CHAPTER 2
…“Emily, I thought I heard screa-“my dad said as he opened the door and switched on the light of my room. His eyes froze the minute he saw Harry laying on top of me. We’ve been caught.
…
I’m laid still on my bed extremely shocked that my dad had just figured out what I’ve been keeping from him, for the past 6 months. My stomach is filled with knots and I feel nauseous. I took a quick glance at Harry and saw how terrified he looked, just by his expression that was plastered on his face. At this point, he got off of me and reached for his clothes piled up on the floor in front of my bed.
“Dad, it’s not what it looks like” I nervously said as I got off my bed and pulled my shirt down to cover my lower body from showing. Harry was fully dressed at this point ready to leave when my father approached him and grabbed him by his shirt. My dad’s fists clenched around Harrys rolling stones t-shirt and deeply stared into his eyes.
“What the fuck are you doing with my daughter?!” my dad yelled inches away from Harry’s face. He was staring directly into my father’s eyes. Harry’s skin turned pale and he kept biting his lower lip, a typical habit he did when he was nervous. His face was wet from sweat and his bouncy curls were a mess.
“Sir, we weren’t doing anything-“he said when suddenly he was rudely interrupted by my father shoving him, making Harry fall back on the carpeted floor. Harry was curled up in a ball as my dad’s foot contacted his stomach, making him escape a loud groan. I stood still in shock watching my father hurt Harry, who was hopelessly lying on the ground as my father kept kicking him. I quickly walked over to my dad, as tears streamed constantly down my face.
“Daddy, please stop hurting him... We didn’t do anything” I said as my voice hitched from the sobs escaping my mouth. My dad furiously turned his head away from Harry and looked directly at me. His eyes were dark. I’ve never seen him like this. For the past three years, I witnessed my dad going through a serious case of depression due to the loss of mum. His face has always been mixed with sadness and hurt, however at this moment, it’s like something in him suddenly changed. Just like the way Harry changed the day he got arrested, when something in him suddenly snapped.
My father slowly lifted his hand and hit it my wet cheek, the force of the hit making my face turn. I led out a loud shriek and fell on the floor. My hands immediately covered my sore red cheek while I loudly cried on the floor. This was the first time my father has ever hit me. He never laid a finger on my brother or I, since he believed it wasn’t an appropriate way to discipline us. I continued crying on the floor, when I suddenly looked up towards my bedroom door and saw my little brother William standing frightened by the doorway, staring directly at me.
“Emily?” he whispered. I could tell he was scared just by the sound of his voice. He probably woke up from all of the screaming coming from my bedroom. William was only five years old, so for him witnessing my dad hitting me for the first time was shocking for him. Personally, it was shocking for me as well.
“William, go back to bed honey. Everything’s fine” I replied to him, giving him a weak smirk to show him that everything was fine, when obviously it wasn’t. I replied to him the same way my dad had responded to me the day of mum’s funeral when I asked him if we were gonna pull through. “Everything‘s fine Emily…We’re gonna be ok” he said.
I watched as my little brother walk nervously back to his room never removing his eye contact with mine. When he reached to the end of the hall, just in front of his room, he stayed there leaning on his doorway looking frightened at me. As I lay on the floor with my painful cheek, I couldn’t believe how this perfect evening had suddenly become my worst nightmare.
