My heart took off in a stampede against my ribs. I glared and gripped my backpack tighter to my chest. My most important possessions were inside, and I couldn’t let these pricks get ahold of them. I needed every single thing inside to survive. “Fuck off.”
I shoved to my feet, staggering as fast as I could down the street while trying not to slide on the icy sidewalk. Footsteps stomped behind me, the sound an ominous ringing in my ears, and the idiot shoved my back, making me stumble again.
“What are you doing around here?” The college jerk sneered at me when I spun on him.
I considered clobbering him with my bag, but that would put my few, important belongings in his vicinity and I couldn’t risk it.
“It’s a free country. I can go wherever I want,” I growled. I didn’t have the strength to fight him. My stomach ached with hunger, and my muscles stung with pain. The cold bit my skin. I needed to find somewhere warm to sleep for the night. At this point, I’d take anything. Exhaustion burned in my eyes and tears stung the corners before I blinked them away. These bastards didn’t deserve to see me cry.
He laughed and glanced at his friends. “You hear this hobo?”
Idiot One and Two cackled along with him.
I shook my head and took a step back. “Whatever.” I turned on my heel, but instead of heading down the street, I stumbled into someone’s driveway. It was dark inside the house, so I didn’t think anyone was home, but I didn’t care either way. I needed to get away from these fools.
I followed the plowed driveway before shuffling alongside the house to get into the backyard. The area was surrounded by a tall wooden fence, which was too high for the neighbors to see over or for me to escape. The porch light was on, gleaming across the snow that covered the yard. My stalkers wouldn’t followme onto private property, right? I sighed when heavy footsteps echoed and grew louder as they got closer. Of course they’d come onto private property. They were nothing but privileged morons.
Someone shoved me hard from behind again. I tripped, falling onto my hands and knees into the freshly fallen snow. My bag went flying. I grunted, landing hard on the ground, and pain exploded in my palms. The scrapes on my hands from my last tumble on the street stung violently.
“What the fuck?” I muttered.
Someone grabbed my hair, and I cried out as he tugged me to my feet. Misery shot through my body. The cold did little to numb the pain. He was pulling my hair from my scalp. I scrabbled at his hands, my brittle fingernails digging into the base of his palm. His hold tightened.
A punch landed in my gut, and I doubled over, a wounded gasp falling from my lips. Another punch slammed into the exact same place as the first, and I whimpered. My legs trembled. Even if I could reach him, I didn’t have the energy to fight back.
A slap across my cheek. A hard grip on my fragile wrist. Spit landing on my face as he laughed. Bending back my finger until I screamed in fear and pain.
An ache spread through my body as memories resurfaced—each punch, kick, and slaphe’dsent my way. Gary.
I couldn’t stop him and Mom never tried.Why didn’t she try?
These bastards weren’t any different from my uncle. They were all bullies who preyed on the weak. I wouldn’t let them win, just like I didn’t give Gary a victory.
“You... prick,” I gasped out. “Go f-fuck yourself.”
The jerk grabbed the front of my coat, straightening me so I could look at him. He sneered at me. His face wasn’t so handsome anymore—how could it be when he was such an asshole?
“You’re a piece of shit. You pollute our city. Get out and find a job like the rest of us.”
I laughed. “Like the rest of you? I bet you haven’t worked a day in your life.” I spat at him. A glob of my saliva landed on his cheek.
The other two hovered behind him, but they weren’t laughing anymore. Fear passed over their faces. Clearly they hadn’t expected their friend to go this far.
The jerk wiped my spit off with the back of his hand and his gaze burned in rage.
I closed my eyes. When a fist hit my cheek, I wasn’t surprised. He held my coat tight so I couldn’t fall backward, and another punch landed against my face, right beside my mouth. The blows came fast, at least five of them, before he let me fall to the ground. I didn’t make a noise the entire time because I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. I wouldn’t. I didn’t give it to Gary, and I wouldn’t give it to this idiot, either.
I crashed onto the snow. At least this time I didn’t fall on my hands. Blood gushed from cuts on my face, oozing down my cheek and jaw. I could already feel my face swelling, the bruises forming beneath my skin. Everything hurt. The pain was searing heat, a throbbing that spread across my face and made my head ache. I kept my lips pursed. They were bleeding, too. Warm liquid caught between them, the tangy taste of blood staining my tongue.
“Paul, stop this,” Idiot One said.
The jerk—Paul, apparently—stabbed a finger at him. “Shut up, Billy.”
Billy glanced at Idiot Two. “Cal, we should leave.”
Paul bared his teeth at them. “If you fuckers leave, I’ll make your life hell.”
He took a step closer to me, and I held his glare, unwilling to look away. I wouldn’t let him see the dread that curled in mygut or the way my heart thumped against my rib cage in fear. His boot came down onto my chest, pinning me to the ground.
