Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter 4: Laugh

hu·​mor | \ ˈhyü-mər

Definition of humor : that quality which appeals to a sense of the or absurdly incongruous : a funny or amusing quality

People always say laughter is the best medicine. But the only laugh I can hear is my step-dad's booming laugh after he slapped me across the face. This was the first time he has ever physically abused me. Most of the time he would just say harsh words towards me, manipulate me into thinking everything is my fault, that I have no place in this world. It's gotten so bad that I'm starting to believe him now.

He doesn't do it in front of anyone else because "who would believe a little brat like you" his words not mine. Otherwise he acts like the best step-dad in the world. Which is very confusing for a person. I've started questioning everything about myself because of him.

I hate him.

I want to kill myself because of him.

I hear his laugh as I run up the stairs to my room, skipping steps to get there faster. Once I get to my room I slam the door and lock it. I grab my phone off my bed and call my Kate. It rings for the longest time before I get her voice mail.

"Seriously Kate! The one time I fucking need you to answer you don't?" I whisper to myself as I go over to my window and open it.

Shit.

It's raining. Of course it's raining. My head whips around as I hear loud footsteps leading to my room. I look down and I'm only one story up.

I can make that. Right?

I hear the door rattle, "Open the goddamn door Kasey!"

That's my cue. I leap out the window landing on my feet. "Holy shit! That was awesome!" I yell to myself as I start running down the street.

My feet are splashing through the cold street water. My clothes are soaked, my hair is dripping at the ends, my mascara dripping down my face. I look like shit, but I don't care. I just kept running to get as far away from my house as possible.

The rain felt nice on my skin. I could feel each drop of rain hit my goose bumped skin. It was getting late and the temperature was dropping. The sky was a deep blue, with big gray clouds surrounding the sky. The sun was nowhere in sight.

I stop on the side of the road. I look around, finding myself in an unfamiliar neighborhood. It was filled with big houses all squished next to each other. I shove my hand in my wet sweatpants, finding my phone in it and grabbing it. I lean over it to shield it from the rain. I try turning but all I get is a black screen.

"You gotta be shitting me right now!" I yell to the dark empty street.

This was a bad idea. I thought to myself as I sat on the curb of the street.

I was lost, alone and soaking wet.

I sat there for a while with my head in my hands. Now tears were starting to mix with the rain. Just thinking about how much my life fucking sucked.

"Why are you crying? Stop being such a pussy! God, you are such a dramatic little spoiled brat!"

I could hear his voice ringing in my ears. Louder than my own voice telling me it's okay to cry. Louder than Kate's voice telling me everything will be okay, louder than my dad's voice telling me he's proud of his little girl.

I am so tired of fighting. Fighting everything. Fighting death.

So like my legs had a mind of their own I stood up and started walking back down the street. Towards the woods, towards the cliff, towards death, towards my sweet relief.