[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
David clung to his cheek as the sting faded from it, faced his father as his
mother screamed, and then narrowed his eyes as he spat in the old man’s fac
e. David knew it would only make things worse, but he did find it momentaril
y satisfying, the shock on his father’s face. It only lasted for an instant
before strong fingers were gripping his hair, dragging him from the room. Da
vid struggled, but not so much that it would allow his hair to rip from his
scalp. He planned to get even for this, and he didn’t plan to be bald for it
. Down the stairs he went, his dad dragging him and his mother following him
. He cursed the whole way.
“Get your hands off me you fucked-up son of a bitch!”
“Brian, please don’t hurt him!” his mother shouted. But David didn’t care. He
didn’t see the point. She only pretended to care if he got hurt. If she cared,
she’d stop it.
“Shut up, you whore!” David screamed back at her, and spit in her direction
. For that, his dad shoved him up against the wall as they reached the bott
om of the basement stairs. He let go of David long enough to reach for the
key to the locked door. That was when David panicked. Not the dark. He hate
d the dark. “No!” he screamed, his voice growing hoarse with stress, and he
made a break for it. He lunged past his mother in an attempt to get to the
stairs, nearly knocking her over. Nearly wasn’t good enough. Her small bod
y grabbed him from behind and she held on with all her might, pleading with
him to stop. “You stop!” he retorted. “Get off me! I ain’t goin’ in there!
No!”
David’s screams were lost when his father’s much larger, stronger hands too
k over for his mother. He was pulled back towards the door. It was open now
, and David was desperate as he saw darkness nearing. He took a swing at hi
s dad and missed. The man was too big, swinging David around like a rag dol
l. He was winning much too fast, but it didn’t stop David from trying one m
ore time to get away. He used his feet this time. His father hollered when
David’s right foot connected with a bad knee. Momentarily victorious, David
never saw the next blow coming, but he felt it in his face. Hurt so bad he
thought the skin on his cheek had split open and exploded, but never had t
ime to cry out as he lost balance and the air was knocked from his lungs up
on falling roughly to a cold floor. He looked up, reaching out desperately
in time to see his father’s shadow slam the thick door, and the light disap
peared. Not even a crack from beneath the door remained, and it took a few
moments of heavy breathing and gazing around in terror before David remembe
red that his eyes would never adjust to this. So he closed them. He swallow
ed against his dry throat, and started to count. Sometimes counting helped.
He could count forever, and if he lost his place, he could start over. One
...two...three...four...
“David?” it was a whisper, but Oliver’s voice. Oliver there with him, in the
dark.
David sat up to look around, even though it would do him no good. “Oliver?
”
“David... you see, David? I told you you shouldn’t make them angry.”
Chapter 4
by DomLuka
Thanks to jim for editing!
“Here,” Frank said, pressing a stone into the palm of Rudy’s small hand. “T
he flat ones work best. Try it.” Her small face scrunched up in concentrati
on as she took the stone and tossed it like Frank had just shown her, and g
rinned when it skipped twice over the lake. Frank smiled at her success. “N
ice one, Rudy. Wanna try again?”
“No. Throwing rocks isn’t that fun. My stomach hurts.”
“That’s because you’re hungry,” Frank informed her. “We should have had
lunch by now.”
With their mother working during the day, Frank found that he wasn’t the be
st babysitter on the planet. He didn’t mind his sister, but she was odd whe
n it came to basic necessities. She was one of those kids that needed to be
reminded of everything between eating a meal and going to the bathroom bef
ore they left the house. Frank had enough trouble remembering those things
on his own, let alone for someone else.
“Can we go inside now?” Rudy asked.
Frank nodded, looking towards the sky. It was overcast again, and he was be
ginning to feel claustrophobic. The clouds kept getting closer to the groun
d, as if they intended to crush him. “Yeah. What do you want to eat?”
“Soup.” That wasn’t a surprise. She always wanted soup. She liked soup.
“Okay, go get it out,” Frank said, and then as she headed towards the house,
he added, “Don’t touch that stove.”
“I’m old enough to use the stove!” Rudy called back, rolling her eyes.
Frank sighed. He was right behind his sister, but not before his eyes drift
ed to where they’d been going for days now. The red roof across the lake lo
oked farther every time he set eyes on it. The day he’d gone to town with D
avid Martin, Frank had come home hoping to receive another visit from Olive
r, but it hadn’t happened. Oliver hadn’t come the next day, either. Or any
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]