VALERIE

Three

Blood stained his gray shirt from the inside until the outside of the material was soaked in the red mushy liquid.

Against the bathtub he hoisted his weight on it to lift up his shirt, the small cut wounds were bleeding dramatically.

Cuts ran from his stomach in small stripes from a knife someone took out and used during the fight.

"Nick oh my God!" The shocked Lily exclaimed rushing in the restroom, she proceeded to crouch in front of the semi conscious teenager, the sight of the blood coming from his mouth and abdomen caught the registered nurse off guard, but she knew it wasn't that bad compared to other times he'd come home broken, bloodied or bruised.

After all she was used to seeing him so physically hurt.

"I heard screaming."

Nick heard the gruff voice of his idiotic father approaching.

"For fucks sake Nicholas." His father Al commented with a slight chuckle.

"Al, call an ambulance he needs stitches." Lily said calmly standing up from the floor, she rummaged though the medicine cabinet for gauze and alcohol until she found them below the sink.

"Ambulance?" He jeered watching Lily search underneath the sink.

"Yes, he's bleeding bad." She said fiercely dropping some things onto the floor on accident while she took other supplies out.

"Let him bleed out." Al snorted leaning against the restrooms doorway.

"Al, call the fucking ambulance." Lily urged her boyfriend as she crouched in front of Nick again.

"He's worthless Lil, look at him, he's always in those stupid gang fights of his and he never learns, he's a lost cause." Al replied sticking his hands into his front pockets, looking up at him, Lily wasn't content she bit her tongue before she continued to talk.

"Please." She asked turning back to Nick she dabbed the alcohol doused cotton ball on his wounds, rolling his eyes Al disappeared from the doorway.

Being conscious and hearing everything, Nick didn't care what his dad said at all because he didn't give two fucks about him and he knew that he was right.

He was no good.

An 18 year old with a past of arrests and trouble making.

An 18 year old with no hope.

An 18 year old with no life worth living.

An 18 year old with a death wish.

It was all true, Nick wanted out but if he was going to go out he would do it in a stupid act of rebellion, it's one of the main reasons he took up street fighting.

He thought that street fighting would eventually end up killing him, but it almost never did he was usually just beaten up until maybe something was fractured or broken but most of the times he was always won the fights.

"Ambulance will be here soon." Al reappeared, for a while he watched his girlfriend heal his son before he disappeared again.

"You'll be fine Nicky." She cooed with a reassuring look across her oval face.
He never understood how a young 22 year old girl like Lily lasted 6 years with an unbearable excuse for a man who was his 52 year old father.

Nick never could understand, Lily is so attractive and young while his father was short, fat, and bald.

Plus the fucking age difference.

Regardless minutes later the ambulance arrived and paramedics treated Nick for his wounds then and there.

His wounds being a concussion to the head, small infected cuts, and getting a few stitches on the left corner of his bottom lip.

//

Now alone, in the comfort of his own bedroom he laid on his large bed texting on the new phone that he ordered two weeks ago.

"Knock knock." Lily said knocking on the door, sitting up Nick smiled up at her and she returned it.

"You okay?" Nick asked noticing how red her face was getting,

"Fine." She croaked wiping a tear from her left eye with her finger.

"You sure don't seem fine." Nick teased the young woman.

"Nick, I just, I-"

"You little fuck!"

Both Nick and Lily could hear the heavy footsteps coming up the stairs.

"I want you out." Al came in pushing his girlfriend gently to the side, Nick stood up from his bed and walked over to his short father.

"What the fuck did I do this time?" Nick said with a devilish smirk spread across his sharp face.

"You deleted Duck Dynasty off of the DVR, and I know you did so don't even lie." Al looked up at Nick in disgust, scoffing Nick backed away to his bed and flopped right back down.

"Out Nicholas." Al warned,

"Shut up Al, you always try to find ways to kick him out." Lily said grabbing onto her boyfriends arm.

"Baby, he deleted it." Al mumbled under his breath as he was being dragged out by Lily.

"But baby nothing." She said closing Nick's bedroom door with her free hand.

Tossing in his bed Nick frowned at the picture he had on his night stand, her wide reckless smile she had looked just like Nick's own smile and the sadness in her gray eyes resembled his.

His mother.

Petunia Young left her ex-husband (Al) when Nick was 6 years old, everything seemed to be going good and then one day she just disappeared, only leaving behind a note and a key for Nick.

After his mom left, Nick's father began treating him awfully, even neglecting him.

 Nick would never hear from his mother unless it was his birthday or Christmas where she'd write him letters and send money.

But the letters stopped coming once he turned 9 and he never heard from her since.

So there he was left alone with his father, with no real happiness whatsoever.

And now even though it's been 12 years since he last saw her and 9 years since he last heard from her, he had always still wanted to see her and just start over with her, and that's a major reason on why he is who he is today.

He never grew up with love.

He didn't believe in such word, because love in his eyes was bullshit, everything he had ever loved had left him and that's why he didn't believe in that fucking word.

That one word with 4 letters that whenever he thought of them made him angry beyond reasonable belief.

But still, he wanted to see his mother and make amends, it was the only thing he wanted and hopefully if he ever saw her one more time he'd tell her how fucked up he is in the head only to hope that she'd tell him that it will all be alright.

Then maybe, just maybe, he'd stop his path to self destruction.