Silenced

Chapter 6

Billie Joe stayed in his room all afternoon. His mom was working until midnight that day, so he was left alone with Steve. Billie had crept up stairs past Steve when he came in from school, and he hasn't left his room since.

While being in his room, Billie wrote a few songs. More like tried to write a few songs. There was no emotion that he could get out, nothing at all. Everything was trapped inside him and blocked off by a huge wall of uncertainty leaving him numb and hopeless.

Billie Joe sighed as his stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten dinner, and he had missed half of lunch after staying in the bathroom with Mike. The noises that came from his stomach only grew, but so did his fear of facing Steve.

Steve hadn't touched him all day, and Billie thought that he just might get through the night without getting punched and kicked by someone that wasn't even related to him. Legally, he was, but Billie Joe would never consider Steve to be family.

More rumbles came from Billie's already flat stomach. Finally finding it no longer bearable, Billie Joe rose to his feet and headed for the door, planning on sneaking down into the kitchen and grabbing something to eat before Steve even had time to notice.

Billie Joe opened his door slowly before peaking around it, making sure that Steve wouldn't catch him roaming the halls so late at night. That would only make things worse. Discovering that the coast was clear, Billie tiptoed down the hall.

When Billie Joe got to the creaky stairs, he took each one carefully. He didn't want to cause any sudden noises that would draw attention towards him. The last thing he wanted was attention from Steve.

Billie finally reached the bottom of the anxiety causing stairs and went around the corner towards his beloved destination. The kitchen.

The tile was cold against Billie Joe's feet as he stepped into the confined space. He could hear the television in the living room right next to the kitchen. Billie still went slowly, although he still had his hopes that Steve had fallen asleep on the couch.

With chips being the only thing Billie Joe could quickly snatch, he reached up on the top shelf and grabbed them. He pulled them down quickly and tucked them to his side before he whirled around, intending to head for the door. That was until he ran into a large, built body.

That body happened to belong to Steve, and he didn't look happy to see Billie Joe sneaking around in hopes of getting some food into his stomach. In fact, he looked furious, a cigarette held loosely between his lips.

Billie gasped in surprise and fear as he dropped the much wanted bag of chips on the floor.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Steve growled at Billie as he charged towards him.

Billie Joe stood helpless as Steve grabbed a hold of his shirt collar and pushed him against the wall behind him. He pinned Billie to the hard surface as he puffed a cloud of smoke in Billie Joe's face, his eyes narrowed in anger.

Billie whimpered as Steve continued to hold him against the wall.

"Were you sneaking around?! Were you trying to get by me without me seeing?! Trying to steal food?!" Steve shouted into Billie Joe's face.

Billie Joe reached his hands up and covered his ears at his stepfather's loud screams. This only caused him to be slammed against the wall behind him yet again before he was thrown on the floor.

He pulled himself into a ball just as Steve reached down and grabbed his dark hair. Steve yanked Billie to his feet by his curly locks. Billie Joe cried out in pain as he was pulled out of the kitchen, Steve leading the way.

"Think you can disrespect me and MY rules?! What fuck gave you the right to come out of your room this late?! Let alone get food?!" Steve said as he pushed Billie Joe into the stairs, which were only a few feet away from the kitchen.

Billie didn't even try to fight back as he was slammed against the creaky stairs. He only tried to block himself from whatever punishment his stepdad was willing to give him.

Steve took his large hands and began to rip Billie Joe's shirt as Billie remained held down against the stairs. His shirt was ripped all the way through revealing his chest.

"Was it worth it, you little bastard?! Huh? Was it?" Steve growled as he watched Billie Joe whimper in confusion.

Before Billie Joe could even wonder about what Steve was planning on doing, Steve simply took the burning cigarette out of his mouth and and brought the lit end to Billie's chest.

Billie screamed out in excruciating pain as the cigarette burned through his flesh. The sizzling sound that came from the action was no help to the wave of shock that went through Billie's whole body.

"Stop!" Billie Joe screamed at Steve.

His stepdad finally pulled the cigarette away from Billie's burning skin cells just to lay the cancer stick on another spot on Billie Joe's chest. Billie Joe cried out again and began to twist and turn his body under Steve's firm hold, trying anything he could to get out of Steve's hands.

Steve only watched and evilly smiled at the amount of pain that not only showed in Billie's face, but in his body movements. Billie wanted so desperately for Steve to stop, but that only made Steve want to do it more. Want to put him through more pain.

"Please, stop!"

The cigarette was yet again lifted from Billie Joe's skin and moved to another spot on his chest. The previous burns emitted the smell of dead flesh as the skin turned black and began to blister.

Steve repeated the process until there were five painfully noticeable burns on Billie's chest. All spread out, all just as bad as the one made before it. Every single burn was blistering and dark.

"Maybe that'll teach you a lesson, faggot," Steve hissed before he stood up and released his hold on Billie Joe.

Billie's stepfather walked away from him like the scene never happened and headed for the living room. He disappeared into the dim light just as Billie Joe jumped up and ran up the stairs, not wasting one second to get away from Steve.

When Billie Joe got into his room, he turned around and locked the door behind him before leaning against the door as if it would keep out a fire breathing dragon. In his mind, it did, and it made him feel somewhat protected as he slid down the door into a sitting position.

Billie Joe looked down at his ripped shirt and multiple burn marks. He knew they would scar. He knew someone would notice. He knew someone would ask. He knew he wouldn't be able to tell them.

Billie silently pulled himself into a protective ball as he tried to ignore the extreme stinging sensation coming from his chest. Instead, he closed his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep on the hard, thin carpeted floor. He didn't bother to even crawl over to his reasonably comfortable bed.

That night Billie Joe went to sleep feeling numb, no longer having an appetite after the traumatizing event.