CHAPTER 2
I woke up the next morning to my alarm going off. I reached over and shut it off. I didn't get much sleep that night because my cheek was sore from my dad. I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. I looked into the mirror and noticed the light purple bruise on my cheek. I pulled my hand up to my cheek and touched the bruise slightly. I winced slightly. I went over to the shower and turned the water on. I stripped down and got into the shower. I washed my hair and body and then got out of the shower. I dried off and then got dressed. I put some makeup on my face to cover up the bruise. I looked over at the clock and noticed that I had ten minutes before I had to leave.
"Shit," I said as I quickly blowdried my hair.
I finished getting ready and ran out the door. I ran out to my dad's car and got in.
"You're late," my dad said as I got into the car.
"Sorry," I said as I put my head down.
"Better not do it again. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
My dad drove down the street and pulled into the parking lot. He put the car in park.
"Remember what we talked about yesterday? No friends. Got it?"
I nodded my head as I opened the door. I felt my dad grab onto my arm.
"I mean it," my dad said with a mean look on his face.
I got out of the car and walked towards the school with my head down. I walked into the front doors and down the hallway to my locker. I opened up my locker.
"Hey," I heard Jack say.
I looked over at him.
"Hi, Jack," I said as I put my books in my locker.
"Didn't think you were coming back," Jack said as he leaned against the locker next to mine.
"I was running late," I said as I avoided looking at him.
"Well, you definitely don't want to be late for English because she'll embarrass you in front of the whole class," Jack said with a smirk.
I got my English book out and closed my locker. Jack and I walked to English. I didn't want to upset my dad, so I didn't really say anything to Jack. We walked into the room just as the bell rang. We sat down in our seats. I could tell that Jack kept glancing over at me, but I just tried to remember what my dad said about not making friends. The bell rang and we got up and left the room. We went our separate ways. Lunch came and I sat at another table, by myself. Jack came over and sat down.
"Hey. You can sit with us," Jack said as he looked over at me.
"I'd love to, but that's alright," I said as I moved the food around on my plate.
"You alright?" Jack asked as he watched me move my food around.
"I'm okay," I said as I continued to move the food around.
"I know that the food here isn't that great, but you don't need to kill it," Jack said with a smirk.
I smiled a little and looked over at Jack.
"There's that smile. You sure you don't want to sit with us?" Jack asked as he looked at me.
I sat there and thought about what my dad had said. How would he find out if I did sit with Jack and talk to him and his friends? I looked over at Jack.
"I'll sit with you," I said as I stood up.
Jack and I walked over to his table and sat down.
"Where were you?" Aaron asked as he took a bite of his burger.
"She probably got a smell of you and took off. I don't blame her," David said as he sat there.
"Man, shut up," Aaron said as he threw a fry.
"What are you doing tonight?" Jack asked as he looked at me.
"Probably homework. You guys have a ton of homework everyday at this school," I said as I looked at the guys.
"You actually do your homework?" Aaron asked as he looked dumbfounded.
"My dad kinda makes me," I said as I looked over at Jack.
"Well, how about I give you my number and you give me a call if you can come out," Jack said as he grabbed my hand and wrote his number down on the palm of my hand.
"Oooooo. Jackie wants her," David whispered to Aaron.
"Here," I said as I grabbed Jack's hand and wrote my number down on his palm.
The rest of the school day went fast. I was walking out of the school when I saw Jack standing outside with his friends. He walked over to me as I continued to walk out of the school.
"Hey. You need a ride?" Jack asked as he came over to me.
"No, my dad is-,"
"LACY! GET YOUR ASS IN THIS CAR RIGHT NOW!" my dad yelled as he stood by the car.
"I gotta go," I said as I quickly walked to the car.
I got in the car and my dad sped off. Jack walked over to Bobby's car as he watched my dad leave the parking lot.
"What's up with him?" Bobby asked as Jack got in.
"I don't know. Must have been in a hurry," Jack said as Bobby pulled away.
