The Things You Did For Me

Chapter 3: STILL BREATHING

He didn't sleep very well that night...he didn't sleep at all actually. The thought of what he had heard haunted him. It ruined him. The next morning he got ready for school and headed out the door in search for Norma. She wasn't sitting on his front porch as she usually was. He thought she might be running late so he waited in the car for her, but she never showed up. As the time for school neared, his anxiety overtook him. He knew he couldn't go knocking on her front door. It wasn't like her parents even cared whether or not she was safe. Alex glared at the exterior of her house as he pulled out of his driveway. That house was her prison, and she was serving a life-long sentence.

He searched through the trees and alleys as he passed through town on his way to school. He wasn't so afraid of what had happened to her...he was more afraid of what she'd do to herself afterwards. At a red light, he turned and gazed at the old movie theatre marquee..."Strangers on a Train". It was Norma's favorite movie. They had seen it about a hundred times. As the light turned green, Alex pulled into a spot down the street and walked up to the box office, buying a ticket for the movie. He typically wasn't one to skip school, but he wasn't sure if he could face John alone.

As he climbed the steps to the back of the theater, he spotted a familiar face illuminated from the light of the flashing screen. She peered at him with glassy blue eyes as he approached her. "How'd you know I'd be here?"

He smiled softly, taking the seat next to her. "I didn't." He kept his eyes trained on the screen. For as much as he wanted to be mad at her for ditching him yesterday, he couldn't ever stay mad at her. She was his source for happiness. He needed her. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I overreacted."

She shook her head lightly. "Alex—"

"No, Norma, I did." He gazed at her, watching as the colors changed shape on her face. "I'm glad that you've found someone else. It's good for you—John's good for you."

She stared at him with mild disbelief before allowing her head to fall to his shoulder. They didn't say a word after that. They didn't have to. The movie started and ended within a couple of hours. They walked about the town until it was time to go home. Alex never said a word about what he had heard. He never would. He walked Norma to her doorstep and cringed as she stepped inside the house that killed her. He knew he couldn't save her. No one could.

As he made his way to his doorstep, he heard a couple of loud screams. It blew over him like an light breeze. It wasn't anything new to him. He learned to ignore the broken parts of his parents' marriage. He sat on the foot on his porch and waited for the screams to cease. He hated that he had lost all will to fight his father. He hated that he had no motivation to save his mother. There wasn't anything he could do. He was powerless.

Norma entered her house to find her mother passed out on couch, a bottle of vodka fallen from her limp hand, as usual. Her father wasn't home yet but he would be soon. It didn't matter anyway, because tonight she had plans with John. She went into her room to get changed and flipped on her curling iron. She smiled at herself in the mirror. She felt like the prettiest girl in the world. She moved over to her radio and let it play faintly in the background as she began to curl her hair.

The sudden opening of her door caused her to jump. Her heart sank when she saw who it was. She hated him with every fiber of her being. There wasn't anything he could do to change that. She glared at him as he shut the door behind him. He could never look her in the eye. He stood behind her and ran his hands down her shoulders. She could feel the tears begin to well in her eyes. He had committed the ultimate betrayal. She loved him more than anyone and he betrayed her. She couldn't trust anyone because of him. She only ever had Alex. She wished she had Alex now, but she knew Alex didn't stand a chance against Caleb. No one did. Her body shook as he entered new territory. "Caleb, please," she whimpered, her voice barely audible even beneath the faint music.

He ignored her request as usual and continued on his original journey. This was what death felt like to Norma. She lost a part of herself each time. She didn't know who she was anymore. She jumped at the sound of the front door slamming shut, the hot iron striking her bare leg. She screamed out in agony, tears streaming down her face. She peered at her father's face in the doorway.

"What the hell is going on in here?"

She could feel her heart breaking with each breath she took. "Nothing," she muttered softly, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

He glared at her in annoyance. "Good." He turned and left the doorway, Caleb following after him. She was just an inconvenience to him. She was inconvenience to everyone...everyone but Alex.

After a moment of silence, Alex's father came out and pushed his way out to his car, getting in and speeding off. Alex stood up and went inside the house. He picked up the overturned lamp and made his way down the hall towards the light shining from the bathroom. He could hear the cap pop off of a pill bottle along with the rustle of pills and a rush of water from the sink. He saw his mother's reflection in the mirror. She had been beaten black and blue, so much to the point that her face was barely recognizable. Alex swallowed hard, the sight of her ripping at every vein in his body. "What?" she grumbled. He stood speechless, his eyes trained on her reflection. She rolled her eyes and slammed the door.

"I'm sorry," he muttered though he knew she couldn't hear him. "I'm sorry."