt the pain, but did not cry out. Then he kicked my ribs several times in the same place. "That should remind you not to lie to me again. Now don't bother me for the rest of the night!" He went back to his TV, leaving me balled up and in excruciating pain on the floor of the kitchen.
When I felt that I could stand, I did, and then I walked through the rest of the kitchen to my room. It was barely a room, but then, it could have been worse. I have a really nice window, it faces the setting sun. I left it open when I took my shirt and pants off so that I could catch the last rays of sunlight for the day. I started putting lotion on my bruises, unhooking my bra so that my ribs weren't pressured where Charlie kicked them. I put on my lotion, finishing up and about to put on my pajamas when Charlie showed up again.
His eyes swept the room, stopping on my window, and then his gaze returned to me. I scooted backward on my bed, hoping that he would leave me alone that night. "You stupid girl! The window is wide open and that asshole of a neighbor is staring at you!" I followed his gesture through the window to see a young man, probably about my age or a few years older watching me through his window. I hadn't realized! How long had he been watching! I wished he would turn away, but he didn't. Charlie's hand hit my face, and my head slammed into the wall. "You stupid ass little girl," another slam, "You skanky bitch, how could you even," another, "I bet you were putting on a nice little show for him, weren't you?" another, "Do you want someone you own age to play with? Am I not good enough?" another, I whimpered, "What the hell is wrong with you!"
Eventually he stopped hitting me; I slumped down, unable to hold up my throbbing head. He punched me in the gut once, before leaving me. I lay still for a moment, before standing and closing my blinds. I rehooked my bra and prayed that Charlie wouldn't come back for the rest of the night. I had no such luck.