The Broken Child

Prologue

On December 18th, 2016, Margot was born to Isabel Lockes. Isabel left Margot on her father's doorstep, as she felt she was too inexperienced to raise a child. But, she would never hear from Margot ever again and it would be because she left Margot with Stewart Deltan.

Stewart always resented Margot. So much so, he forbade her from going to school and only allowed her into town when he went on a "supply run" with the child support money her mother sent. Because she is denied the ability to go to school, she does her best to learn as much as she can from books and hands-on experience in the woods behind her house. She has learned much about plants and animals through walking up and down the creek and is rumored to be friends with some of the little critters. A squirrel she named Nutty when she was seven loves her so much, he lives under her porch.
****
"Get here, girl! We gotta get to town!" Stewart Deltan yelled down the hall, his speech slurred.

Margot, who'd been in her room drawing, shoved her colored pencils and pad under her pillow and pushed her feet into her shoes that were way too small for her and grabbed a sack full of library books. When she exited her room, her father was driving down the driveway, so she picked up her pace and ran toward the truck. She opened the door and hopped in, slamming the door shut.

"Why'd you slam that door?!" her father yelled, spitting alcohol-scented saliva up her nose.

Margot wiped at her nose with her jacket sleeve "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to."

Stewart grumbled an insult under his breath and spit out his open window. Margot pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose by holding onto the left arm of them. Her father stared grumpily at her.

"What'd you do to your glasses, girl?!" he demanded.

"Nothing, sir. You hit--" she started.

Stewart grabbed the neck of her shirt "Don't you bring me into this, girl! Or you'll get the belt!"

Margot looked down at her hands and nodded. He let go of her shirt collar and grumbled some more.
****
When Stewart pulled into the parking lot in front of the liquor store, he turned off the car and got out.

"Go off and find something to do, girl!" he told her.

Margot unbuckled and slid out of the car, taking herself and the books down the street to the library. She rummaged in her pocket for her library card and entered the building. A woman with black hair and a kind smile looked up at her.

"Hello, Margot. How are you today?" she asked.

Margot smiled "I'm doing good, Ms. Izzy." she lied, setting the books out on the counter.

Ms. Izzy smiled "Well, what books are you after this month?" as she entered the books in as 'returned'.

Margot looked around "What have I not read?" she said to herself "Um....do you have books by Frances Hodgson Burnett?"

"Yes, sweetie. Come, follow me." Ms. Izzy said, setting the books on a cart and pushing it out with her.

Ms. Izzy brought Margot to the 'Classics for Young Adults' section and left her to her own devices. Margot started looking on the shelves for the books she was looking for. She eventually left that section with three books; The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy. Margot then wandered off to the fantasy section and picked all five of the Percy Jackson books. In the nature section, she picked up five books on insects, two books over how to read the behavior of an animal, and one book about plants.

Margot went back to the front desk and set the sack of books on it. Ms. Izzy reached into the bag and proceeded to check out the books under Margot's name.

"So, eight more books on nature, huh?"

Margot nodded "There's a woods behind our house and it's filled with all kinds of plants and animals."

Ms. Izzy smiled as she checked out the last of Margot's book options. Setting them gently back in Margot's sack, she pushed it toward Margot. Margot looped her hand through the sack straps.

"Thanks, Ms. Izzy!"
****
Margot was almost back to Stewart's truck when she heard it start. She ran towards it and jumped in right as it started to move. Margot dropped the sack of books on the floor at her feet and shut the door as gently as possible.

Stewart grumbled at her "Where'd you go, girl?"

"To the library, where I always go."

Stewart sneered at Margot and grabbed a bottle of beer from behind. Putting the bottle neck between his teeth, he wrenches the top from it. Margot flinched at the sound of his teeth scratching against the glass.

She looked at the bottle and stated "You do realized that's a twist top, right?"

Her father swigged the bottle up and downed the bottle all at once. He then smashed the bottle over Margot's head. Margot looked down to her books and pulled a dirty rag from the glove compartment. She then got as much dirt as she could out of it sticking it out the window and shoved the rag to her forehead, which had a large gash from where a piece of glass hit.

The truck turned into the drive and pulled to a stop at the end. Margot hopped out of the car with her sack of books and dashed into the house to the bathroom. There, she got a clean rag and some gauze. She ran the rag under some water and dabbed some soap onto it. She rubbed the soap into the water and ran some more water over the rag. She then dabbed the soapy rag at her wound. When she thought it was clean enough, she cut a square of gauze and taped it to her forehead.

When she was done in the bathroom, she picked up her books, threw the rag into the sink and went to her room. Throwing the books onto her bed, she plopped down and pulled out one of the nature books. While she did so, she felt tears rolling down her cheeks. Unable to stop them, she turned to face the headboard.

"I just want a normal life...."