Like Father, Like Daughter. // Mike Fuentes

//one//

(Brogan)
I started to shake as I got up to the door. I stood there for a minute then I knocked. The door swung open and a man smiled at me. "Oh, hello, sweetheart." He said, I looked at him and said, "H-Hi, um, are you Mike?" I asked. "Yes, I'm Mike. Who might you be?" "My name is Brogan," I paused to give him the letter. "That's from my m-mom." I stuttered, he frowned slightly and allowed me to come inside. He opened the letter and read it.

Mike, Well I bet you want a reason why there is a teenage girl at your door step. The reason why she is there is because, I died. When we broke up I found out I was pregnant with Brogan. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to ruin your life with a kid that you probably didn't want. She was my rock, she has kept me going for the last 17 years. Please, Mike. Please, keep her safe. In the last few years, she has been in so much pain. Especially this last month, (May). It was her 15th birthday and we really couldn't do anything because we were in the hospital. She needs you, Mike. She hasn't been stable lately. If you can get her to warm up to you she'll tell you the hell she has went through. I'm sorry that you had to find out about her this way. Please don't be mad at her. -Kate

"Oh my god." Then three others walked into the room. "Who's the kid?" The short one asked as a guy who was covered in tattoos walked up to me. "Hello, beautiful." He said. "Hi." I replied. "I'm Jaime." Another guy said. "This is Brogan...remember when I dated Kate? Well she was pregnant when we broke up. Brogan is my daughter." Mike said, the short one looked up. "Have you told Eve?" "Uh...no..." Mike said, I looked down. "Oh, I'm Tony by the way." The guy from earlier said. "Well, uh, nice to meet you, Tony." I said to him. "I think you should call her, man." Shorty said, he looked over at me and said; "So, tell us about yourself..." "Well, I'm 15 and I have no friends." I said. "What kind of music do you listen to?" Tony asked. "Well, uh, punk rock, alternative, metal. Stuff like that." I said. "Yes!" Jaime yelled, as Mike walked in the room. "My girlfriend will be over in a few minutes...you okay with that, Brogan?" Mike asked, I looked at my hands. "U-Uh, sure." I stuttered. "Don't worry, she's super chill. She's my sister so I would know." Jaime said. "Jaime is right, you have nothing to worry about." Shorty said. "Oh okay." I mumbled as the front door opened. "Hey, babe." Eve said then kissed Mike, Jaime started to making gagging noises, she pulled away and mimicked Jaime.

"Hey boys." She said as I laughed slightly and shook my head. "Hey, Brogan. Want to get a tattoo sometime? You seem pretty chill." She said, I looked up at her and said; "I was going to get a new tattoo but I never got around to it." She smiled, "Yes! Let's go tomorrow, sound good?" I nodded and said; "Yeah." "I think you two are going to get along just fine." Mike piped up. Jaime poked Eve and she tackled him. "Oh shit." Mike, Tony and Shorty said. "Don't annoy her or she'll basically kill you." Tony told me, I nodded and said; "Some kid in 8th grade annoyed me so bad that he ended up the the hospital with a broken nose, jaw and wrist." Mike walks over to Eve and Jaime to break up the fight, "Okay, okay. That's enough." "NO! Let me finish him!" Eve yelled. Jaime sticks his tongue out at her. "Calm yourself." I said as Eve gave me a high-five. When she walked back near Mike, I pulled my sweater sleeves over my knuckles. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Eve asked. "Uh, sure?" I said as we walked upstairs. We walked into someone's room, Mike's room probably. She locked the door so no one could get in. "Roll up your sleeves, please?" She asked, I looked at the floor and simply said; "No." She sighed and rolled up her sleeves and saw that deep cuts littered her arms. "I understand...I won't tell anyone. I promise." She said as I rolled up my sweater sleeves.

Deep cuts, burns, and bruises littering. Her eyes start to water. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," she said as she pulled me into the hug. "Let's try and stay strong together, okay? You can talk to me anytime, sweetheart." She told me. "I-I don't want to g-go back." I mumbled to myself. "Where, baby?" She asked. "T-To his house, he hurt me." I told her. She held me a little tighter and said; "I've got you, sweetheart. He'll never touch you again. Mike, Vic, Tony, Jaime and I will protect you. I promise he'll never touch you as long as we're around." My breathing got slower. She pulled away from the hug and looked at me. "You okay?" She asked. "Yeah. I'm okay. Everything is okay, I-I'm just anxious." I told her. "It's okay...do you wanna talk about it?" "Sure." I said. "I'll start with my story. Then you can tell me yours..." She told me.

Here's her story; "I remember the first cut I ever made. It was the first time my dad ever hit me... eventually my mom stopped caring and left my dad and Jaime and I. He became more abusive over time and I was being bullied a lot in school. Dad wouldn't let Jaime protect me... I was all alone and loneliness eats you up, you can't survive on your own. You can't keep your feelings locked up or you'll explode. Eventually, Jaime was old enough to legally move out and he took me with him. We ran away from my dad. And every night, I get scared that he'll come back and I won't be able to get away so easily next time. I basically cut out of stress and from my past that hasn't healed yet." She told me, I hugged her. She hugged back and eventually pulled away. "So, tell me your story." She said.

Here's my story; "Well, when I was 5 my mom started to date a man named, Jack. He was nice at first then when I was 6 the rape and abuse started. My mom tried to stop him whenever he would hit me, she would get hit as well. I felt like it was all my fault, when I was 11 I started to cut. My mom ended up going to the hospital for a month and that's when other guys started to rape me also. When my mom came home she walked in on me getting raped and she took me to a hotel and we had to stay there for awhile. Last year he found my mom and I. It was worse then the last time. It went on til last month when he got arrested then my mom and I got rushed to the hospital, where my mom died and I had to stay there to recover. Now I'm here." I said. "Oh my god." Eve said pulling me into a hug. "You're so strong, baby. I'm always here for you, I won't let anyone hurt you." "Promise?" "Promise." She said. "Okay, want to go downstairs so they know we didn't kill each other?" I asked, she chuckled and replied with a quick 'yeah.' I opened the door and ran downstairs, Eve followed me. I sat next to Tony and made sure my sweater sleeves were down. "You guys okay?" Mike asked, Eve nodded, "Yup. Hey were did Vic go?" She asked, Mike replied, "He had to go somewhere with his boyfriend." "He's going to tap dat ass, isn't he?" I asked.

Mike spit out his drink. "Oh my god." Tony laughs, Jaime and Eve looked at each other then burst out laughing. "I'm being serious, I don't why you guys be laughing." "We're laughing because you're probably right." Jaime said, I messed with my sweater sleeves and said; "True." Eve put her head on Mike's shoulder and Tony smiled at me. "You brought your stuff right?" He asked, I pointed to a small duffel bag. Tony nodded and Eve checked the time. "Holy shit, it's 10:30. I'm tired as fuck, I'm going to bed." She said and kissed Mike and hugged the rest of us. She walked upstairs. I put my head on Tony's shoulder and he wrapped his arm around me. "Awe Mike, look at them!" Jaime said, I blushed and hid my face in Tony's chest. Jaime started to laugh, probably at Mike.
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word count; 1501