Chapter 2: It Was Just One Time!
It was half one in the morning and Eric hadn't slept a wink since he had climbed into bed hours before. His face still ached as he tried to make sense of what had happened earlier that night. He never thought of his father as bad, just as a mean and grumpy man, but tonight...tonight changed everything!
He wondered what his face would look like the next day. He knew a bruise had probably started to form down the side of his face by now, but he wasn't going to dare look in the mirror, for fear of facing the reality of what had taken place.
He stared up at the ceiling, willing himself to give into his consciousness, but the face of his father, the coldness in his eyes, haunted his mind and kept him from sleep!
The next day as he slowly got ready for school, Eric wondered what he was going to say to Donna when she asked him about his face.
He was almost ready for school.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he rushed downstairs, grabbed his bag and ran out the door, just about avoiding his father.
He was just about to knock on Donna's door, when she opened it "Hey Er..." she trailed off.
"Eric what happened to your face?" she asked a concerned look on her face.
After a moment of thinking Eric put on a cheeky grin.
"Well, funny story, I was walking along and a tree just jumped in front of me, they're very clumsy, you know!"
Donna shook her head and laughed, "You, idiot" she stated humorously while giving him a friendly nudge on the shoulder.
Eric had to smile whenever he saw Donna's smile; she was like his lifeline. Whenever he had troubles he relied on Donna to cheer him up.
"So...Red let you out the house yesterday?"
"Err...yer, I just took a little walk, to clear my head...but I guess I just ended up bumping it".
"Yer" Donna smirked.
Fortunately for Eric, Donna hadn't even got the slightest suspicious. Usually he couldn't wait for school to finish but today was different, today he wanted school to last as long as possible, so he didn't have to go home and face his father.
He couldn't believe his father had hit him. He'd had a friend once, whose father had hit him, like Red hit him. But it wasn't just for talking back. He was a rebel, and really he just drove people out of their minds. His father was actually quite a reasonable man, compared with Red. He just got pushed too far.
Was this the same?
Eric didn't know, but he felt that if he just did as he was told, didn't tell anyone and acted as well behaved as he could then he would be all right!
"Eric...hello...earth to Eric..."
"Yes...oh sorry, what's up?"
Eric had been staring off into space all through break time.
"What were you thinking about?" Donna asked curiously.
"Oh nothing...just life!"
"Just life, hah"
She couldn't be bothered to pursue getting Eric to tell her what he was really thinking about. She just changed the subject and carried on talking!
"So, wanna do anything tonight? We could go see that film, hopefully this time we could get out the door before we are stopped!"
"I dunno, I'll erm...check with Red, but ya know, I don't really feel like going out tonight".
He could hardly stay awake. He needed to sleep.
"Ok".
A puzzled look lay on Donna's face.
"Weird" she thought, "Eric never passes a chance to go to the cinema or something like that, Owell, he must just have hit his head quite hard or be tired or something like that!"
Soon school was over and Eric was on his way home. He had been yawning all day and he now had big bags under his eyes from lack of sleep the night before. He dreaded entering his house and seeing his father again. But then he started to tell himself that he was just overreacting, that it was only one time and it wouldn't happen again!
He arrived at his house; he looked up at it for a moment before entering.
"Mum, Dad, I'm home" he stated only slightly raising his voice.
When he got no reply he headed downstairs to the basement.
"They must have gone shopping or something" he thought to himself.
Settling on the couch once more, he expected his parents to arrive home any second, and that his father would be summoning him stairs soon after. But no one came home until some hours later.
Eric was pretty worried by then and had wondered where the hell his parents were. But he had fallen asleep and had at least gotten a couple of hours sleep before he heard the door slam shut upstairs.
He ran upstairs to see why his parents were so late, but it wasn't Kitty and Red who he found, it was just Red, all by himself! He looked kind of wobbly on the knees for a second and then he began straighten up. Eric could smell the distinct aroma of alcohol coming from his father. His eyes looked blood shot.
"Wh...where's mum?" Eric asked concernedly.
"Whe...re?" he mumbled, ".she, she's at the hospital.she had a fall." he trailed off.
"What dad! Oh my god, how, wha...you didn't...you know..." he trailed off as well as he stared worriedly at what seemed to be, his drunken father.
After realising what his son was implying he began to get angrier than ever.
"NO, I WOULD NEVER DO THAT, SHE JUST SLIPPED OVER THERE..." he pointed over by the kitchen worktop. "...I SWEAR...NO...WAIT I DON'T NEED TO JUSTIFY MYSELF TO YOU" and with that he edged closer to his son.
Eric backed away as he saw that look in Red's eyes, the same look he wore the night before, when...when he hit him!
