Page 4 of Her Fearless Warrior

“Answer me. Do you hear me?”

“Yes.” He somehow managed to get the word out.

“Yes!” His dad stopped shaking him, and continued to hold him with one hand, and with the other, backhanded him across the face. The world exploded in pain. He cried out.

“Shut up. Don’t make a fucking sound. You take your punishment like a man.”

“Bill, stop. He’s just a little boy.”

His dad dropped him, and Linc stared as his dad took three steps toward his mom and punched her in the stomach. She bent over, then he hit her with his other fist under her jaw. Her head snapped back and she hit the blue wall of his bedroom then slid down it. Her bathrobe split open so that her boobs were showing. Linc looked back at his dad.

“Stop hurting her,” he shouted.

“You’re right. I will. You still need to be taught a lesson. I think you need a bare-assed spanking. You wait right here.” His father stalked out of his room, and Linc slumped to the floor. He needed to get to his mom. He crawled to her. He’d almost made it until his dad was back holding one of his belts.

He picked Linc up by the neck of his pajamas. Then his dad sat down on his twin bed with the Chewbacca bedspread, and he shoved Linc over his lap. He pulled down Linc’s pajamas, then Linc heard the slap of the belt hitting flesh. For a brief moment, he wondered what had happened, then fire erupted on his butt and he screamed.

“I told you not to make a sound. If you do, I’ll only beat you harder. Do you understand?”

Linc had no breath to say anything.

His dad gripped him by his hair and twisted his neck so their eyes met. “Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Linc wheezed.

“That was one. You get ten. You’ll end up bloody, but you deserve it for calling the cops. If you scream again, it’ll be twenty.”

Linc lost count of how many times his dad hit him. The pain was excruciating. He bit his bottom lip as hard as he could so he wouldn’t make a sound. Then his dad whipped him on his thighs, and he screamed again.

“You were so close to the end of your punishment.”

Another eruption of pain blasted through his entire body. Everything went red. He heard his mom screaming again.

She wasn’t supposed to scream.

“Don’t, Mom,” he wheezed out the words.

“Mom, don’t scream,” he begged.

“Leave my baby alone!” It was his mom, but she sounded funny.

He toppled to the ground as his dad stood up.

“You wouldn’t dare!” his father roared.

“I’m not kidding, Bill. Don’t you dare touch him again.”

Ahhhhhh, Linc moaned. The kick to his head made everything gray. He thought he heard more screaming and yelling, but he couldn’t be sure.

“No, Mom.” He thought he said the words, but he wasn’t sure.

“Give me the gun, Connie. I’ll stop.”

“You’ll never stop. That’s what he said. You’ll never stop.”

“Just give me the fucking gun, you whore!”

Linc heard a loud explosion, then the world went black.