Dangerous black ties

Flashback

Dexter glared at me.

I roll my eyes and look at my phone to see rental properties.

"What are you doing?" Jermery asks me.

"Are you talking to me?" I ask him.

"Yes, are you going to answer my question?" He asks me, causing a few of them to look at me.

"What are you talking about?" I ask him if he is still looking at rental properties.

When suddenly the phone was ripped from my hands, Jermery slid it into his pocket.

"What the heck? Give it back." I say, holding out my hand.

"Nah, I don't think I will, because that didn't seem like reading to me, Mer." He says he is taking a drink of beer.

"What are you talking about, Jeremy?" Dexter asks him, arching his brow.

"Do you want to tell him, or should I?" He asks me while he stares at me intently.

"What's the big deal? Mr. Bossy Pants over here says it's not safe for me to go back to my house. I'm not going to stay here forever, so I'm looking for rental properties." I say sassy.

"Mer." Edison's tone was fixed.

I look at him and say, "Okay, so Mr. Bossy's pants were rude, but still, I can't stay here being a leech." I tell him defensively.

"Meredith! I'm sure calling yourself a leech is worse than calling yourself a burden. If I had any problem with you being here, I would tell you. You will stop saying things like that immediately." He scolds me.

"Can I have my phone back?" I asked Jeremy.

"No. Certainly not after what you just said about yourself." He scolds me.

"Geez, Louise," I mumbled.

"Great, Now I'm bored again," I said, glaring at him again.
He just shrugs.

The game gets intense, and the man I know as Tanner slams his beer bottle on the table and yells at the TV.

Causing me to flinch in fear.

As a flashback hits me:
"Where is my whiskey? Did you move it, you bitch?!" My dad screamed, booming.

"What? No. I didn't move anything. I'll help you look for it." I say, setting my bag down.

"I don't need you to help look for it; you are the one who moved it in the first place!" He slams his beer bottle on the table. Making me stumble back.

"I didn't move it, I swear." I am pleading with him.

He makes quick strides toward me, grabbing me by my arm and pulling me close to his body. He punches my side roughly. A hiss leaves my lips as my body falls over from the sudden sensation.

He kicks my calf, making me fall as he kicks my back a couple of times. Screams leave my mouth, and sobs fill the air. He puts his burning cigarette out on my upper arm. Let out a painful cry.

He finally stomps my arm hard.

Pain is radiating from my whole body.

"Don't touch my shit again!" He yells before storming off and slamming his door closed behind him.

I lay there on the ground crying, wielding myself to get up. My body is not responding. My face was wet from crying.

Slowly and agonizingly, I get up. I headed to my room, attempting to grasp my arm to soothe the pain. Pulling my hand away whenever my hand makes contact causes pain radiating from the contact.
End of flashback:

I blink a couple of times, feeling my face wet. I grab my arm instinctively. I wipe my tears from my face.

I see concern written on all their faces. "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. Sorry for interrupting your game; I'm going to just go back to the room." I say.

"No. Stay with us; you didn't do anything wrong." Dexter says he is almost pleading.

"I'm sorry for being dramatic," I say, looking at my hands.

"Hey, there's nothing to apologize for. Did you get frightened by something one of us did?" Jeremy asks.

"It's not a big deal. It's fine." I am pleading.

"Mer. You looked so scared that you were in your world. It happened right after Tanner slammed his bottle on the table. You had actual tears stream down your face." Edison explains.

"Well, it's just something my dad did," I say to him:

"Well, what did he do that has you so scared? Don't say anything because everyone here has seen your file. We cannot help or not do things if it frightens you." Alex says all their intimidating faces are soft, as if not to frighten me.

"Just before he hurt my arm and burned me with his cigarette, he slammed his beer on the table; it just scared me. I'm sorry." I mumbled softly, looking down, avoiding their gazes. My eyes were watering in humiliation once again.

I do notice all the lit cigarettes being put out immediately.

"He burned you with his cigarettes," Alex asks me, unaware of everything he's done to me.

"Yeah," I replied.
"Mer, you are safe here; none of us would ever dream of hurting you, and if someone got tired, they would have a very hard time having to get through all of us," Edison says.

"You all have seen my file?" I ask them.
Nods of hesitation.

"It's not that bad; he hasn't always been like this," I say

"Well, I'd say he's been like that to you since you were 16—almost 8 years based on various degrees of healing of old injuries," Jermery says

"That's 1/3 of your life; the man who was supposed to love and protect did the opposite. Is that why it's so hard for you to let people help you and take care of you?" Dexter says.

"Nobody needs to take care of me. I have taken care of myself since I was 16," I tell him, looking away.

"Doesn't that get tiring?" Edison asks me.

I shrug in response.

He just sighs.

"You know, Mer, you don't have a choice anymore,"Jeremy responds.

"Well, obviously, you are a doctor, right? It's your job to care for people." I say