was horrific. Not only the pain of what he was doing to me back there, but I was forced to watch in the cracked mirror that hung over my chest of drawers.
I saw my left eye growing black from where he’d punched me. My right cheek had his handprint welted on it from the backhand. I saw his hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing until I could barely breathe. And I saw his face as he raped me. He was enjoying himself. But then again, he always did.
And then I saw something that froze my soul. Tears were making their way down my cheeks, dripping onto his arm.
I’d fought so hard for so long to keep him from seeing me cry. And now it was over. I couldn’t hide it. I couldn’t stop it. I was crying openly, though it was very difficult with the little oxygen I had. I had no brave front now. I had nothing to hide behind, no false bravado. He knew. He knew he hurt me and how bad he hurt me.
But I hadn’t called him daddy.
He met my eyes in the mirror, saw the tears, smiled and went at me harder.
Chapter 7
As I walked to school Wednesday morning, I struggled to think up a lie to explain my black eye. I didn’t want to say I fell down. It was lame and everyone would know it was a lie. Besides, I’d used that one before.
I wanted to tell the truth, but I didn’t want to put my mom through that. She’d be sad and hurt. I’d seen her suffer after losing my dad, and it’s something I didn’t ever want to see her go through again. If she found out what Travis was doing to me, it would crush her.
I hung the stained but less smelly backpack in my locker and headed to Algebra. It wasn’t until I was seated that I realized I’d forgotten to bring my book to class. I didn’t care. It’s not like I was going to learn anything from it anyway. I had remembered to bring my notebook, though. So I spent the hour doodling.
Feeling Carly’s eyes on me in class, I didn’t look at her. I wanted to. But I was afraid she’d see my shame. A lot of people said that the eyes are the window to the soul. Other people said you could have things written all over your face. If either of those things were true, one look at me would tell Carly everything I didn’t want her to know about me. So I kept my eyes on my notebook.
When the bell rang, she followed me out of the class and to my locker, asking me questions. Questions I wanted to answer truthfully, but couldn’t.
“Brian, what happened to your eye?”
“I was playing baseball and took one to the eye. I’m not a very good catcher.”
“It’s pretty bad.” She continued walking with me, but was silent for a minute. “Why didn’t you call me last night?”
“Call you?”
“Yeah. You were supposed to call so I could help you with your homework.”
“Oh yeah. I got busy. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. It happens. You can call anytime. I’ll always be there to help you with your homework.”
We were at my locker now. She turned to me and leaned in a little bit and said, “I’ll be there to help you with anything, Brian.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“If you want to talk or anything, just call me. Okay?”
I nodded. She walked away, and I got the feeling that she had an idea of what I was going through. I’m sure she didn’t know the half of it, but she knew something was going on with me. Maybe I should call her. Maybe talking about it would help. But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to put so much on her. She was just thirteen too. What did I expect her to do? She couldn’t stop any of it anymore than I could.
In English Lit, I wasn’t surprised at all to realize I’d not only failed to read the story, but I hadn’t written the summary. Another F. Oh well.
Maybe I could focus more on my homework if I wasn’t always trying to fight off my mother’s husband.
I should’ve made the time to do it, though. Carly was trying to help me. I should be trying to help myself as well. But after Travis had used me, I’d spent the rest of the
I saw my left eye growing black from where he’d punched me. My right cheek had his handprint welted on it from the backhand. I saw his hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing until I could barely breathe. And I saw his face as he raped me. He was enjoying himself. But then again, he always did.
And then I saw something that froze my soul. Tears were making their way down my cheeks, dripping onto his arm.
I’d fought so hard for so long to keep him from seeing me cry. And now it was over. I couldn’t hide it. I couldn’t stop it. I was crying openly, though it was very difficult with the little oxygen I had. I had no brave front now. I had nothing to hide behind, no false bravado. He knew. He knew he hurt me and how bad he hurt me.
But I hadn’t called him daddy.
He met my eyes in the mirror, saw the tears, smiled and went at me harder.
Chapter 7
As I walked to school Wednesday morning, I struggled to think up a lie to explain my black eye. I didn’t want to say I fell down. It was lame and everyone would know it was a lie. Besides, I’d used that one before.
I wanted to tell the truth, but I didn’t want to put my mom through that. She’d be sad and hurt. I’d seen her suffer after losing my dad, and it’s something I didn’t ever want to see her go through again. If she found out what Travis was doing to me, it would crush her.
I hung the stained but less smelly backpack in my locker and headed to Algebra. It wasn’t until I was seated that I realized I’d forgotten to bring my book to class. I didn’t care. It’s not like I was going to learn anything from it anyway. I had remembered to bring my notebook, though. So I spent the hour doodling.
Feeling Carly’s eyes on me in class, I didn’t look at her. I wanted to. But I was afraid she’d see my shame. A lot of people said that the eyes are the window to the soul. Other people said you could have things written all over your face. If either of those things were true, one look at me would tell Carly everything I didn’t want her to know about me. So I kept my eyes on my notebook.
When the bell rang, she followed me out of the class and to my locker, asking me questions. Questions I wanted to answer truthfully, but couldn’t.
“Brian, what happened to your eye?”
“I was playing baseball and took one to the eye. I’m not a very good catcher.”
“It’s pretty bad.” She continued walking with me, but was silent for a minute. “Why didn’t you call me last night?”
“Call you?”
“Yeah. You were supposed to call so I could help you with your homework.”
“Oh yeah. I got busy. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. It happens. You can call anytime. I’ll always be there to help you with your homework.”
We were at my locker now. She turned to me and leaned in a little bit and said, “I’ll be there to help you with anything, Brian.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“If you want to talk or anything, just call me. Okay?”
I nodded. She walked away, and I got the feeling that she had an idea of what I was going through. I’m sure she didn’t know the half of it, but she knew something was going on with me. Maybe I should call her. Maybe talking about it would help. But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to put so much on her. She was just thirteen too. What did I expect her to do? She couldn’t stop any of it anymore than I could.
In English Lit, I wasn’t surprised at all to realize I’d not only failed to read the story, but I hadn’t written the summary. Another F. Oh well.
Maybe I could focus more on my homework if I wasn’t always trying to fight off my mother’s husband.
I should’ve made the time to do it, though. Carly was trying to help me. I should be trying to help myself as well. But after Travis had used me, I’d spent the rest of the
Similar Books
BANKS Maya - Undenied (Samhain).txt
Undenied (Samhain).txt
Winning the Legend
B. Kristin McMichael
Pray for Dawn
Jocelynn Drake
Midnight Sons Volume 1
Debbie Macomber
Return to Winter: Russia, China, and the New Cold War Against America
Douglas E. Schoen, Melik Kaylan
Having Nathan's Baby
Fran Louise
The Romance of Lust Vol.2
Anonymous
Ransom
Julie Garwood