in piercing stings. Before I can focus on an escape,
I am paralyzed. This one has hit me hard. My eyes lose focus, blurring the
room, and my heart rate is skipping around. Breathing is labored as though my
lungs have rebelled against me. I have lost this battle, and the demons push me
way under. As I tilt forward, the wood floor rushes towards me before all goes
black.
Chapter Seven
The summer was brutally hot, and I felt
sweat trickling down my back. It’s the kind of humid heat that pushes against
you—thick and uncomfortably. Wiping my damp forehead, I watched my dad pack
suitcases in the car. Jean was on her way to another vacation—a week in Hawaii,
and this time she so graciously invited our dad. This was a first, and
surprisingly, my dad agreed to go.
“Can I
please stay with my friend Chrissy? Please Daddy. Her mom said it was okay.” My
whiny pitch begged out to him to agree.
“Sweetheart,
you know your mother already said no. She wants you here with Julia Rose,” Dad
said as he closed the trunk with a good thud. He patted me on the shoulder as
to say sorry, but that made me even madder. I turned my attention to Jean as
she sauntered down the steps in a new sundress that looked all fresh and
tropical.
“You always
get a break and I’m sick of never getting one!” I kicked at a nearby bush for
good measure and shot daggers in her direction with my scornful glare.
“You are
just a child,” Jean hissed. “You haven’t earned a break yet!” With that, my dad
loaded her up in the car and set out to the airport.
A week
stuck with Evan made me nauseous. Something bad was going to happen. I just
knew it. My eleventh birthday was a few months back and Julia had turned
fifteen just before school let out for summer break. My dad finally agreed to
let us start staying alone in the afternoons. We hadn’t seen Evan for nearly
two months and it was wonderful. However, Dad drew the line about us staying
overnight alone, so Jean talked him into letting Evan stay with us.
The week
passed with John Paul and Bradley coming and going as they pleased, with us
girls having to stay put and do chores. I began viewing Evan as a chore too.
The wandering hands and kisses were tiring to dodge. I set out to not wash the
entire week, but Evan always called me out on it in front of the boys and would
embarrass me into washing. I refused deodorant, though. My hope was to repel
him, but he seemed to take it as an inviting challenge instead.
I got fed
up pretty quickly and headed out to work at the market or restaurant each day
without permission. I knew Dad would find out when he returned, but I would
gladly take the consequences. I wasn’t sitting around that house, like some
open target for whatever that sick man decided he wanted to do to me next. I
remember sitting in the kitchen with Miss May while she worked that first
afternoon. I had already washed up some dishes for her and was waiting for another
task to be ordered.
“Child, why
you rather work here all day instead of enjoying yo’ summer break like the rest
of them young’uns?” She looked up at me and waited for an answer.
I fidgeted
while deciding how to answer her. She tapped the table in front of me with her
knobby knuckles to summon an answer I really wasn’t too keen on giving. I let
out a huff. “I hate him, and I don’t want to be around him.”
“Who?” she
asked.
I met her
gaze. “Evan! I hate him!”
“That’s a
strong word, girl. I don’t take too kindly to lettin’ it be said so easily.”
“Well, it’s
the truth,” I said, screeching out each word.
“Why you
hate him?” she nearly whispered, trying to get me to calm down.
“I ain’t
telling you, so don’t ask!” I snapped at her.
She stood
there eyeing me quietly for a spell, and I could see her resolving some things.
I just weren’t so sure on what she was resolving. She eventually nodded her
head once as though her decision on the matter
I am paralyzed. This one has hit me hard. My eyes lose focus, blurring the
room, and my heart rate is skipping around. Breathing is labored as though my
lungs have rebelled against me. I have lost this battle, and the demons push me
way under. As I tilt forward, the wood floor rushes towards me before all goes
black.
Chapter Seven
The summer was brutally hot, and I felt
sweat trickling down my back. It’s the kind of humid heat that pushes against
you—thick and uncomfortably. Wiping my damp forehead, I watched my dad pack
suitcases in the car. Jean was on her way to another vacation—a week in Hawaii,
and this time she so graciously invited our dad. This was a first, and
surprisingly, my dad agreed to go.
“Can I
please stay with my friend Chrissy? Please Daddy. Her mom said it was okay.” My
whiny pitch begged out to him to agree.
“Sweetheart,
you know your mother already said no. She wants you here with Julia Rose,” Dad
said as he closed the trunk with a good thud. He patted me on the shoulder as
to say sorry, but that made me even madder. I turned my attention to Jean as
she sauntered down the steps in a new sundress that looked all fresh and
tropical.
“You always
get a break and I’m sick of never getting one!” I kicked at a nearby bush for
good measure and shot daggers in her direction with my scornful glare.
“You are
just a child,” Jean hissed. “You haven’t earned a break yet!” With that, my dad
loaded her up in the car and set out to the airport.
A week
stuck with Evan made me nauseous. Something bad was going to happen. I just
knew it. My eleventh birthday was a few months back and Julia had turned
fifteen just before school let out for summer break. My dad finally agreed to
let us start staying alone in the afternoons. We hadn’t seen Evan for nearly
two months and it was wonderful. However, Dad drew the line about us staying
overnight alone, so Jean talked him into letting Evan stay with us.
The week
passed with John Paul and Bradley coming and going as they pleased, with us
girls having to stay put and do chores. I began viewing Evan as a chore too.
The wandering hands and kisses were tiring to dodge. I set out to not wash the
entire week, but Evan always called me out on it in front of the boys and would
embarrass me into washing. I refused deodorant, though. My hope was to repel
him, but he seemed to take it as an inviting challenge instead.
I got fed
up pretty quickly and headed out to work at the market or restaurant each day
without permission. I knew Dad would find out when he returned, but I would
gladly take the consequences. I wasn’t sitting around that house, like some
open target for whatever that sick man decided he wanted to do to me next. I
remember sitting in the kitchen with Miss May while she worked that first
afternoon. I had already washed up some dishes for her and was waiting for another
task to be ordered.
“Child, why
you rather work here all day instead of enjoying yo’ summer break like the rest
of them young’uns?” She looked up at me and waited for an answer.
I fidgeted
while deciding how to answer her. She tapped the table in front of me with her
knobby knuckles to summon an answer I really wasn’t too keen on giving. I let
out a huff. “I hate him, and I don’t want to be around him.”
“Who?” she
asked.
I met her
gaze. “Evan! I hate him!”
“That’s a
strong word, girl. I don’t take too kindly to lettin’ it be said so easily.”
“Well, it’s
the truth,” I said, screeching out each word.
“Why you
hate him?” she nearly whispered, trying to get me to calm down.
“I ain’t
telling you, so don’t ask!” I snapped at her.
She stood
there eyeing me quietly for a spell, and I could see her resolving some things.
I just weren’t so sure on what she was resolving. She eventually nodded her
head once as though her decision on the matter
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