*Major domes violence trigger warning in this one, folks. Proceed with caution.*
"My father- James Reynolds- was never a good person." Susan sighed. "I was afraid of him for as long as I could remember. I guess you need to know a little backstory first. My mum started dating him when she was 15 and he was 16. I was born the summer before her senior year. My grandparents kicked her out so she was forced to move in with Dad in a dingy, one-bedroom apartment. We lived there up until two years ago."
"Wait," Frances cut in. "If your old apartment only had one bedroom, and I assume your parents took that one, where did you sleep?"
Susan faltered for just a second. "On the living room sofa, usually. He wouldn't come home some nights so I got to share the bed with Mum."
Frances nodded. "Sorry for interrupting. Continue."
"Okay, so, I went to school back in my home state. I never had any friends because I was the weird girl in oversized clothing who wasn't allowed to have anyone over. Two years ago we moved to Albany, across the road from Theo. I finally got my own bedroom, a little safe space where I could hide from him. That's when my mum got a job at the school.
One day, I was at the local second-hand store and I found a DVD of my Mum's favourite movie. Since then, whenever Dad was off drunk in some pub, we would have a movie night. But that's not important. It's time to stop beating around the bush."
Theo, who knew the story well, held Susan closer. "I'm right here to fill anything in if you need me to." She whispered.
Susan's eyes trailed over all her friends. Fanny looked on the verge of tears already, nestled in Angie's arms. Marie was already in Frances' lap, somber looks on both their faces. Georges sat farthest away on the very edge of the bed, staring at the floor. Even though Susan's story made him extremely angry at James Reynolds, he forced his fists to unclench and his shoulders to relax. He didn't want to intimidate her.
Bracing herself, sucked in a breath and began retelling the events of the day her life changed. "It happened back in early June, the day the Reynolds Pamphlet blog was published..."
Through the thin walls of the apartment, Susan could hear her mother pacing. Even sitting on her own bed, she could hear frantic footsteps and sharp, rapid, panicked breaths coming from the living room. Her mother has been beside herself all day, though it was understandable. Her whole reputation was in shambles.
"There's no way Principal Washington will let me keep the job." Maria cried that morning. "Alexander, he… he wasn't supposed to tell anyone! It was a one-time thing!"
Susan wasn't allowed to read the blog, but she got the gist of it. Her mother had an affair with Alexander Hamilton, the local high school's English teacher. The father of her best friend's boyfriend. She was disgusted, but not because of her mother's actions. She was disgusted that Alexander Hamilton dared to do that to her mother. Her mother was barely 31, Hamilton was well into his mid-forties. Not only that, but he's also been married for twenty years and has seven children. To think that he would dare lay his hands on another woman was repulsing.
She hugged her mother close, whispering reassurances that she didn't hate her. They only had each other in the entire world, and she would rather die than let a stupid drunken mistake drive them apart.
Now, she was sitting on her bed, filling out the third page of that day's diary entry. She worked hard to push the anxiety out of her head. Thoughts of what will happen if- no, when- her father finds out flooded her mind. This wasn't going to end well for either her or her mother.
Her heart rapidly sank as she heard the front door slam. Her worst fear had come true. Tossing the red leather-bound diary onto her desk, she flew across the room and clambered into the closet, behind the storage boxes. She pressed into the back of the closet, hugging her knees and trying to quiet the sound of her breathing.
Angry yelling came from the other side of the house, followed by the sound of a slap ringing through the hallway. One of the boxes nearly fell as Susan flinched. Pounding footsteps approached her door, making Susan press a hand to her mouth to muffle any sound.
The door rattled against the wall as her father barged into the room, her mother following suit. Susan watched through the tiny crack in the closet, fighting the urge gasp in fear.
"Where's the girl?!" Her father yelled.
"At- at Aaron Burr's house, across the road. She's fr- friends with his daughter." Maria stuttered, bracing herself for another slap.
"What, did you sleep with him too?" A second red handprint burned against Maria's left cheek.
Maria choked back a sob. "I didn't, I swear!"
James leaned in close and stared right into her eyes. "You're lying to me!" Maria was about to protest but was silenced by another slap. "I know you didn't sleep with him. No sane man would even think of touching you. You're lying about the girl. She's here, isn't she?"
"N-no…"
"Oh, Maria," A cold-hearted chuckle escaped his lips. "You were always so bad at lying."
Susan's breath hitched in her throat as the closet door flew open. The boxes were shoved aside and her father's rough hand pulled her out onto the floor by the arm.
"I knew you were lying." James grabbed a handful of Susan's brown locks, lifting her up just enough so she could meet her mother's eyes. Maria's heart shattered as she heard the pained whimpers coming from her daughter. "You two should have learned by now that you should never lie to me."
