CHAPTER 2
“Hello children” Belinda said with an evil smirk, as we walked through the door.
“Uh hey Belinda, how was your day?” I asked. I had figured out by now that it was a good thing to be nice to the ‘parents’ when they were in a mood like this. Usually, I couldn’t care less, not that I care that much now!
“Oh it was good, but it’s about to get better… Mark, sweetie, their home…” Mark came out from the kitchen, with a burger in hand, which he through to the side as they advanced towards us.
Mark came towards me and kicked me in the stomach, right where my scar was. I fell to the ground in a ball getting continuously kicked by that monster. James fell onto me as Belinda punched him in the nose, blood dripping down onto the carpet, staining it with a memory.
I can’t stand watching James like this, he’s 15, he doesn’t deserve this life and I have to do something, even if it means dying.
“STOP, LEAVE JAMES ALONE! TAKE IT OUT ON ME BUT LEAVE HIM ALONE!” I shouted as I pushed James towards the stairs. He looked worried as he crawled up the stairs.
“Okay, we’ll leave him alone” Mark said as Belinda walked away. Wow, that usually would cause an extra beating. I breathed out a sigh of relief and sat down on the sofa, flicking through the channels, finally choosing the sports channel. I heard a noise from behind me but I didn’t take much notice of it. That was my third mistake of the afternoon. A big bang on the head from no other than Belinda with a rolling pin set me into a world of dreams.
It was early evening when I finally woke up in my brother’s room. He must’ve carried me in here when he found me. He’s a really nice brother and even though he is two years younger than me, he is incredibly strong, going to the gym whenever he can, which is pretty much every day.
“Oh Nick, you’re awake. I knew I shouldn’t have gone and left you alone, I knew you would be in trouble but I was getting really dizzy from lack of blood in my head so I thought I needed to lay down. You were unconscious for 5 hours, I only found you after an hour. I’m so sorry, please forgive me!” James explained. I could see he felt bad but it wasn’t his fault, I told him to leave and I knew there would be a consequence with what I did.
“James, shut up, you really are stupid. Of course I forgive. I told you to leave and I knew something would happen. It’s better that I get hurt than you, but I’ll always be around to help you and save you and to look after you. You’re my brother and you mean everything to me. Just remember that, if something happens” I explained. I guess being unconscious for 5 hours makes you like this…emotional.
“Yeah, but nothing’s gonna happen. I know you blame yourself for this but it’s not your fault. Things happen for a reason, and this is just something that’s bad but it’ll turn around. Just remember that you got this life because you were strong enough to handle it, so just be extra strong and it will pay off. I’m sure of it” James said. I think this is the most serious he’s ever been. He usually just jokes around to hide his pain and make off that he’s fine but he’s not and it kills me because I know it was my fault and he suffered because of my stupidity.
I couldn’t do anything so I just nodded. I stared into space as I thought about my past few years year. I was happy at the start, a family that loved me as much as I loved them and loads of friends. Then the death of my parents, and also James and I, our first foster parents who were living to look after both of us, then 3 other parents and now Mark and Belinda and everything else. I sighed as I stood up, with lots of effort. I was seriously stiff; hopefully it would be better after a good night’s sleep, at least well enough so that nobody will notice anything wrong.