My dad pulled into the driveway and we went into the house. I was walking in front of him when I felt him grab my hair from behind and pushed me to the floor.
"What the fuck were you doing! I asked you not to interfere with anyone and what did you do! You don't listen!" my dad yelled as he kicked my side. "You better start to fucking listen or there will be punishment! Do you hear me!"
"Yes, sir," I said as I moaned.
I got up off the floor and went to my bedroom. I sat down on my bed as tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn't take this life anymore. I layed down on my bed and dozed off. I woke up a couple hours later and looked over at the clock. It was 6:30PM and I knew that my dad wasn't home. I looked out the window just to make sure that he was gone. I looked down at my palm and smiled at Jack's number. I went over to the phone and dialed the number.
"Yo," I heard a guy's voice say.
"Hi. Is Jack there?" I asked as I sat down on the floor.
"Hold on. Jackie!" I heard the guy yell into the phone.
"I got it!" I heard Jack yell. "Hello?"
"Hi, Jack. It's Lacy," I said as I smiled.
"Hey. I didn't know whether you were going to call or not. How are you?"
"I'm okay. Just woke up actually."
"Well, did you eat yet?"
"No."
"Well, I was wondering if you would like to go and get some burgers or something?"
"Sure. I'd love to," I said as I looked over at the clock. "As long as I'm back by nine."
"Alright. Well, give me your address and I'll come and pick you up," Jack said as he grabbed a pencil and paper.
"It's 384 Washington Street."
"Okay. I'll be
there in a little bit."
"Alright. See you then," I said with a smirk on my face, before I hung up the phone.
I went over to my closet and changed into a pair of jeans and plush foldover sweater. I touched up my makeup and brushed my teeth. I heard a car horn beeping and I walked out to the front door. I opened the door and Jack was standing there.
"Wow. You look amazing," Jack said as he looked at me.
"Thanks," I said as I walked out and closed the door behind me.
We walked out to the car. Jack opened my door for me and I got into the car. He walked over to the driver's side and got in.
"This is my brother's car. You'll meet him someday. But, if I mess up anything with this car, he'll have my head. So, I have to be careful," Jack said as he backed out of my driveway.
We talked a little on the way to the diner. I learned a little bit more about him. He pulled into the parking lot and Jack opened my door. I stepped out of the car and we walked inside. We sat down in a booth and we were handed menus.
"Hi. My name is Denise and I will be your waiter tonight. Can I start you guys off with something to drink?" the waitress said as she stood there.
"We'll have chocolate milkshakes," Jack said as he looked at the waitress.
"Okay. I'll be right back with those. Go ahead and take a look at the menu," Denise said before she walked away.
"Trust me. They serve the best milkshakes here that you will ever have," Jack said as he sat the menu down on the table.
"So, do you know what's good here?" I asked as I looked at the menu.
"I order the same thing every time I come here. They're cheeseburgers are killer. They actually stuff the inside of the burger with cheese. It's called an Inside-Out Cheeseburger. It's the best," Jack said as he smiled at me.
"That sounds good," I said as the waitress walked over to the table and set the shakes down on the table.
"There you go. Are you two ready to place your order?"
"Yes, we're going to have the Inside-Out Cheeseburgers and we'll have a large order of fries with that," Jack said as he took my menu and handed Denise the menus.
"Okay. I'll be right back when it's done," Denise said as she took the menus and left the table.
"So, I have to ask you. I don't mean to be nosey or anything, but I noticed that your dad seemed kinda mad today. Was he late for a meeting or something?" Jack asked as I took a sip of my shake.
"Something like that," I said as I looked at Jack.
Jack noticed that I seemed upset when he asked me that. My eyes welded with tears. He didn't want to push anything, but he had a feeling that something was going on behind closed doors and he wanted to find out what that was.
"You can tell me anything," Jack said before he took a sip of his shake.
I looked over at Jack. He could tell that something was wrong.
