Downward Spiral
Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious
A/N: So let me give you a heads up. By now you know what's coming, but even still I should let you know. You'll see the Vega house, and the friends will see it in a way they never have. The mask comes off, so to speak. This chapter shows the abuse that is going on.
Chapter 9 (Beneath the Mask)
"Get out of my house." David's drunken scream vibrated off the walls and echoed into the patio outside where Trina waited eagerly for the confrontation that was to come.
To her delight, Tori's friends scrambled from the couch and the table. She could only see part of them from the patio and had little interest in going into the home.
Holly came to their defense, raising her voice above her husbands. "Don't talk to them that way." Trina heard a loud slap and leaned forward to get a better view of what was going on inside. David's hand was on his face, and his eyes were nearly bulging from his sockets at his wife, who stood with her hand in the air.
Everything froze in that moment, with all of Tori's friends holding their breath. Trina's only response was to lean back in the swinging bench and sip the last of her beer.
Normally she would go in and attempt to stop their fighting, but not this time. Her pleas often fell to deaf ears regardless, and she was in no mood to deal with their ire. An added caveat was that their wrath was now directed at each other and at Tori's friends rather than their daughters.
"Why?" David's voice shook with rage and his lips curled away into a deadly sneer. "Why would you go to their defense? You don't even like them."
"How would you know? You're just a drunken fool."
"I guess I wouldn't know, you're too busy fucking my partner behind my back." Holly gasped aloud and dealt another hard slap to his face. Trina rolled her eyes and set crushed, empty beer can down beside her.
A sudden crash caught her attention, followed by a wave of terrified gasps and screams. Trina's head jerked up and she bolted into the room to see her father standing above Holly with his fist in the air.
Tori fell to her mother's side, grabbing the woman's arm and glaring up at her father. "How could you?" The girl's voice began to rise, but David's ire did not fade from his face. "This is your wife."
"She's a fucking whore is what she is."
Trina ran for the friends and began pushing the nearest one towards the door. "You guys need to leave," she ordered. They pushed back in an attempt to resist her, so she repeated herself firmly. "Now."
"No." David turned around, swinging arm and slurring in his speech. "Let them stay. Let them see how bad we are-it isn't like our youngest doesn't tell them everything about us as it is. We have no secrets because your sister can't help but to run her mouth."
Tori started to scream at him, protesting and calling him a terrible father. Holly was trembling and tears were running down her face, and David was shouting for both of them to shut up.
Sensing the coming danger, Trina shoved the friends more with an added burst of adrenaline. "No!" She heard her father shout. "Let them see what the blabbermouth says is true."
"You guys need to leave now." David rushed to the door and shut it. The door sounded off like a gun firing. Trina's heart sank and she stared at her father with bewilderment. "Shit."
"Come inside, come inside." David laughed the words of a familiar tune and spread his hands out. "Welcome to the show that never ends. Vega family circus."
This was worse than she suspected, and there was no doubt in mind he was about to turn on the group. As always, she was the one that would have to silence her father's drunken rage while her mom and sister watched from the ground, but this was the first she had to worry about someone outside the family.
"Dad stop." The man lowered his hands and watched as Tori's friends piled behind her. David's head tilted to the right.
"Or what? Are you going to call the police on me?" He threw his head back and started laughing. "I am the police. Who's going to come?" Trina ground her teeth and stood firm, refusing to back down.
"These people aren't your family, you have no right to threaten them."
"I'm not threatening them yet." Trina extended her arms and stared into his eyes with a stern expression. David's eyes seemed to pop and he mocked her with a laugh. "Don't tell me you're protecting their asses. They insult you like there's no tomorrow, they wouldn't know respect if it came and hit them in the faceā¦"
David flinched and she narrowed her eyes as he began to smirk. "Watch." He extended his arm and snapped his fingers. "You. With the puppet." Trina looked at Robbie and watched him begin to tremble. "Come over here."
"Don't move," she said to him. Robbie swallowed hard as Cat grabbed his hand and Andre put a hand on his shoulder.
"You good for nothing bitch, quit protecting their asses." She closed her eyes and felt a lump growing in her throat. "Puppet kid, get your fucking ass over here now."
"What do you want?" Robbie stuttered over his words and began to point his shaky hand at Jade. "Why don't you look at her? She's the one that like drained your daughter's blood at the hospital." Jade's eyes shot open and David belched.
"I'll get through all of you if I have to."
"He's not normally like this," Trina whispered to them. She didn't want them to be scared off, especially since they were good for Tori. They weren't around enough to see David in his drunken rage and this was just the first they saw this side in him, so they didn't need to be scared away.
Holly stood and clenched her fists at her sides. "Why do you think I run around with Gary?" Her shout pulled David's gaze over. "He's a real man. You're not even half the man he is."
"What did you say to me? Who the hell do you think pays your bills? You would be nothing without me. Nothing!"
With him distracted, Trina could help the others escape. The fence in the backyard had a gate they could get out. "Go out the back." She spoke with a quick and harsh tone while motioning to the glass door. "There's a gate you guys can go through."