"Dad, I.I'm sorry, I didn't mean to o...ffend you I just thought..." like always Red cut him off.
"You just thought...WELL YOU THOUGHT WRONG!" and with that he took a swing at Eric who seemed to be expecting this and ducked.
"You little bastard" he screeched coldly.
Eric dashed for the door. He began to turn knob, when he felt strong blows begin to rain down on him. He suddenly heard haunting screams, and after a few seconds he realised they were his.
He managed to choke out some words "Dad.stop.please, mum wo...uldn't want...this...happening, think...about her"
"Mum my ass, your just a wimp, can't even take it like a man, she's in hospital and you can only think of yourself, typical of you isn't it!"
After a few kicks to his son's stomach he left him in a heap on the floor!
That night Eric dragged himself to the couch and slept there. He couldn't make it upstairs. He was glad the next day was Saturday because then he wouldn't have to get up or try and hide the bruises, but he still had to stay away from Donna and that hurt the most though. He was also very worried about his mother. Was she Ok...How long would she be there?" Eric was terrified by this thought. The longer she was away, the longer he was alone in the house.with Red!
His whole body ached; black and blue bruises now covered almost every section of it. He silently cried himself to sleep that night. He hoped and prayed that this was the last time this would happen but he doubted that, he had made the same prayer last night and it hadn't worked!
Red now lived in his dreams as well, which used to consist of Donna or his other friends.
Twisting and turning in the night. He could see Red's eyes glaring at him and then his fists coming down on him! He squirmed, trying to get away from him, but he couldn't. He tried to run, but he didn't seem to get any further away. Red would come closer and closer towards him, but he couldn't go anywhere and then well.....
Eric awoke with a start, he had only been asleep for three hours and the clock on the living room wall read ten past one. He shivered. His mouth was dry and his throat was sore and hurt like hell, as well as every other part of him. As the memories of his nightmare flooded back into his mind, a tear rolled his cheek.
He pulled his knees up to his chest.
"Please God let it stop here, please..." he whispered to himself, as he laid his head in his arms and cried...
So this is my second chapter, I hope you appreciate it because I stayed up until 2am to finish it! I've also been watching comic relief all night; they raised thirty five million pounds, good on them! Anyway back to my story, I'll say to you 'I'll have the next chapter on here within a few days' but I'll probably get addicted to writing this and have it done for you tomorrow, but just in case 'I'll have it done within the next few day'. Hope you like this story!
It was half one in the morning and Eric hadn't slept a wink since he had climbed into bed hours before. His face still ached as he tried to make sense of what had happened earlier that night. He never thought of his father as bad, just as a mean and grumpy man, but tonight...tonight changed everything!
He wondered what his face would look like the next day. He knew a bruise had probably started to form down the side of his face by now, but he wasn't going to dare look in the mirror, for fear of facing the reality of what had taken place.
He stared up at the ceiling, willing himself to give into his consciousness, but the face of his father, the coldness in his eyes, haunted his mind and kept him from sleep!
The next day as he slowly got ready for school, Eric wondered what he was going to say to Donna when she asked him about his face.
He was almost ready for school.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he rushed downstairs, grabbed his bag and ran out the door, just about avoiding his father.
He was just about to knock on Donna's door, when she opened it "Hey Er..." she trailed off.
"Eric what happened to your face?" she asked a concerned look on her face.
After a moment of thinking Eric put on a cheeky grin.
"Well, funny story, I was walking along and a tree just jumped in front of me, they're very clumsy, you know!"
Donna shook her head and laughed, "You, idiot" she stated humorously while giving him a friendly nudge on the shoulder.
Eric had to smile whenever he saw Donna's smile; she was like his lifeline. Whenever he had troubles he relied on Donna to cheer him up.
"So...Red let you out the house yesterday?"
"Err...yer, I just took a little walk, to clear my head...but I guess I just ended up bumping it".
"Yer" Donna smirked.
Fortunately for Eric, Donna hadn't even got the slightest suspicious. Usually he couldn't wait for school to finish but today was different, today he wanted school to last as long as possible, so he didn't have to go home and face his father.
He couldn't believe his father had hit him. He'd had a friend once, whose father had hit him, like Red hit him. But it wasn't just for talking back. He was a rebel, and really he just drove people out of their minds. His father was actually quite a reasonable man, compared with Red. He just got pushed too far.
Was this the same?
Eric didn't know, but he felt that if he just did as he was told, didn't tell anyone and acted as well behaved as he could then he would be all right!
"Eric...hello...earth to Eric..."
"Yes...oh sorry, what's up?"
Eric had been staring off into space all through break time.
"What were you thinking about?" Donna asked curiously.
"Oh nothing...just life!"