"Listen, I've been in a bad situation before. If there's something that you need help with, let me know," Jack said as the waitress brought the food to our table.
"Thanks," I said as she set the food down on the table.
"Need anything else?" Denise asked as she looked at us.
"No. We're good," Jack said as he looked at her.
I sat there and grabbed a fry. I took a bite of it and looked over at Jack. We continued to eat, talking every once in awhile. I wanted to just burst out and tell Jack everything that had been going on. We walked out to Bobby's car and got in. Jack started to drive.
"If I tell you something, will you keep it a secret?" I asked as I looked over at Jack.
"Sure," Jack said as he glanced at me and then at the road.
"My dad gets angry very fast. Today wasn't the first time that he has yelled at me in public. He has a bad temper and when he's mad, you'll know it," I said as I looked out the window. "He's always yelling at me, telling me that everything I do is wrong. I can never do anything right," I said as tears welded in my eyes.
Jack looked over at me and I felt him rest his hand on my leg.
"I don't know what to do. I've tried to do everything right and nothing works with him," I said as a tear rolled down my cheek. "I got yelled at yesterday because I was trying to make friends," I said as I shook my head.
"So, is that why you didn't talk to me much today?" Jack asked as he continued to drive.
"Yeah," I said as I nodded my head.
"Lacy, you can tell me anything okay? If you need someone, just come to me. I've been through a rough past and I know what you are going through. So, if there's anything that you need to tell me, don't be afraid," Jack said as he held onto my hand.
"I just get so scared because I'm afraid that one of these days he's going to lose it and I'm really going to be in trouble with him. He's been bad all my life. Even when my mother was alive, he was still angry all the time," I said as I looked out the window.
"Has he ever, ya know," Jack said as he looked over at me.
I nodded my head as I looked down at my lap. I felt Jack squeeze my hand as he continued to drive.
"Shit," I whispered as Jack pulled into my driveway.
"What?" Jack asked as he looked over at me.
"My dad. He's home. He usually doesn't get home until later," I said as I panicked. "I'll see you tomorrow at school," I said as I got out of the car.
"I'll walk you," Jack said as he got out of the car.
The front door opened and my dad was standing there.
"Where the fuck were you!" my dad yelled as I approached the front door.
"I was out with a friend," I said as I looked over at Jack.
"Hi, I'm Jack," Jack said as he held out his hand.
"I don't give a fuck who you are. Lacy, get in the house, right now!" my dad yelled as he pushed me into the house.
"Look, she just needed to go out and-,"
"She doesn't need friends," my dad said before he slammed the door shut in Jack's face.
Jack walked to the car and got in. He backed out of the driveway and drove to his house. The whole way home, he was worried what was happening at my house.
I was in my room when my dad barged in.
"Who the fuck do you think you are? Going out and doing whatever you fucking want to," my dad said as he came over to me.
"Dad, you're drunk. Just go to bed," I said as I backed into a wall.
"I'm not fucking drunk!" my dad yelled as he backhanded me across the face.
I fell to the floor.
"You're fucking pathetic! Just like your mother!" my dad yelled as he kicked me a couple of times. "You are never going to amount to nothing!" my dad yelled as he picked up the picture frame with a picture of my mother and slammed it to the floor.
Glass went everywhere. I looked over and tears started to roll down my cheeks. I stood up.
"How could you! That's the only picture I have of her!" I yelled as I looked into his face.
Bad move on my part. My dad brought his hand up and grabbed me by the throat. He pushed me up against the wall and held me there.
"You better wise up! I'm sick of your attitude!" my dad yelled before he slapped me again.
He let go of my throat and I fell to the floor, gasping for air. He laughed as he walked out of the room. I started to sob as I curled up in a ball on the floor. I couldn't believe that I was going through this. I just wanted to end my life so bad right then and there, but I needed to be strong for my mother, but how much more of this could I take?
Thanks to everyone that has read this story so far. I'm going to try to update this story as much as I can.