Author's note: As previous chapter was somewhat late, I figured I'd grant you guys this one a little early. Thank you so much for your support!
CHAPTER 9 – THE FIGHT PT. 1
When Connor came home, he could see that his father was not in a good mood. He quickly closed the door behind him and wanted to go upstairs unnoticed, so that his father wouldn't leash out his anger on him, but Connor's dad had already seen him.
"Connor, would you mind coming in for a while?" Adam asked.
Connor, relieved at his father's friendly tone, went into the living room.
"What's up, dad?" Connor asked.
"How was school today?" Adam asked.
"It was good, I guess," Connor replied.
"Nothing happened?" Adam asked.
"No?" Connor said, suspicious at his dad's sudden friendly behaviour.
"You didn't blab on school?" Adam asked, making Connor very uncomfortable.
"No, I did not," Connor said.
"LIAR!" Adam screamed, and Connor backed off in fear.
"Dad, please listen," he began, but Adam didn't let him finish.
"No, I won't listen, you listen to me. I've told you not to blab, and yet, here I was, minding my own damn business, when I got this phone call from your school. Some woman, Monte, spoke to me about how wrong it was to hit my son, and you're telling me you didn't blab? You really got to think hard about lies before you tell them," Adam ranted.
"I did not blab!" Connor shouted.
"Oh, of course you didn't, because how else would the board know?" Adam said sarcastically.
"Jude told them," Connor admitted, somewhat ashamed.
"Jude hmmm? When did you tell him?" Adam asked.
"About a few months ago, because I needed someone to talk to!" Connor defended himself.
"Talk about what? How I sometimes correct you with a little spanking?" Adam asked.
"No, about how you continually beat the crap out of me," Connor stood up against his father. Adam, who hadn't expected his son to stand up to him, became red in anger.
"You need to watch your steps, son. One more step and you're going too far," Adam warned Connor.
Connor didn't know what to do, he was cornered by his dad, and there was no way out of this situation. The only thing he could do was hoping that his father wouldn't hit him, but by the looks of it, there was no escaping from even worse bruises.
"Dad, please listen to me once," Connor said in a calm voice. Adam didn't react, so Connor figured it was safe to talk.
"I told Jude, because I needed someone to blow off steam with. He helped me get through a rough period, and I begged him not to tell anyone," Connor said.
"So why did he?" Adam asked.
"Because he was worried about me," Connor replied.
"Well, he shouldn't be," Adam said.
"Why not?" Connor asked.
"Because I would never hurt you," Adam said.
Connor, surprised by these words, slowly rolled up his sleeves and showed his dad his arms. His father didn't wince, he looked at it, and looked away again, not seeming to be bothered by his son's bruised arms.
"Dad, you did that to me," Connor said.
And there it was, the first hit of this day, right on Connor's throat. He couldn't breathe for a few seconds, his throat blocked by the impact of the punch. When Connor got breath again, his father had already pulled his arm back again, ready for another punch. This time, he punched Connor on his left eye, leaving a small mark, that would soon turn into a black eye. Connor saw his chance to run, and he took it, sprinting out of the living room, grabbing his backpack in the action, and he ran up to the stairs. When he came on the top of the stairs, he turned right, ran through the small hallway and into his room. He heard his dad running after him, so he quickly turned around, slammed the door shut and locked it securely. He heard his dad reach the top of the stairs, bumping into the wall, and he ran through the hallway. Suddenly, Connor heard a loud sound, and realized his dad had tried to walk right through the door, but as these doors were thick, he didn't manage to. He heard a few more loud bashes, but his dad didn't manage to get through. Connor was sitting in the corner furthest from his door, curled up and afraid.
"Ha! You're stupid to have done this. You won't be able to stay in there forever, and when you come out of that room, I will show you that I'm far from done with you." Adam called through the door.
Connor then heard him sit down on the ground next to his door, and then he didn't hear anything.
Connor stayed in his room until evening fell, when his stomach began to growl as he got hungry.
"Ha! I heard that, you're hungry aren't you?" Adam said, and Connor heard him walk away, but he got back within a minute, and somehow, he had a plate of some great-smelling food with him. Connor, tortured, clammed his fingers on his nose, so that he didn't smell anything, and just when he did that, the doorbell rang. Connor heard his father chewing, so he figured that his dad wasn't going to answer the door. The doorbell rang again, and his father still didn't answer. Suddenly, Connor heard a loud crack, and then he heard the door swinging open and hitting the wall next to it. He heard footsteps down the hall and he got even more scared. He heard sounds from downstairs, which were unmistakably voices, and then he heard two pairs of footsteps rushing up the stairs. When they arrived at the top of the stairs, he heard clear, unknown voices.
"Adam Stevens? You're under arrest for child abuse. Anything you say can and will be used against you. You'll be allowed a lawyer as soon as we get to the police station."
