"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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Lovely by Billie Eilish ft. Khalid
The sun beats down on my skin as I make my way home with Sophie beside me, beads of sweat rolling down my neck into my clothes and my hair sticking to my back. The hot air is thick and oppressive and I'm struggling to breathe with my throat parched. I'm so exhausted.
"I'm hungry," Sophie mutters beside me and I look down at her. She's squinting up at me, a frown on her face. We hadn't eaten anything since yesterday except for the school's lunch which tasted terrible. It's only natural that she'll be hungry.
"Maybe there's food at home," I tell her, keeping my voice hopeful. She groans at the statement. That hasn't happened in a while. Letting out a sigh, we continue walking till we get to our house.
That's when I hear it... Or better still, Sophie and I. My dad is yelling at Mom again, but this time Mom is yelling right back. There's a huge crashing sound and suddenly everywhere falls silent. My heart lurches in my chest and I start panicking. Without thinking, I run into the house, heart racing and wanting to break them apart.
"Stay here!" I scream at Sophie, dissuading her from following after me. Pushing the door open, I rush in and my mouth falls open with what I see in front of me.
The sight I meet it's not something I would wish for my enemy. My mother lays sprawled on the ground, a side of her head split open and blood gushing out of it. My father is standing on top of her, face pale with shock. He sees me staring at him and retreats quickly, stuttering for words. All I can do is stare at my mother's lifeless body, forever imprinted in my mind and one sole sentence repeating in my head.
Dad just killed Mom. Dad just killed Mom.
It feels like my heart has stopped beating and I can't breathe. A voice keeps screaming Mom But I don't think it's me. Something in me dies, and a cool rage sweeps over me, its acidity burning any emotions I may have left. I hear Emma cry and Sophie banging the door behind me but I don't budge, not wanting them to see or experience what I just felt. Someone has to protect them from the monster that is our father, even if it means becoming one myself. I glare at my father, unshed tears brimming in my eyes, a corner of my curls upwards but I know it's not forming a smile. He sees it and his eyes widen further, threatening to fall out of its sockets.
This is my life now, forever changed by one moment of senseless violence. I have officially begun on the path of destruction. . . . I jerk awake from my paralytic nightmare drenched in sweat and panting. Another nightmare, even more, vivid than the last one. Unable to move, unable to breathe. Blood on the floor, Blood on my hands. If I close my eyes, I can still my mother lying on the ground, blood spewing out from her head, my father standing over her, the shock on his face. I let out a soundless scream, my heart breaking all over again.
