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And that I did.
“One day they invited me to their place. They spent weeks trying to convince me to go, I wanted to, but I was aware I was the boy from the wrong side of the track. Eventually, I caved and came. Rosie and Jackson never called me on being too skinny or on my rotten clothes. After that, Mia and Zach started to bring even more food, always giving some excuse not to hurt my pride. ‘Mom baked too much.’ ‘It was whoever’s birthday yesterday.’ ‘Dad tried this new recipe but miscalculated, so now there’s a lot of food.’ And if feeding me wasn’t enough, they started to clothe me.
“I was shorter than Zach back then. Malnourished is more like it. They’d say he’d outgrown his clothes, but there were times when I found the labels they forgot to cut off. They never made a big fuss about it, so I wouldn’t be uncomfortable.”
I looked down at Isabella, who was smiling softly, most likely thinking my dark days were finally over. Not yet.
“That was only my first weekend in this place. It went on like this for about five or six years. Michael started to be away from the house for longer periods, which was a blessing, and I started to spend more time here. Weekends. School days. Holidays. All of our birthdays. I’d spend nights in a row, and not even once did they complain or make me feel unwelcome. They even tried to come up with excuses to keep me around longer. I think they dreaded my going tohishouse as much as I did. We had good reason for it.”
I felt my heartbeats speed up, and my mouth got dry. My tongue and throat felt made of sand, and my breathing became heavier. I hated thinking aboutthatday. At the same time, I wanted to let it out.
“They didn’t travel a lot. I don’t know if it was because of their jobs and because Rosie didn’t wanna leave her parents alone, or even because of me. Then one day they decided to go away for a long weekend. Nothing crazy, just to get out of here for a few days. They wanted me to come with them. I’d never felt more excited, it was my first family trip...”
“What happened?” Her voice bore the dread I was feeling.
“Michael happened.”
School seemed to go on forever.
I looked up at the wall clock and saw I needed to hurry. I had little time to spare, so I could pick up some last-minute things to throw in my duffel bag, then head to Zach’s place so we could go.
I didn’t call that house my home. Zach and Mia’s place was way more my home than anywhere else.
Every time I walked into it, I’d feel one of two things: relief because Michael was gone, or anxiety when I sensed he was back. In my excitement to go on a trip with the Bryants, I didn’t realize my relief never came. That was just the first in a series of mistakes that could jeopardize everything.
“Going somewhere?”
I turned around in startlement, my heart galloping in my chest. Why was he back so soon?
“I asked you a question, asshole. Where do you think you’re going without talking to your daddy?”
“I’m going to the Bryants’.” I was proud of myself for keeping my voice steady. “And why do you care? It’s not like you’ll miss me while I’m gone. Go do whatever it is you do and leave me alone.” I turned my back to him so I could finish packing while ignoring the man I hated the most.
That was my second mistake.
I should’ve anticipated the punch to the side of my head. I was bigger and stronger, no thanks to Michael, and I could take him. But that first punch threw me a little, and it took me a while to recover.
When I turned to him while trying to stay upright, he took advantage and threw another punch, this time to my stomach.
“You ungrateful son of a bitch.” Punch. “After everything I gave you.” Blow. “Even when you screwed my life, this is how you treat your father?” Jab. “I should’ve ended you when I dealt with your bitch of a mother.”
Something snapped inside me. I was bent over in pain and self-preservation, so I took it to my avail. Angling my body against his stomach, I plunged, throwing him against the wall.
It was the first time I stood up with any chance of winning, and Michael realized that. I took him by surprise, fighting back as I’d never been able to before. Every resentment, every pain, and every grief that was forced upon me because of that man moved me forward.
But our struggle took too long. I should’ve gone away sooner and not lost myself in that snippet of twisted justice. I was supposed to be at the Bryants’, and when I didn’t show up on time, they should’ve gone without me.
They didn’t. They waited for me, and Mia wasn’t known for staying put. So when I heard her distant voice calling for me at the front door, I panicked.
That was my third mistake.
Before I could yell at her to go away, Michael grabbed a heavy vase over the mantel and smashed it on my head. My legs went weak, and I couldn’t support myself anymore. My vision got blurry as I fell on my back, and the buzz in my ears was deafening. In the back of my mind, I knew there was something I should be doing, I needed to say something to someone, but I couldn’t organize my thoughts long enough to realize what it was. Especially since Michael took that moment to kick and punch again, this time without much resistance from me.
He was straddling my chest, making it hard to breathe, and was about to hit me again.
“Get off him now!”
His weight was lifted abruptly, and I could breathe again, but wait...