The young girl was tossed aside like a rag doll. She slowly backed away as the man who was supposed to be her father rounded on her. She held back tears, knowing crying would just make it worse. James Reynolds didn't tolerate crying.
The task became more difficult as her back hit the wall. A near sadistic smile crossed James's face as he neared his daughter. Susan shut her eyes and braced herself for the impact, which never came.
Maria rushed forward, grabbing her husband by the sleeve. "Please, James, don't hurt her. She didn't do anything. Let her go. Please."
He seemed to consider the desperate plea for a moment, before stepping aside, giving Susan a clear pathway to the door. "Fine. But you, Maria, aren't going anywhere."
"Thank you, sir," Maria whispered. "Susan, darling, you should go."
"Listen to your whore of a mother, Susie." James laughed. "Go!"
Susan carefully stood up on shaky legs, her entire body hurting from being thrown onto the floor. She hurried past James, pleading with every deity she knew that he wouldn't change his mind. He shoved her forward, making her nearly lose her balance. As she neared the door, her mother placed a hand on her shoulder.
Go to Mr. Burr's house. Maria signed hastily. You'll be safe there.
Susan wanted to argue but stopped when James practically exploded with anger again.
"What did you say to her?!"
"Go, Susan, please!" Seeing tears pool in her mother's eyes, Susan finally complied. Part of her wanted to stay, to save her mother from that monster, but she knew it wasn't possible. He was bigger and stronger than both of them combined. They could never win against him. It was useless to try.
So she ran. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, without looking back. She stopped only once, at the front door, freezing at the sound of her mother's blood-curdling scream. Her flight instinct kicked in and she ran with double the speed, pretending to not hear the torture going on in her room.
The rest of the day was a blur. Running across the road, pounding on her best friend's door, sobbing into Aaron Burr's shirt, falling asleep on the sofa in Theodosia's arms, and waking up hours later to her mother's smiling but bruised face.
Maria wouldn't tell her exactly what happened after Susan's escape, only that two hours later James got into his car and drove off without as much as a word.
They stayed with the Burrs for a month until it was finally deemed by Maria and Mr. Burr that it was safe enough to return. James coming back was highly unlikely, seeing as he took all of his belongings when he left. It took Susan until early August to enter her room again. She couldn't bear being in the same room where her mother was beaten to a bloody pulp.
But the bloodstains were eventually scrubbed out of the floor. The old wallpaper was peeled off and renewed. Every trace of James was either thrown out or burned in a bonfire in the Burrs' backyard. Life returned to the semi-normal state it once was.
"And, yeah. That's it." Susan didn't even notice that she was crying. Though, honestly, so was everyone else in the room. Silence fell as her friends processed the story.
"Susan, that's…" Fanny was at a loss for words. "Awful. So, so awful."
"If I ever see that man he better start praying for mercy." Frances cracked her knuckles before seeing Susan's terrified expression. "Right, sorry."
"It's okay." The Reynolds girl fiddled with the hem of her red nightgown. "Oh, and one more thing?"
Marie looked up with concern. "Please don't tell me there's more to the story."
"No, I just want to say that if I ever reject a hug it's not because I'm mad at you. It's because I'm sometimes scared of human touch and affection." She looked directly at Georges. "I'm sorry. I know you're a good guy and you would never do anything to hurt me, but it's gonna take a while until I'll feel safe hugging you."
"Take all the time you need, Susan. I'll respect your boundaries until you're ready. No rush." Georges sighed. His hatred for James Reynolds just doubled, if not tripled. How could a man do that to his own wife and daughter?
Georges was the oldest of his friends, not counting his and Marie's older sister, Anastasie. That meant he felt responsible for taking care of them. It didn't matter if he was there for them since the very beginning, like with Marie, or just met them two weeks ago, like with Susan. He would always try to protect them. All of them.
His big brother instincts went into overdrive the second he laid eyes on Susan. She was a tiny, malnourished, anxiety-ridden girl in slightly oversized clothing and a permanently frightened expression on her face. He only heard about her through Theo's stories before. When they met, he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her. He was a big brother to all his friends, and he was willing to wait until Susan felt safe enough to become a part of the family.
"Susan? Do you mind if I send a quick summary of this to Philip?" Angie asked awkwardly.
She nodded in response. "Philip's my friend too. He deserves to know."
Marie decided to lighten up the mood. "This might be the wrong time to ask, but how about we distract ourselves from Susan's… story, and do each other's make up?"
"That sounds nice." Susan relaxed and decided to enjoy herself for the rest of the night. The sleepover took a severe downturn already and it was only fair to let the hostess decide how to cheer everyone up.
Besides, she's never had her make up done before.