Marks

Chapter 6: Bat

Max woke up in his bed. It was the middle of the night, he looked across his room expecting to see Neil sleeping over there. He remembered what happened. He could only assume it was around 3:00, it was storming outside. Max quietly walked to the bathroom down the hall, he didn't want to know what his parents would do if he woke them up.

He went in the bathroom and store at his reflection. His face was red and bruised, his hands were bruised from pounding on the closet door. His scalp was sore. He walked out of the bathroom and back to his room.

He opened the window and listened to the rain and thunder. He watched as cars drove by his house. He wished that he was in one of them, going back to camp where he could see everyone. He wondered what they were doing without him.

They are doing fine without you, they wanted you gone.

Max cried out his window. Why him? Why did he have to have this life? He just wanted to leave, he wanted to be with his friends. He wished his parents would get caught and he wouldn't have to live like this anymore. He wished he could tell someone and them actually believe him.

He got the cow from under his bed and hugged it, if he didn't have bad judgement none of this would have happened. He wished people would notice that his parents were awful.

He wished that he had a normal life. He closed his window quietly and went back to his bed. He put the cow back under it and layed down, holding Mr. Honeynuts in his arms. He cried until he fell back asleep.

The next morning he woke up to his cat jumping on his bed. He stretched and pet her. The cat's name was Bat, she was black with a white spot on her chest that looked like a bat, that's where she got her name.

"Maxwell come give the cat food!" His mother yelled from down stairs. He gave the cat a small kiss on the forehead and walked downstairs. He went over the the cat's food dish and put some cat food in it.

The cat came running downstairs and started eating the food as soon as Max poured it. He looked at her eating the food like she had never been fed in her life.

"Did you guys even feed her while I was gone?" Max said.

"Don't be disrespectful Max." His mother said. "I have half a mind to tell you father about that when he gets home."

He turned around to see that Bat had already finished her food and was now nuzzling Max's ankles. Max smiled softly and picked her up. He brought her back upstairs where he played with her for a while.

"I know Bat, eventually we will get out of here and be happy." He said to the cat. He layed down on the floor and looked under his bed. He grabbed the stuffed cow again and showed the cat. "Look at what one of my camp friends gave me!" He looked down at it.

The cat nuzzled Max's side and crawled under his arm. He smiled and pet her. He remembered when he first got her. The year before, after camp ended his great grandmother passed away and left behind the kitten, his mother decided they would take her in but she was Max's responsibility.

Max heard his father's footsteps coming towards. The cat jumped up and ran under his bed. Max threw the cow plush under his bed and sat on his floor. His father burst through the door and lifted Max off the floor by his arm.

"Did you catch an attitude with your mother this morning?" He yelled. Max stared at the floor. "She tells me you did." He dropped Max on the ground. He kicked his son in the chest and walked out. Max sat on the floor coughing. Bat walked out from under his bed and cuddled up to Max. Max tried to catch his breath.

"We are leaving tonight Bat." Max said. "No matter what happens we are leaving tonight, I can bring you to my camp and we can live there, we wont live here anymore." Max pet the cat on her head.