Connor heard his dad move around, and then the rushed footsteps of the policemen, who seemed to push Adam to the ground and handcuff him, as Connor first heard a smack, and then the clicking of iron on iron. He then heard three pairs of footsteps walk away from his door. He then heard two more walk up again, and they began opening the doors of the rooms on the upstairs floor. Connor heard his door handle being pulled down, and crawled up again, afraid that he had heard everything wrong and his dad was trying to come in again.
"Connor, are you in there?" Connor heard an unknown voice asking.
Connor didn't react. Worst-case scenarios were flowing through his head and he didn't want anyone to see him right now.
"Jerry, this door is locked, I think the kid's in here." He heard the voice say again, and he got scared.
He then heard a loud crack as the lock broke and his door flew open. Connor ducked away, his shoulders digging deeper into the small corner as he heard footsteps approaching.
"Connor Stevens? We're the police. We've come here with people from the Child Protective Service, and we're here to help you." Connor didn't move, still not wanting this to be some part of his dad's plan to get to him.
"Connor, I'm Jerry Hawkings, and this is my collegue Tony Quint. We're here to help you," Jerry said as he laid his hand on Connor's shoulder. Connor didn't resist.
"Will you please stand up?" Tony asked, and Connor slowly did. He looked at the two men, and saw that they were wearing the same uniforms that he had seen Stef and Mike wear so often, and it felt comforting. Just at that moment, two more people walked in, in plain clothing, and Connor ducked behind Tony.
"Connor, it's alright," Tony said, "these are Mary and Betty, they're from the Child Protective Service, they're here to help you".
Connor slowly looked at them, and stepped away from Tony, who asked him to sit down on his bed. Connor did, and Mary laid a blanket over Connor's shoulder, trying to comfort him.
"Connor, are you afraid to talk to me?" Jerry asked.
"No," Connor replied.
"Are you willing to answer questions about your situation?" Tony continued.
"Yes," Connor answered.
"Alright, how long has your dad been beating you up?" Tony asked, and Connor cringed at the word 'beating'.
"Around nine years," Connor answered.
"Is there a reason we only came to know of it now?" Jerry asked.
"My dad threatened to beat me up for good if I ever told it," Connor said, staring at the wall in front of him, in shock.
"Why did we get to know it now?" Tony asked.
"My best friend told the board of our school," Connor said, and he relived his anger at Jude.
"What happened nine years ago, what was the trigger for your dad to start this?" Tony asked.
"All I know is that my parents got divorced nine years ago," Connor replied.
"Where is your mother?"
"I haven't seen her in nine years."
"Thank you very much, that'll be enough for now, Mary and Betty, will you please check him up? I heard he's particularly hurt on his arms, but now I look at him, I think I do see some fresh bruises on his throat and his left eye." Tony said, and he and Jerry left, leaving Connor alone with Mary and Betty, who checked up on him. They slid up his sleeves and were just as shocked about what they saw as Jude, Lena and Monte had been. They checked if any bones had gotten any damage, and then they went on to his throat, which had gotten red. When they were done there, they checked up on his eye, which they said would be alright, and they asked him to take off his shirt and pants, which Connor somewhat hesitantly did, and the two ladies saw that he hadn't been hit on his back, chest or legs in a long time. There were some older bruises, but nothing which hinted at fractures or other serious damage. They allowed Connor to pull up his pants and pull on his shirt again.
"It looks like there won't be any permanent damage. No physical damage anyway. Some lady named Lena already gave her statement to the police, so you won't have to, they only might ask you to testify against your dad. Would you be willing to do that?" Mary asked. Connor thought about this, and hesitantly nodded his head.
"Do you want to be left alone for a while, so you can think about tonight, and process it for yourself?" Betty asked, and Connor nodded. Just as Mary and Betty stood up, Connor stood up as well, walked out of the room and walked into the next room, which he locked again. Mary wanted to knock, but Betty said to her that it was best for Connor to feel safe, and that he felt safe with a locked door, so they both let him lock himself up. They went downstairs to clean the mess that the police had made while searching the house, and sat down. They'd be here until the hearing, for Connor's wellbeing and safety.
After Connor had locked himself up in the guestroom, he sat down on the bed and cried. He had lost his father. He just now realized that he had lost everything he still had, even if it was the worst thing that ever happened to him. He felt unsafe and alone. Trying to find some relief, he walked over to the window, opened it and screamed as loud as he could. It was raining outside, and his head got wet as he stuck it out of the window. He found comfort in the rain, and hung a little more forward. His torso was out of the window now too, and Connor felt his shirt getting soaked. It didn't matter to Connor, he loved it. He went back in, and stuck his leg out of the window, and his second leg followed. He sat down on the windowsill and just sat there for a while, being comforted by the rain, crying. His eye then fell upon the drainpipe, and his foot moved towards it. Soon, he found himself climbing down and he walked away from the house he grew up in.
Authors note:
I do not own anything recognizable.
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think via a message on here, or use my askbox on tumblr: always-jonnor-love-.-tumblr-.-com-/-ask(Without the dashes, but otherwise this site wouldn't let me post it).
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The next chapter is called "The Fight pt. 2".
