Save Haven

15 - Moms questioning

It has been a cold winter day. My little sister Joseline had put a load of snow in my fathers shoes, after he once again screamed at my mother. After that she came into my room, crawling under the covers with me. It didn't take long for my father to follow. He normally went out in the evening to drink and feeling the cold snow in his shoes must have ticked him off. Storming into my room, he crashed the door into the wall, breaking through with the handle.

He grabbed me by my ankle, pulling me out of bed. I crashed on the floor, only to then be snatch upward by my hair. I could feel my hair being ripped out of my head, screaming in pain. My scream made Josie whimper under the blankets, ticking off my father even more. He pulled the blanket away, causing Josie to crawl to the headboard.

"You little piece of shit!" He yelled. "Putting snow into my shoes like a goddamn child. Have I not raised you right?" I could see Josie opening her mouth to speak, but I was faster. "I am sorry dad."

"Sorry?" His voice tripped over the vocals. "How do you think I will get to the bar with wet shoes?" He pushed me down, nestling with the buckle of his belt. "Take you shirt off, you unthankful little girl!" I obeyed him, knowing full well, what was about to happen. Josie tried to run towards the door, but my father caught her, throwing her onto the bed. "You stay here and watch, so you can learn what it means to misbehave."

Kneeling on the ground I waited for the first hit. The first time the belt caught my skin I screamed in pain, crumbling down to the floor. But my father was relentless. Hitting me over and over again. I could feel my skin ripping on different places. The blood trickling down my back, soaking the waistband of my pajamas.

"Dad stop!" Josie cried. "She is bleeding!" But my dad ignored her. Hitting me even harder, after he heard my sisters cries. The wet sound of leather hitting my bleeding back and the enormous pain it caused, started to affect my mind. I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness. The edges of my sight blackening more and more.

Until it went all black.

My mothers hand on my arm, ripped me back to reality. Startled I raised my hand to push the hand away, only to realize it was my mom. She shrieked back out of instinct, causing me to pull her close. "I am sorry. I didn't want to scare you. You just startled me." She pushed me away, taking my face in her hands. "What were you thinking about?" I sighted. "Nothing really."

"I know you are lying. Tell me. I am your mother." She pressed on. I squeezed the top of my nose. "Just the night, dad nearly killed me."

I could see the fear and horror flashing through her eyes, before she answered. "He what? Why didn't you tell me?" I sat down looking onto the marble countertop. "Would it have changed anything? I was eleven. You were far too dependent on him to do anything. I didn't want to worry you."

"What did he do to you?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper, cracking in the end. I still couldn't look at her, when I told her: "Josie put snow in his shoes as a revenge when he hit you again. Then she hid in my room. Dad went after her, not knowing who was it that ruined his shoes, so I took the blame. He beat me with his belt, I blacked out at some point. The next thing I remember is Josie washing of blood from my back and an amount of pain I had never felt before..."

"That's were your scars come from?" My mother whispered, reaching out to touch my back, but I backed away from her. "I am so sorry, Aubrey. So, so sorry. For everything I didn't do." Her voice broke in the end, tears spilling from her eyes. Instantly I felt the need to take care of her. "Its alright mom. You did what you could. I mean look at us. You raised two strong girls and are about to make an even better one out of Emilia. That day, dad made a huge mistake. He should have made sure to kill me, because the only thing I learned that evening was, how less he cared about us. That's why I begged you to sign me in for martial arts. I thought if he didn't have a problem killing his own daughter, I might as well take him with me."