"Just life, hah"
She couldn't be bothered to pursue getting Eric to tell her what he was really thinking about. She just changed the subject and carried on talking!
"So, wanna do anything tonight? We could go see that film, hopefully this time we could get out the door before we are stopped!"
"I dunno, I'll erm...check with Red, but ya know, I don't really feel like going out tonight".
He could hardly stay awake. He needed to sleep.
"Ok".
A puzzled look lay on Donna's face.
"Weird" she thought, "Eric never passes a chance to go to the cinema or something like that, Owell, he must just have hit his head quite hard or be tired or something like that!"
Soon school was over and Eric was on his way home. He had been yawning all day and he now had big bags under his eyes from lack of sleep the night before. He dreaded entering his house and seeing his father again. But then he started to tell himself that he was just overreacting, that it was only one time and it wouldn't happen again!
He arrived at his house; he looked up at it for a moment before entering.
"Mum, Dad, I'm home" he stated only slightly raising his voice.
When he got no reply he headed downstairs to the basement.
"They must have gone shopping or something" he thought to himself.
Settling on the couch once more, he expected his parents to arrive home any second, and that his father would be summoning him stairs soon after. But no one came home until some hours later.
Eric was pretty worried by then and had wondered where the hell his parents were. But he had fallen asleep and had at least gotten a couple of hours sleep before he heard the door slam shut upstairs.
He ran upstairs to see why his parents were so late, but it wasn't Kitty and Red who he found, it was just Red, all by himself! He looked kind of wobbly on the knees for a second and then he began straighten up. Eric could smell the distinct aroma of alcohol coming from his father. His eyes looked blood shot.
"Wh...where's mum?" Eric asked concernedly.
"Whe...re?" he mumbled, ".she, she's at the hospital.she had a fall." he trailed off.
"What dad! Oh my god, how, wha...you didn't...you know..." he trailed off as well as he stared worriedly at what seemed to be, his drunken father.
After realising what his son was implying he began to get angrier than ever.
"NO, I WOULD NEVER DO THAT, SHE JUST SLIPPED OVER THERE..." he pointed over by the kitchen worktop. "...I SWEAR...NO...WAIT I DON'T NEED TO JUSTIFY MYSELF TO YOU" and with that he edged closer to his son.
Eric backed away as he saw that look in Red's eyes, the same look he wore the night before, when...when he hit him!
"Dad, I.I'm sorry, I didn't mean to o...ffend you I just thought..." like always Red cut him off.
"You just thought...WELL YOU THOUGHT WRONG!" and with that he took a swing at Eric who seemed to be expecting this and ducked.
"You little bastard" he screeched coldly.
Eric dashed for the door. He began to turn knob, when he felt strong blows begin to rain down on him. He suddenly heard haunting screams, and after a few seconds he realised they were his.
He managed to choke out some words "Dad.stop.please, mum wo...uldn't want...this...happening, think...about her"
"Mum my ass, your just a wimp, can't even take it like a man, she's in hospital and you can only think of yourself, typical of you isn't it!"
After a few kicks to his son's stomach he left him in a heap on the floor!
That night Eric dragged himself to the couch and slept there. He couldn't make it upstairs. He was glad the next day was Saturday because then he wouldn't have to get up or try and hide the bruises, but he still had to stay away from Donna and that hurt the most though. He was also very worried about his mother. Was she Ok...How long would she be there?" Eric was terrified by this thought. The longer she was away, the longer he was alone in the house.with Red!
His whole body ached; black and blue bruises now covered almost every section of it. He silently cried himself to sleep that night. He hoped and prayed that this was the last time this would happen but he doubted that, he had made the same prayer last night and it hadn't worked!
Red now lived in his dreams as well, which used to consist of Donna or his other friends.
Twisting and turning in the night. He could see Red's eyes glaring at him and then his fists coming down on him! He squirmed, trying to get away from him, but he couldn't. He tried to run, but he didn't seem to get any further away. Red would come closer and closer towards him, but he couldn't go anywhere and then well.....
Eric awoke with a start, he had only been asleep for three hours and the clock on the living room wall read ten past one. He shivered. His mouth was dry and his throat was sore and hurt like hell, as well as every other part of him. As the memories of his nightmare flooded back into his mind, a tear rolled his cheek.
He pulled his knees up to his chest.
"Please God let it stop here, please..." he whispered to himself, as he laid his head in his arms and cried...
So this is my second chapter, I hope you appreciate it because I stayed up until 2am to finish it! I've also been watching comic relief all night; they raised thirty five million pounds, good on them! Anyway back to my story, I'll say to you 'I'll have the next chapter on here within a few days' but I'll probably get addicted to writing this and have it done for you tomorrow, but just in case 'I'll have it done within the next few day'. Hope you like this story!