Chapter 3
Song: The Rabbit by Jimmy Wayne
Kate said goodbye to James and slowly walked down the street toward her house. The grin she had been wearing on her face since he had gotten on the bus was quickly dissolving into a grim line as she got closer and closer to the torture chamber she called a home. As she turned the corner to go up the sidewalk, she sneaked a look back at the corner where she had left James. He was still standing there watching her. It comforted her just a bit that he cared enough to make sure she got home alright and with a newfound strength, she walked up to the door and eased it open. It creaked and Kate winced as she heard thundering footsteps coming from the living room. She pulled the door shut and ran for it.
"KATE!" a furious voice called as she tried to dash up the stairs. Heavy footsteps followed her and a large hand grabbed her arm. She was spun around to face the person she hated most in the whole world. She stared into the hard eyes of her stepfather Wayne.
"You little witch," Wayne breathed and Kate tried hard not to show just how scared she was but was she having no luck. The sudden grin on Wayne's face showed her that her body would be the owner of a new bruise before she could escape to her room. In one quick motion, Wayne pulled his arm back and slammed his fist into Kate's face. It hit her full on the right eye and she cried out in pain.
"That's for you comment this morning you spoiled brat," Wayne whispered to her as he let her go. She raced up the stairs, hands over her eye, while Wayne went back to sit in front the TV like nothing had happened.
"I'll pay you back for that," Kate swore as she stepped into the bathroom connected to her room to examine the damage. Her right eye was red and swollen but it was quickly turning a very nice shade of black, blue, and purple and she could hardly see. She walked back into her room and opened the small mini-freezer she had purchased when she was 13. Moving with expertise, she quickly filled a bag with ice and sat down at the desk she had built. Still unable to relax, she suddenly realized that the door was still open and jumped to close it. Since the only lock was on the outside (Wayne had installed that when he moved in when she was seven), she had taken to keeping one of the dining room chairs in her room so she could be warned when someone was trying to get into her room. She shoved the chair under the doorknob, then collapsed onto her bed. This had been way too long of a day, and now all she wanted to do was sleep and forget everything. Except James. She had never connected with someone like that before, not even her dad. He listened to her. He made her smile. He cared about her safety. She only knew one other person in her life like that and she only got to see him once a month. She sighed and pulled herself up. She walked over to the desk, cursing her stepfather for making it impossible to call James. Wishing, once again, that she had a cell phone, she pulled out her math homework. As she searched for a pencil, she pulled open one of the drawers and gasped. Lying inside was a cell phone and a prepaid minutes card. Hesitantly she picked it up, almost afraid it would vanish if she touched it. It was very real and the answer to her prayers. Her first thought was to call James, but she thought better of it. Better to save the minutes for an emergency or a case when Wayne went out of control again. She stowed it in a hidden pocket in her backpack and sat down at the desk again. She worked on her homework until the natural light was not enough to see by then stood up and walked over to the door and removed the chair. Her stomach grumbling, she turned the knob and realized that, once again, she had been locked inside her room. She had been so absorbed in her homework; she hadn't even heard the lock click. Resigned, she walked over to her closet and pulled out some crackers, a can of cheese, and a grape Fanta. Kate quickly demolished her meager meal, still feeling hungry. She had a chocolate craving and began to ravage through her closet in order to find something. At first all se could find was old Halloween candy (she didn't want to know how long that had been in there since she hadn't gone trick or treating since eighth grade) but finally she found an unlabeled, sealed box. She carefully pulled it down and carried it over to her bed. After pulling off the tape she opened the flaps one by one and looked inside.
The box was filled with a collection of memories. There were photos, books, tapes, candy bars, toys, even a small stuffed teddy bear. She now remembered sealing this box and hiding it to keep it away from him. She pulled out the items one by one, reliving the memory, and then setting it to the side. The stuffed bear was a present from Libby's twelve year old cousin. They had visited Texas two years ago and he had won it at the State Fair, then deciding that Kate needed it more than him. There were dozens of photos, Kate and Libby, Kate and Tom, Kate and Lindsey, Kate and her dad, even a few of Kate and her mom in happier times before Wayne. Putting those aside as her vision became a little blurry, she pulled out the tapes. Before she realized what a demanding job it was, Kate had wanted to be a news caster. When she was little, her mom had given her a small tape recorder and Kate had practiced her news casting skills on it until Wayne decided it annoyed him and broke it when Kate was eleven. Next, she pulled out the candy bars. Back when she had still been allowed to be involved in school activities (eighth grade), the fundraiser had been to sell Apollo chocolate bars. Her mom had bought a whole case and had given it all to Kate. The eight she pulled out were all that was left from the 108 two years earlier. She opened one up and took a large bite, moaning with pleasure. Looking at the books, she saw one she recognized. When she had first showed it to Tom, who had read practically every book in the universe, according to Kate, all he had said was, "It's a book about bunnies," which caused Kate to actually read it. She had enjoyed Watership Down and had kept it to read in times when she felt down. She smiled as she remembered this but the smiled quickly disappeared as she looked down at the last remaining item in the box. It was the small toy plane Tom had given her when they were in kindergarten. Looking at it, Kate expected to be swept up in the emotions of love, excitement, and compassion and usually surrounded her when she thought about Tom, but she wasn't. Telling herself she was just tired, she quickly repacked the box and put it up again. She glanced at the clock. 10:00 pm. With nothing else to do, she changed into her pajamas, shut off the light, and climbed into bed. As she drifted off to sleep, she was, as usual, thinking about a guy, but tonight the guy she would talk to in her dreams was different than so many nights before.
