"At this point, I'll be grateful for your pieces."
*****
Jessica Franklin is at her wit ends, literally. With two sisters depending on her and a mountain of debts on her neck, she needs a way out before she breaks down...
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15 years ago.
I hear the sound of glass shattering and I stiffen, my heart pounding. It was a sound that cut through the air like a knife, piercing my ears and making my heart race. I am seating in my room with my two younger sisters, trying to distract them from the screaming and shouting coming from the living room. But it was impossible to ignore.
My father was drunk again, and he was taking out his anger on my mother. I could hear her crying, begging him to stop, but he wouldn't listen. He never did. The next thing is he's pining her to the kitchen counter and taking her there and all she can do is muffle her screams. I know because I had seen it before. Sick groans fill my ears and I cover them with my hands, hating it. My mother doesn't fight back, she never does.
"Is he going to hurt us?" Sophie mutters beside me, her voice shaking as tears brim in her eyes. I clean them off with my thumb, swallowing.
"No," I whisper back, pulling her closer to me. Emma is crying into my chest, the loud noise disturbing her. I soothe her, gently rubbing her back to ease her cries. "I'll make sure of it," I say, even if I don't believe it myself. wrapping an arm of my sisters in a protective embrace, I pull them even closer.
And truly I will. I am tired of this. I'm tired of this constant hiding. I couldn't stand the sound of my mother crying and my sisters trembling in fear. I have to protect them, no matter what.
The noise soon dies down and the door to our room bursts open and my father stumbles in. He is red-faced and angry, his eyes bloodshot and glazed over. His gaze meets us and he walks over, the room reeking of alcohol. I resist the urge to curl up in fear.
"What are you doing here?" I seethe, even as my sisters tense beside me, their small bodies shaking. "Get. Out." I grit out, my voice shaking with fear and anger.
My father laughs with a cruel voice that makes my blood run cold. "What do you think you're doing, protecting them? You little bitch!" He screams at me and my sisters let out a yelp, crying once more.
I don't back down, staring at him with all the hatred and fury I can muster. I could feel my gaze burning with evil intent and I knew I wouldn't let him lay his hands on us the way he did with mum. With a sadistic smile, I whisper. "Try me."
For a moment, my father seems taken aback by my defiance, looking at me with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty, as if he'd never expected me to stand up to him. But then he lungs towards me, dragging me away from my sisters who scream. I trash around, sinking my teeth into his arms and refusing to let go. He lets out a yelp and throws me across the room, staring at his bloodied hands. I realize I had bitten a chunk of his flesh off and spit it out, my ears ringing.