"Will your mom and Tori be alright?" Andre asked. Trina rolled her eyes and nodded while pointing once more at the door. The group wasted no time heading for their escape, and Trina followed to ensure they got out.
"Hold it, Katrina." Her father's voice stopped her just at the door frame and sent a cold shiver running down her spine. Her eyes followed the group to the gate she spoke of, and once they were out safely, she was able to relax. "If you step out that door, you're dead."
The familiar clicking noise followed by silent gasps did not startle her. Trina turned around slowly and focused on the gun in David's hand. It was best not to provoke him at this point, since she knew he only ever used the gun to threaten and never actually fired it.
"I'm not going anywhere, Dad." Her chest tightened as she watched Holly and Tori cower together on the couch. David's thumb was on the hammer, brushing back on the course ridges. "Put it down, nothing's going to happen. I'm not going anywhere."
"Get me a beer from the fridge." She took one slow step and David gestured at the kitchen. "Hurry up." She wiped the sweat off her brow and ran to the refrigerator, doing as she was told.
All she cared about was that Tori's friends were out of harm's way and they didn't have to see how out of control David truly was. All they saw was a small part of one of his rages. Now that they were gone, she could be able to do everything in her power to calm him down and keep him from losing it even more.
When she gave him the beer, that was it. He sank into the couch with his beer and a television remote in his other hand. Holly had run off to the master bedroom and Trina guided Tori carefully upstairs.
Once again their dad would pass out on the couch. This was nothing new to any of them, and yet Trina was the only one that felt like it was commonplace.
Months went by without too much of an issue on the outside. Trina was still hanging with Marcus, however, and saw him as a means of escape from the never-ending chaos on the inside.
"My house is a nightmare," Trina said as she fell beside Marcus. The man had his hands on the steering wheel and was looking at her with a faint smile. Trina slammed the car door shut and buried her fingers into the side of her head while she leaned against the door. "Drive."
"Where to?"
"Anywhere but here." A month had gone by since she met the man, and right now he was the best person to get away from her family for a while. "I just need to get away." Her heart felt ready to collapse from pressure, and her anxiety was shooting up like a rocket.
"Is it that bad?" Her eyes darted out sideways at him and his smile faded in an instant. She had little desire to discuss what was going on within her home and only wanted him to take her away from the drama. "I'll take you to my place, you can get some rest there."
"Thank you."
Her father was busy ignoring everyone, Holly was busy screaming about how ignorant he was, and Tori was still busying herself with friends that couldn't take one second to quit digging their teeth into Trina.
The strangest part was that Tori's friends had forgotten her father's violent episode, or at the very least, they were ignoring it and pretending like it never happened. Of course there was tension in the house whenever they were there at the same time David was, but Trina was always there to keep watch and make sure nothing happened.
Marcus's apartment was small and it looked like a smoker's den. The walls were covered with soot, the windows were stained and foggy, and every breath Trina took felt as though she were breathing in stuffy air.
"Interesting place you got here, Marc."
"Thanks." Trina fell onto his pale brown couch, sinking between the two large cushions while Marcus walked into the kitchen on the other side of the wall behind the couch. "Want something to eat? I have some leftover chicken breast."
Her stomach growled at the mention of food. She smiled warily and placed her hand onto her abdomen. "Of course. I'd appreciate it."
There was a rugged charm to the home; something familiar that she couldn't quite put her finger on.
Next to the green front door was a small television stand with an equally small television seated on top of it. It was laden with dust and soot, which wasn't much of a surprise considering the rest of the home.
After a while Marcus appeared before her with a plate of chicken and a glass of water in his hands. He smiled at her while setting the plate in her lap, then extended the glass towards her. "Thank you," she said while taking the glass.
He sat down beside her and slid an arm behind her neck and around her shoulders. "How are you feeling?" Her shoulders fell and she raised her head, breathing in shakily while looking around the walls.
"Like I can relax for a change." It was new to her, and despite how filthy the apartment was, she felt like she could get past that. "Still feel like I need a drink. Whiskey or something."
"I know a guy that can get some stuff to take down the pain a bit, if you're overanxious." He rubbed her arm gently and she furrowed her brow. "You always seem so troubled at home, but you never talk about it. I'll listen if you need me to."
"I know you will." She put her head to his shoulder and looked down at the food. Tears welled up beneath her eyelids and she tensed her hands on the plate.
She wanted to talk about her home life more than anything else, but the more she thought about how Tori spoke so fragrantly to her friends, the less comfortable she felt about bringing up the drama. "I don't need to talk about it right now." Her home life wasn't anyone's business but her own as far as she was concerned.
Marcus chuckled once and she looked up to him. "I understand Trina." Her lips slid into a smirk and her head tilted to the right.
"Don't be surprised if one day you see my family on the Investigation Discovery network though."
So what are your thoughts? Between David's drunkenness, the parents fighting constantly, and now we have Marcus who seems to be getting off on just the right start of how many abusive relationships begin. Charm. Red flags everywhere perhaps. You have observations and thoughts, so let me know.
