It took longer than expected but eventually Lizzie did manage to get you to her place where she let you sit down on the sofa to rest your injuries. You had remained quiet for most of the trudging journey, only talking to decline the repeated suggestion of actually going to a hospital to get you checked out. You knew that if you went to a hospital then questions would be asked and you couldn't exactly be honest about what happened, but it wasn't just out of fear J.C doing much worse than just beating you up. There was more to it and Lizzie knew that.
"Do you want a drink?" she asked as you sat back and held your ribs, accepting the offer with a grunt and so Lizzie headed into the kitchen to come back a few minutes later with a hot drink which she set down on the table beside you. You gave a grunt to say thanks as you still held your ribs before she asked how you felt, only receiving another grunt/groan in response. This was followed with a silence for a moment before Lizzie again spoke, asking you what happened and you were uncertain if you should tell her. Would she go on to insist that you go to the police to report it?
"I stepped out of line" you eventually answered and she further asked what you meant by that, questioning what you could have done to step out of line and warrant such a brutal beating. You groaned a little at how many questions she was asking at once but did reply that you raised your voice to J.C, stepping out of line as you should never raise your voice to him. "I stepped out of line and got what I deserved" you said before looking around,
You muttered that Lizzie had a nice house but she told you not to change the subject, that this was serious but you said for her to just leave it. "I should have known better than to raise my voice to J.C, I did so once before and got the same thing" you said and this fact made Lizzie's eyes widen as she asked when this happened before and you sighed, knowing that she would just keep asking questions if you didn't answer her so you explained about a time when you first joined the gang. You may have been loyal and did everything you were told but there was one time that you raised your voice to J.C and suffered the consequences.
Lizzie asked why you stayed after that, why you never went to the police to which you replied that you had no choice. "If I did that then I would have gotten kicked out of the group" you said which caused a momentary halt to the conversation. You were more bothered about staying in the group than the fact you got brutalised? Of course this made Lizzie ask why you were so insistent in staying in the group, why you were so insistent on justifying what happened to you. Even with the fact she helped you, the questions were already getting tiresome.
"Because I would have nothing without the group!" You snapped which made her reel back a little, wondering what you meant by that and you knew the question was coming so answered before it left her. "Without J.C and his gang I would have nothing, I would be nothing, without the gang I would just have a shitty home life! I know that sounds cliche to say but you don't understand it unless it's happened to you" you said before shifting yourself to be a little more comfortable. It did hurt a little but you relaxed again soon enough.
"How bad is your home life? What is it like?" She asked and you sarcastically laughed, replying that it was the cliche situation really; "deadbeat father dipped as soon as mum got pregnant, my mum is a drunk who is more happy to get wasted than care for me, I grew up with the bare minimum while mum complains about the lack of money which she is too busy drinking away, safe to say I never had a good role model or anyone to look up to, but then J.C showed up" you said with a smile actually turning on your face.
"I remember I was walking home one night and some guys jumped me, beat me up pretty badly as I struggled to fight back, but then J.C arrived and kicked their asses, God he looked awesome when those assholes ran, he said I had some guts to fight back and so he let me into the group as long as I did everything I was told, he was the closest thing to father figure I had so why wouldn't I listen?" You asked as Lizzie listened, looking at you as you explained the details.
YOU ARE READING
Not Set In Stone
Lãng mạnA person's behaviour is often the lead cause of the judgments set upon them but what people often fail to do is look at why that person is like that. Sometimes people can change, not everything is set in stone.
