Holtzmann still hadn't managed to fix the plumbing- she couldn't get her head round it. Fixing a proton pack? No problem! But household plumbing? Apparently not. It got to two in the morning and she decided to throw the towel in for another night. Pete had been laying on the couch listening to her banging away. There was no point in trying to go to sleep until she did. He had tried to give her a hand- as always she batted him away. She had always wanted to be independent. At around eleven the phone had rang. Holtz answered it and shut the bathroom door.
"Erin? Look ill just talk to you tomorrow. If you buy my cheese steak ill fill you in a little more." Pete had put his ear up against the door. He waited for her to finish rattling around in the bathroom.
"No luck?" Pete asked. Holtz shook her head and was about to head to bed.
"I'll come with you tomorrow- when you tell Erin." Holtz`s eyes flicked up and locked with his. She bit her lip and nodded. Holtz fell asleep against Pete, he carried her though to her room. He set her down on the bed and brushed her blonde curls from her eyes. For a second she was nine again, he was protecting her.
They went early to the fire house, Erin was already there. She looked as if she hadn't slept. Her hair was tied up and she was hunched over in her MIT hoodie. They walked down the street to Holtz`s favourite diner. Erin paid for the food.
"You sure about this Holtz?" she asked squeezing her hand. Holtz nodded. Erin was sitting across from her and Pete, she sucked in a breath.
"So you went to live with the James`?" Holtz winced. Pete cut in.
"They were nice at first, I was fifteen when we went to live with them. They had a son of their own who was around the same age. He made the transition back into school a lot easier. Holtz seemed okay at first too, I took her to school thinking she wouldn't go in, but she saw the science block and that was it- she disappeared. So the first couple of months were okay- we seemed to be almost getting back to normal."
"And then?" Erin pushed. She immediately regretted it, she felt like she was being too forward. This should be done at their own pace.
"Then there was one night. Pete was out with Mark. It was just me, Mr Jones and Mrs Jones. I was working on something for physics class. It kind of backfired and I broke a window. I don't know what happened. I could hear shouting from downstairs. Then Mr Jones came up the stairs- it felt like the whole house shook. I remember the door opening and then I was pinned up against the wall. My feet dangled off the ground. He was shouting in my face. He...hit me." Holtz stopped. Pete put an arm around her and took over.
"I didn't know- she was too scared to tell me. Mrs Jones covered her in makeup- I couldn't see the bruises."
"So how did you find out?" Erin directed it at Pete but it was Holtz you began to answer.
"He walked in on it one day. After the first incident he would...well...whenever I did something wrong. Then he stopped needing a reason. It got worse each time, broken ribs- cuts. Always places easy to hide. But this one time Pete was supposed to be out with his girlfriend, he was supposed to be out all night. I can't remem...why did you come back?"
"I broke up with her." Holtz bit back a laugh and smirked.
"Ah yeah...shoot sorry."
"I came in, the house was quiet. I walked past their bedroom to get to mine- I could hear Mrs James snoring. Then I heard Holtz crying. It was muffled at first- I thought I was imagining it. Then I heard Mr James telling her to shut up. I barged into Mark`s room and woke him up. We then forced our way into my room. Holtz was on her bed- he was on top of her. I saw red and I punched him- I don't know how many times."
Holtz sat up and watched as her big brother barrelled into her attacker. She was still crying. She put her small hands on his back and screamed his name. Pete stopped, he spun around and hauled Holtz up into his arms. He ran downstairs, holding her close to his chest. He grabbed the car keys and ran out into the garage. He carefully slid Holtz into the back seat and drove.
"I drove throughout the night- I just had to get her out of there. I was seventeen turning eighteen in a couple of days."
"Yeah we stayed in motels and ate cheap pizza. It was great." Holtz piped up.
"The day I turned eighteen my money came in and I got us a flat."
Holtz smiled.
"Then it was okay." She grinned.
