Rage runs through me, causing tears to sting my eyes. I refuse to cry for them anymore. “Yes, Father,” I whisper and get on my knees, kneeling in front of him.
“First the left one, then the right. You know how to be a good girl, don’t you Maddie?”
I look up at the man that is my blood, and I see nothing but hate. “Yes, Father.” I know better than to disrespect him. I saw him beat my mother, and when she died, he started on me.
I hear Donnie unbuckling his belt. My lower lip trembles as I crawl to my father’s bare foot and kiss it. The first hit of the belt on my ass makes me jump, and my father tightens the belt around my throat. I choke as my hands come up to my neck.
“You know to count, bitch,” Donnie barks, and I nod.
“One.” The belt comes down, this time on the right side of my back, and I gasp. It’s been a long time since they hit me on the back.
“Two.” I bend over again and kiss my father’s right foot. Donnie hits me harder with each smack of the belt. This is harder than anything he's ever done to me. On the seventh hit, it stings, and I feel the pain throughout my entire body. My skin tears open, and I tremble. Tears run down my face as I count the last three hits. Each one breaks my skin, leaving me in pain. I’m livid they get to see me cry.
“Get to your room and get cleaned up. Don’t you stain my floors with your trashy blood.”
I tremble as I stand up and bow to my father. Mother always taught me to bow when they were like this. If I didn’t, it would get worse. “Yes, Father. Good night.”
My back burns as I pick up my backpack. Dragging it along, I try to remove my father’s belt from my neck but my hand is shaking too much. Donnie opened my skin tonight. He promised he would the next time they had to punish me. I can feel the cool air through the cuts, and I relish in it. The pain means I’m still alive.
* * *
“When I tellyou to do something, you fucking do it!” my father yells at my mother as she cowers in the corner. I can’t do anything. I’m only five years old. Mother always told me to stay in the corner or to stay in my room. Donnie never stays in his room. No, my father brings him and tells him, “This is how we deal with bitches.”
“I’m sorry, honey. I will get the dishes done now.” My mother pleads with him as the belt comes down on her body over and over again. My brother looks at me on the stairs. I jerk backward and run to my room. Avoiding him is the best thing. Donnie coming after me would be bad. I lock my bedroom door and throw myself on my bed.
Why does father hurt mother? And why do they hate me so much?
Paperwork is a bitch.My eyes droop, ready for sleep. I have twenty minutes of my shift left, and I have to pick up my best friend’s little sister for school.
Looking up as the door opens, I smile at my best friend’s dad who comes walking into the bullpen. He’s also my boss. “Hey Chief.”
“Ah, just the man I was looking for. I heard you caught a domestic case last night.”
I cringe at the thought. “Yeah, Chief, that was not a domestic. More like a brutal homicide.”
He slaps my right shoulder, almost knocking me into the damn table. “Look Drew, you’re a good detective, son. But I need you to be the best if you are going to go places here. I heard you got queasy at the scene. You need to toughen up.”
I look at him and notice the dark circles under his eyes. He rarely talks to me like this, so when he does, I’ve learned to read between the lines. I bet he’s rethinking his decision to promote me to detective. I take a deep breath and nod.
“You got it, Sir. I will get a hold of my stomach.”
He sips his coffee and takes a bite out of his chocolate glazed donuts, moaning, before he continues.
“I’m putting you on The Mad Hatter case alongside Donnie. He’ll be changing shifts starting tomorrow night. Can I count on you to get this nut job?”
Holy shit. I wasn’t expecting this. “Absolutely. Yes, you can.”
I stand and shake his hand. Donnie, my best friend, has three years on me as a detective. I’m late in the career path because I went to college to get my master’s degree in criminal justice. New detectives never get the high-profile cases. This could make or break my career.
“Good, now go get my lazy ass daughter and take her to school.”
The way he talks about his own flesh and blood makes my skin crawl. I don’t argue, though. There’s no point in getting into an argument over how he chooses to speak. “You got it, Chief.”
I finish signing my paperwork and file it. The Chief likes to have a paper copy and a computer copy. It’s overkill, but I get it. Wiping my eyes, I make my way to the locker room. Taking off my uniform and throwing it into the bin for laundry, I sigh. The shower feels great as I clean up and think about tomorrow. Donnie will take his sister to school starting tomorrow. Unless he doesn’t want to. I have no problem doing it. Maddie’s a good kid.
* * *
The drive over is uneventful.I pull up to the Chief’s house and see Maddie standing there. She’s beautiful and growing into quite the woman. Shit, I shouldn’t notice how her boobs look in that shirt. As she walks toward me, I notice she’s limping. Her backpack is in her left hand instead of on her shoulder like normal. Hmm, that’s odd. She also has on long sleeves and blue jeans. This is the same girl that in twenty-degree weather chooses to wear a tank top and shorts.
