Escape

Chapter three

4:13 pm

As I approach the front porch I can hear my stepmother and my father yelling. Again. Since I can hear them from outside, they're arguing in the living room. And since they're home, so is my six month old baby brother Austin. He's probably in my room, upstairs. I swallow hard and twist the door handle, the yelling gets louder. You can't hear me open and close the door over the yelling. I carefully take off my boots and try to sneak up the stairs.

I reach the first step and my parents aren't facing me. I try to tiptoe as lightly as I can, but the floorboard creeks and their yelling stops.

"And you" my stepmother narrows her eyes at me.

"Where the hell have you been?!" My stepmother walks over to me, practically stepping on my toes.

"Well!?" She yells right into my ears. I hear slight ringing and don't reply. Instead I walk up the stairs staring her down and then walking into my room, closing and locking the door.
I flop down on my back, on my bed and stare at the blank ceiling, just as I did this morning. A cold tear falls down the side of my face. I know why they're fighting. It's the same thing everyday.

You see, Abigail and I are only related through marriage. My father married her mother and had Austin together. Now they all hate me.. Except Austin, I am his favourite person in the house. I mean that will probably change when he gets older, but that's how it always goes. I'm used to people hating me. And I'm still waiting for Julia's day.

I wipe my face as I hear Austin shuffle in his bassinet. I sit up and walk over to him. He looks so peaceful, as he sleeps through my parents constant arguing. I lightly drag my pointer finger up and down the bridge of his nose, it soothes him. I only know this because I am basically his mother. My stepmother and father don't give a damn about anyone but Abigail.

I hear my stepmother scream "Dear lord Calvin have you lost your mind!!" And then my father after her,

"Maybe! But at least I have a reason to hate your daughter!!!"

"I have my reasons to hate yours too!!! And you hate her too!! So why are you still yelling!?"

After that I get up and shove a small blanket under the door, to muffle the sound even more. I walk over to Austin on my knees and see that he is rubbing his eyes, with his small frail hands. I stand up with him in my arms. I lay on my bed with him laying on my chest. He rests his head down on my collarbone and breathes steadily. I run my fingers along the back of his head. Then again, another cold tear runs down the side of my face.

I can still hear yells, but I can't make out what they're saying. I know it's still about me. It always is. I mean, it's not my fault that they all hate me. For the first ten years of my life my father actually loved me. Him and my biological mother "loved me to death" but then my father found out that my mother was cheating. So they got divorced, and my father won the custody battle. Soon after, he found Clarissa, my step mother. At first, she pretended to like me. But then she finally showed her hatred towards me. Then soon after, she made my father hate me too. I don't even know how..or why. But now, I have nobody on my side in this family except for the infant who lay on my chests .

I fell asleep at some point soon after crying. I wake up with Austin sprawled out across my chest and reach to my side to pick up my iPod. I hold it up with both hands, hovering it over my face. I turn it on and have no important notifications. I do however realize that it's been two hours and is now 6:30 pm. I can hear no more yelling and can slightly hear the tv downstairs.

I sit up, holding Austin with his cheek resting on my shoulder. He squirms in my arms, meaning he's awake. I stand up and walk around with a slight bounce in my step. He starts to cry and I sit back down on my bed. He still cries until I reach into my mini fridge and grab a bottle. I lay him down across my lap, the back of his head resting on my forearm and stick the bottle in his tiny mouth.