Erin looked at herself in the mirror. Her makeup was smudged and a bruise was starting to appear where her boyfriend had hit her.
She sighed to herself while silently wishing that someone would take her away from him. This wasn't the life she thought she would have. She always thought she would have something better.
"Erin get your ass out here now!" She trembled slightly as she heard her boyfriend calling her. She didn't know what he wanted now but leaving the bathroom was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Erin!" She jumped as she heard him right outside the door, banging on it, trying to get it to open up.
"Go away Derek!" Erin screamed as she sat against the far wall, cowering with a razor blade in her hand.
"Erin get your ass out here now!" Derek screamed as he continued to bang on the door.
"If you don't I'll kill him!" He screamed again and Erin cried as she thought about her little brother out there.
"Fine I'm coming out, but don't you dare touch him!" Erin called as she stood up slowly and made her way over towards the door.
She was met with a pair of rough hands dragging her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. She saw her brother cowering in a corner, crying.
"It's okay Zack. You can go." Erin mouthed to her brother as she was pushed down onto the bed. She felt Derek pulling her panties down and she let the tears fall down her face. This wasn't what she wanted. This wasn't the life she wanted for herself or for her brother.
"How was the party?" Jeff asked his brother the next morning as he stood by the stove flipping pancakes.
"It was okay I guess. Shannon and his girlfriend fought the whole time. And then some asshole showed up." Matt said as he eyed the pancake that was placed in front of him.
"What do you mean some asshole showed up?" Jeff asked, intrigued now as to what his brother was talking about.
"Well he just showed up, but the girl he brought with him looked like shit. She had a little boy with her, but her face was bruised and bloody. I mean it looked as if this dude beat her. But he was buddies with everyone there, and I just don't understand why no one said anything to him about doing that to her." Matt said, taking a bite out of the pancake.
"Okay so what did you do?" Jeff asked his brother as he began to flip another pancake.
"I walked up to her and offered her a job that would get her and the little boy away from that jerk." Matt said as he motioned for his brother to put another pancake on his plate.
"What kind of job?" Jeff asked as he eyed his brother.
"She's going to be our housekeeper when both of us are gone. Clean the house, make sure the cars stay in good shape, and take care of the animals. I'm letting her live here and I'm also going to pay her every week." Matt said and watched as his brother raised his eyebrows.
"Why are you going to pay her if she's going to be living here?" Jeff asked and watched as his brother devoured yet another pancake before answering.
"Because she has that kid with her. I can expect her not to be able to buy him things. Plus what if she wants to buy something for herself every once in awhile? Its hard to do that without any money." Matt said as he poured himself a cup of coffee and took a few sips.
"Okay I guess you have a point. So when is she coming?" Jeff asked as he fixed himself a plate and sat down across from his brother.
"This afternoon. So we have to get two of the guest rooms ready. Her name is Erin by the way and the boy's name is Zack." Matt added in as he took another sip of his coffee all the while waiting for his brother to say something.
"Cool. So have fun cleaning." Jeff said as he stood up with his plate and walked to the deck outside.
"Oh no Jeff. You are going to help me get these rooms together or else they are going to stay in yours and you can sleep on the couch." Matt said as he followed his brother with his cup of coffee in hand.
"I don't want to Matt. I just want to lounge around or maybe ride today. I don't want to have to set up a room for some strange woman to stay in." Jeff whined as his brother smacked the back of his head.
"Jeff stop. Ever since you and Beth broke up, you don't want to do a damn thing. All you do is lay around and whine. You mope and you never actually have a real smile on your face. I'm sick of your broken hearted bullshit. The least you can do is help me by getting one room together. I'm not asking you to be best friends with her or the kid. Just for a little help." Matt said and watched as he brother looked at him in shock.
"Fine." Jeff mumbled as he finished eating his breakfast.
"Thank you." Matt said as a smirk crossed his face. He was happy that his brother had seen things his way.
"Whatever." Jeff said as he turned to go back into the house. Matt stayed on the deck, keeping his gaze out towards the woods.
He couldn't help but think that Jeff was afraid of moving on. That he didn't want to believe that there could be another person out there for him.
Matt sighed to himself as he turned and looked through the kitchen window to see Jeff washing the dishes. He prayed silently that Jeff would find someone new.
