p.s. sorry it was so long...i cut it down so that u get a taste of the story and if you wanna keep reading, you can check out the other parts of it I posted! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Hey, are you sure you’re alright?” he asked running his hand gently down my arm.
Logan and I had spent the first week of my vacation hanging out together, inseparable, almost. We had pretty much immediately connected. I felt ere now walking back to mas though we were meant to be, but maybe I was just kidding myself. We had just left a bonfire party and wy condo building, not too far up the beach. Logan had obviously noticed the change in my mood as the night came to an end. I sighed, knowing him well enough to realize I couldn’t get past him with a lie.
“Not exactly,” I said hesitating.
“You’re stalling,” he stated bluntly, “You know you can tell me what it is, no matter what,” he stopped and turned to face me, “What is it?”
“My stepdad,” I finally began after heaving a sigh, “finished his business trip really early,” I said hoping Logan would put the pieces together, but he just looked at me confused, so I continued, “So, he got on the next plane here and arrived three days ago,” I finished watching his eyes widen in partial understanding. But what he didn’t know, nor did I have any intention of telling him, was that my stepdads presence caused more problems than I was comfortable sharing. The extent of his knowledge reached only as far as my stepdad and I not getting along by any means.
“I’m sorry,” he said realizing this new addition to my vacation party would be putting a damper on things for a few days.
“Its fine,” I said, blowing it off as nothing. “Oh shit, I’ve gotta go,” I said checking the clock on my phone, “I can’t be out too late.”
“On a vacation?” he asked with a laugh, obviously thinking I was joking.
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” I said hurriedly, “I’ll see you tomorrow same time same place?”
“Uh…yeah,” he said, the smile wiped from his face when he realized how serious I was. “Goodnight.” I felt his eyes on me as I began to walk away, so I turned to see him wave at me and I gave him a faint smile.
I walked quickly to the elevator and pressed the button with a great amount of anxiety. I hadn’t realized how late it was. As I walked along the hallway, I began to feel that old fear creeping back because I knew I was in for it. My stepdad was a huge stickler when it came to being on time and as I turned the door knob I had a strange feeling I knew what would happen as soon as I opened the door.
As I expected, the first thing that came into my view was my stepdad standing in front of the couch, fists balled, nostrils flared, and knowing him like I did I knew, with a glance, that he was completely wasted. Being as late as it was, my mom and sister were already fast asleep. It was just me and him, exactly what he wanted. I took in a deep breath and began to apologize, but was soon cut off.
“Where the hell have you been?!” he said enraged. I was, as always, amazed how angry alcohol could make someone, over the stupidest things.
“I…” I began again.
“You’re mother and I have been worried sick about you!” he shouted, and I thought, it was a wonder my mom and sister didn’t wake up. Even so, it’s not like they’d do anything if they did.
The next events happened very rapidly as my stepdad quickly, but clumsily, closed the distance between us and grabbed my wrist. The familiar feeling of hopelessness came back just as strongly as he had grabbed me. I closed my eyes, held my breath and waited in anticipation as to what I was sure was coming. His palm met my cheek with a loud clap that sounded as though it echoed in the silence. Both the shock and the blow sent me to the ground but just as soon as I had gone down, I was back up again; my stepdad grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.
“You should know better!” he said as he shook me, then he continued to essentially use me a punching bag. While complaining about how much of a failure he thought I was.
One last blow to my rib cage was all I could handle as I heard the ribs crack and the wind was instantly knocked out of me. My next reeling breath was accompanied by a sharp pain in my side followed by my audible gasp. The view of my stepdad’s wicked smile was soon masked by the tears filling my eyes as the pain increased. As quickly as I could, I scrambled to my feet and ran for my bedroom door, ignoring the pain. Luckily, because of my stepdad’s current state, I was faster than he was even when I was injured. I reached my room, slipped in, slammed the door and locked it just as he had staggered to it. I stood with my back leaning against the door and then slowly slid down it, each pound of his fist reverberating through me, intensifying the aching of my body.
Unable to hold it in any longer, I broke down and began sobbing. It wasn’t until a few moments later that I looked up to see Carmen staring at me with wide eyes, no doubt awakened by the fight. The whole situation was making me sick to my stomach and before I knew it, I was in the bathroom throwing up. As I walked back into the room, I noticed my sister continuing to stare at me. I held my side as I eased into bed and turned to face the wall, unable to meet my sister’s eye contact. I lay there quietly until I heard her hushed snores from across the room. Then, still feeling uneasy, I drifted off to sleep.
X X Kakagirl
