Poison

Chapter 10

"C'mon. Lets get you home."

I felt a chill go through me when he referred to Karen's as "home" but I shook it off. Once we began driving I realized something. The school would probably notify Karen that I ditched class. She'd be furious. Normally when Karen slapped me around it was because I annoyed her. But this time she would actually have a reason to slap the shit out of me. My knee started to bounce and my heart started to race. I felt my palms start to sweat as I tried to listen to the soft hum of music from the car radio to find some sort of comfort. Harry noticed my nervous fidgeting. He put his hand on my knee to stop it from bouncing.

"Calm down. I'm not going to do anything to you." I shook my head.

"It's not you I'm worried about." I said in such a small voice I'm surprised he heard me.

"Then what?" He asked as we approached a red light. I didn't answer. He looked out the front windshield for a moment when he nodded his head slowly in understanding.

"It's Karen isn't it?" He said in a low voice. I brought my knees to my chest to hide the tears that began to spill over. Harry rubbed my back as he started to drive.

"What did she do to make you so afraid of her? I'm way bigger than you and you don't seem the slightest bit afraid of me like everyone else is." I didn't answer.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on." He said as he parked in front Karen's house. I wiped my eyes on my shirt and looked back at him with a fake smile.

"I'll be fine. I'm just a little tired." I said in a mechanic voice. Harry gave me a look as if he was frightened. Whether he was frightened for me or of me, I'm not sure. I turned around and began walking towards the house. I saw what looked like Karen standing in the living room. I was screwed and I knew it. I turned back to see that Harry had not driven off. He had his eyes fixed on me. He seemed to be waiting for something. I motioned for him to leave before she noticed.

"ALEX!" I turned around sharply and noticed Karen was not in the living room anymore. Now she was standing in the door way.

"Who are you talking to?" She said in a very sober voice. It was worse than I thought. Drunk Karen was bad. But sober Karen was stronger, more vindictive and had better aim. I shook my head and said

"no one." She motioned for me to come inside. When I didn't move she calmly put an arm around me (no doubt in my mind that her kindness was all an act just in case the neighbors were watching) and lead me in the door. Then I heard Harry's car leave the parking spot. I sighed in relief. At least he wouldn't have to see this. As soon as the door closed behind us, Karen pushed me into the side of the couch, making me fall onto it awkwardly. As I tried to get up, she pulled me off of the couch by my hair. I screamed as she pulled at my curls to drag me onto the floor. She let go of my hair and allowed my head to hit the wood floor. I recovered quickly and got on my hands and knees as I tried to stand up. But she put her heel on my back and pushed me down.

"You know I try to be nice to you." She said as she kicked my side. "But you keep doing stupid shit!" She grabbed my hair again an pulled me to a standing position. She brought her hand back and slapped me hard across the face, causing me to fall onto the dinning room table and knock over the bottle of vodka she had been drinking from the day before. I landed on the ground a few inches away from the glass and leaned on the leg of one of the dinning room chairs.

"Fucking bitch!" She yelled as she looked at the broken glass.

"Clean this shit up." She said before she grabbed my hair again from the roots and slammed it into the chair I was leaning on. I began to cry. I didn't make any sounds or change my facial expression. I just allowed tears to slip from my eyes but kept my face clean of emotion. I wasn't going to get mad or fight back. I was stronger than that. I could handle a couple slaps here and there. Especially if every slap I received, was one Chapin wouldn't.

I picked myself up off the floor and walked to the pantry to get the dust pan. I picked it up off the hanger on the wall and took it back to where I'd knocked over the bottle. I swept the shards into the pan and disposed of them in the trash can in the kitchen. I put the dustpan back an walked up to my bedroom. I peaked into Chapin's room and saw she was asleep. But when I looked closer I noticed she had tears on her cheek. She must've heard the fight downstairs and started crying. I walked over and took a seat on the edge of her bed, being careful not to wake her. I wiped the tears from her cheek and felt my own overtake me. I put my head in my hands as I sobbed. I didn't show anyone in this house my emotions except for Chapin. She was the only person I let behind the walls I had up to hide myself from everyone else.

I wiped my face and stood up from her bed. I kissed her forehead and walked over to a notepad she had on her bedside table. I ripped a piece I paper out, got a pen, and wrote her a note to make her smile in the morning. I wrote:

"Good Morning Chapin, I know you probably heard some stuff downstairs that scared you. But remember, just like you, I'm a fighter. I'm fine and I love you soooo much. I'll see you tomorrow. Stay safe! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you!"

I put the note under her pillow and quietly made my way to the attic. I'd take a shower in the morning. I had a headache that I knew was going to be a bitch to get rid of. I stripped off and put on some comfy PJs. I slipped into bed and, despite the head splitting head ached, fell asleep.