“Where the hell have you been, you little whore!!” My mom said, grabbing me by my hair and dragging me into the kitchen.
“I went out with some friends, I told you I was going I left a note-”
“Liar!! You didn’t tell me sh-t!!” she pushed me into the island in the middle of our counter. Please mom, no. Please… I said to myself. But I knew my silent pleas were all in vane when she took out the broomstick and started swinging…
I woke up, sore from head to toe and covered in long, thin bruises. I winced at the effort it took just to climb out of bed. I limped into my bathroom to access the damage dealt this time. Good, I thought to myself. No black eyes or shiners. And they all seem to be pretty easy to cover. I lucked out this time… No one but me and my mother knew about the beatings. Not even Maddy. I told her my mom was starting to get more and more angry, but I couldn’t tell her about the hitting…if I did she might tell her parents, and then my mom would get arrested…I already lost my dad, I couldn’t lose my mom too. No matter what she did. I knew she was a good person…she was just in a rut, that’s all.
I got dressed for work, at Dunkin’ Donuts, and walked downstairs. My mom was passed out on the couch as usual and the little droplets of blood that had gotten on the kitchen counter last night were gone.
I went out to my car and started it up, wincing as a brushed the cut on my arm with the seatbelt. “Ow,” I hissed.
After work I went to Maddy’s house to stay the night. I didn’t want to risk another beating.
“Hey!” she said when I walked into her room. “What’s up?”
“Nothing really, just same old, same old,” I replied nonchalantly.
“Last night was AMAZING!” she said hopping onto her bed and jumping on it.
“Yeah, it was great…” I said. Until I got home, I added silently.
“What’s wrong?” she asked look straight at me. Damn! She knows! RUN! Maddy always knew when something was wrong. She’d been the first to know my dad died, just by looking at me she was able to tell. When something wasn’t good or when something was wrong in my life, she always knew. That’s why she was my best friend.
“N…Nothing…” I stuttered. “Why would you think something’s wrong?”
“Because you look sad, and after last night, you shouldn’t be sad again so quick…” she got up and dragged me to her bed. “What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing…” I said in little more than a whisper. “Just forget about it…”
She sighed and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, squeezing tight, squeezing my bruises and the cut.
“OW!” I yelped, jumping up off the bed. I rubbed my shoulder (where the worst of the bruises was) self consciously.
Maddy stood up, “Kate…?” she said. “What’s up with your arm?”
I looked at the floor and let tears stream down my face. Maddy walked over and lifted up my shirt sleeve. She gasped when she saw my entirely black, blue, and purple shoulder.
Taking a step back she asked, “How long?” I just shook my head.
“HOW LONG!?” she yelled at me. She, too, was crying now.
“A week, maybe two,” I squeaked in reply.
“Oh Kate…why didn’t you tell me?” a sympathetic, but worried, look took over her face.
“She’s my mom, Mads!! I already lost one parent!!!” I fell to my knees, sobbing. I finished what I was saying in a hushed voice. “I don’t want to lose the other…drunk or no, she’s my mom…”
A knock came to the door, “Madison? Katelyn? Are you two alright in there?” it was Maddy’s mom.
“Mom, come in here for a minute,” she said.
Maddy’s mom came in the room and said, “What’s wrong?”
“Show her,” Maddy ordered. I lifted up my shirt sleeve and Maddy’s mom gasped just like she had.
“What in the world…?” she began.
I took a deep breath and told her everything, from my dad dying (which she knew) to my mom becoming an alcoholic (which she also knew) to the beatings (which she didn’t know).
“Oh sweetie,” she said pulling me into a tender hug. “I had no idea…you should’ve told someone sooner.”
“I was scared,” I admitted. I saw Maddy’s expression go from worried to terrified. I NEVER got intimidated by other people. I was always the one that got into fights with people that insulted my friends, no matter how big the person was. I didn’t have much of a backbone normally, but when someone insulted my friends, it was ON!
“You’re staying with us from now on,” her mom said. “I’ll take you to get your things later. I don’t want you to go home without myself or Maddy’s father, do you understand me?”
“I don’t want to go home without anyone anyway…” I said. “You’re not going to send my mom to prison are you?”
“I can’t,” she said. Maddy’s mom was lawyer, so she knew all about this kind of thing. “Only you can press charges, and since there’s no proof that she beat you, there wouldn’t be much of a case anyway.”
“I just want her to get help…that’s all.”
“She will, honey, don’t worry,” she said in a motherly tone. “We’ll get her some help and she’ll be back to the way she was in no time.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly. “I really appreciate it.”
“I’m going to get us some comfort food,” Maddy said hopping up from the floor. “Chocolate Chip cookies and Cool Whip sound good?”
“That sounds great,” I said with a smile.
We finished off all of the cookies and cool whip and started watching a marathon of horror movies, our favorites. We started with the old Amityville Horror, then movie onto What Lies Beneath, and we were just starting the Texas Chainsaw Massacre when my phone rang.
“Hello?” I said into the receiver.
“Hey!!” Aaron said in a cheerful voice. “I just finished the show, I’m totally spent.”
“Haha, how was it?”
“Great, I’m surprised with the turn out. I thought there’d be a lot less people there then there were.”
“Well, that’s a good, isn’t it?”
“Yeah! It’s great!” he said sounding excited. “I just wish that I had someone to ‘celebrate’ with…”
I felt my face turn a slight pink, I wasn’t much of a blusher, and Maddy giggled-like I said, she always. knew when my attitude/emotions changed. “Well…it’s not like we’re going out or anything…I’m sure there’s someone that you could-”
“No, I couldn’t do that. Not after all the fun we had at the club last night.”
“Well…if you change your mind and want to uh…yeah…you can…”
Aaron laughed. “Thanks, I appreciate you not rushing this.”
“Uh…you’re welcome?” I said, not really knowing how to respond to his sudden gratitude.
He just laughed again.
“Yeah…well I’m gonna’ let you go before I embarrass myself anymore…”
“No, wait!” he said, then hesitated a second. “Well…I was just wondering if you wanted to go out again when I got back. Tomorrow.”
“Yeah, that sounds great,” I said, happy that my dorkiness hadn’t ruined my chances of going out with him again.
“Really? Okay, cool. Uh, I’ll pick you up around six then? What’s your address?”
“2690 Sunset Blvd.,” I replied without even thinking. I suddenly remembered what was going on and quickly caught my mistake. “But I’ll be staying at Maddy’s for a few days…my mom’s uh…not feeling well…” Not feeling well!? WTF!?! Wouldn’t that be MORE of a reason to stay with her?! God, I SUCK at lying!!
“Oh okay, so I’ll pick you up at Maddy’s then?”
“Yeah…” I said, getting nervous that he’d start questioning my alibi.
“I’ll see you then, later.”
“Bye.” I said and clicked my phone shut. To Maddy I said, “That was close!!!”
“Yeah it was! Okay, now before we get back to Jessica Biel screaming her freakin’ head off, you’re going on another date with him aren’t you!!”
I grinned and nodded; Maddy let out an overjoyed scream.
