Chapter three: Abuse
Patricia's P.O.V:
"How was your summer?" Eddie asked me, standing with a cheeky grin on his face. I froze at the words summer.
"Uh, it was great...I went to France and stuff..." I mumbled, racking my brain suddenly remembering what I had said to Joy. "Uh...how was your summer?"
"Good, I went to the beach and stuff..." Eddie murmured.
"Joy said she saw you with some friends! She told me their names but I forgot them..." I said, trailing off at the end, and wishing I could take back what I said.
"Oh...right, Joy...well, I hadn't realised she was going to be there...so..."
"Yeah, she...kinda goes there every year..." I said, sensing the tension in the room. Breaking the silence, I decided to ask him about Sweetie. "So...did you visit...your dad over the holidays?"
There was a long pause.
"Yeah, he caught a flight to America one week...Patricia; you didn't answer your calls all summer. One night I rang and rang, but no –one picked up..." He said, taking a step towards me.
I remembered that night.
Flashback-
The phone had been ringing for ages, almost like half an hour and Dad was getting really frustrated, as he was trying to work.
Unlike me, he was getting angry and I was too upset to speak. I kept convincing myself that I still had a family.
"I do, I do...just one that a little, different!" I whispered, hugging my knees to my chest and watching the dark room go blurry. "No, who I am kidding? I don't have a family...I have a crazy dad!" I shouted it so loud; my dad came bounding in to my room and...well, you can guess what happened next.
The nurse got my excuse about a split lip, or broken nose.
He never meant it, it was just the drink.
"Patricia? Earth to Yacker?"
I was snapped back into the reality by Eddie's constant calling.
"What?" I shouted. "Why should it be any of your business whether I picked up the phone or not?"
"Because I was worried about you!" He shouted, then sighed and sat on my bed. "What if something had happened? What if you got hurt?" His voice softened.
"Whatever, I'm leaving..." I muttered, opening the door and slamming it shut behind me. I went downstairs, where everyone was waiting to eat.
"Patricia dearie, come on it's time for lu-"
"Sorry Trudy, but I'm not hungry!" I said quickly, before heading out of the door.
The truth was, summer had been a horror story for me and I didn't want to admit that in case they called the police. The thing I was most worried about was my nightmares.
Ever since Dad had started abusing me, the Rufus nightmares had come back, but even worse.