Don't Speak

Chapter 23

Hey y’all… this chapter is kind of sad so tell me what you thought of Brae’s life as a little girl! Please VOTE, COMMENT, AND FAN!

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Chapter 23

                Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and braced myself for the wave of painful memories. “Once there was a little girl. She was a happy little girl, always talking. Nobody knew, but she had an evil mother. Her mom was a cruel lady but she hid it flawlessly in front of people. Everybody, except her daughter.

                “The evil mother hated her daughter. She was absolutely furious whenever her little girl would talk, especially without permission. So furious that she would beat her.” Liam’s arms tightened around me and I glanced up. His jaw was clenched and I could tell that he was forcing himself to be calm.

                Smiling slightly, I went on to the good part of the story. “The little girl didn’t know why her mother hated her so much. She compensated for the times that her mother wouldn’t let her talk at school. It was the first day of kindergarten when she met the cutest little boy. He had jet black hair and incredible green eyes. Most of the other girls in the class had a crush on the boy, but not the little girl. To her, the little boy was the best friend she had. In fact, he was the reason she could deal with what her mother was doing.”

                I saw the corners of Liam’s lips lift momentarily and I smiled slightly on the inside. The smile was wiped clean, however, when I started my story again. “One day, when the little girl was seven she was home alone. Her dad, who had no idea what a witch his wife was, was staying overnight at the firehouse where he worked. The little girl was dancing around the living room singing her favorite song.

                “Suddenly, the front door banged open and the little girl’s mom and a strange man tumbled in. The man was holding an almost empty bottle and both of them were stumbling around and slurring their words. The little girl was so frightened that she tried to run upstairs. She was shaking so much that she tripped on the corner of a rug in the living room.

                “Both the adults heard her and caught her before she could run away. Her mom slapped her and told her that it wasn’t nice to spy on people. The strange man made a comment about how that looked like fun and started to beat the little girl up too. Soon the little girl was black and blue and her mother and the man were tired.

                “She thought they were done so she started to crawl away but her mother noticed and grabbed her ankle, pulling her back. She warned her daughter that if she told anyone, she would regret it. The little girl nodded and crawled her way to her room, where she fell asleep instantly.”

                I shivered, not just from the chilly air and continued recounting my story. “The next day when the little girl’s father got home from the firehouse, he found a letter on the kitchen counter. It said that his wife was having an affair and had finally decided to leave her hell hole of a life behind and start it again with her true love. The man was heartbroken and immediately raced upstairs to see if his little girl was still there. He pounded on her locked door, waking her up. When he heard the little girl’s voice, he calmed down slightly and told her what happened. He tried to get her to come out of her room but she wouldn’t.

                “The little girl stayed in her room for days, only opening the door to go to the bathroom and get the food that her dad had set outside her room for her. Nothing else could make her come out and even then she only came out when she knew she was alone. The little boy who was her best friend came over every day, but not even he could make her come out. Everyone clearly thought that it was because of her mom, but in reality, it was because she didn’t want anyone to see her bruises.”

                Liam winced, but let me continue. “After a week or so, the girl finally came out of her room, to the relief of her dad and the little boy. Her bruises her not completely gone but they were yellowed enough that wearing long sleeves and long pants would cover them nicely. Days passed, but the little girl would not talk. The last time she spoke was when her dad was pounding at her door the day he came home.

                “Ten years passed and still the girl didn’t talk because of her traumatic memories and she was scared to be alone in her house in the dark. The little boy continued to her friend though, and they had sleepovers every Friday night after watching a movie. She watched as the little boy grew up, getting cuter, more popular, and even nicer than before. When both the girl and the boy were 15, a boy named Johnny asked the girl to a dance. She was ecstatic that someone finally liked her and she agreed immediately. The day of the dance though, the boy came up to the girl with bruised knuckles and told her that Johnny was just playing a prank. The girl was crushed and stayed home that night with the boy, eating junk food, watching movies, and crying on his shoulder. The boy was more protective of her since then, and she was thankful.

                “Then, one Saturday in October, the boy and the girl went to pick apples. The girl was being stupid and tried to get an apple that was too high for her to reach on the ladder. She fell, screaming out the boy’s name, and landed on something soft. The boy had saved her.”

                I smiled and continued, telling the best part of the story. “A few days later, the boy told the girl that he was in love with her in the most romantic language on earth. The girl wasn’t quite ready to love, but she still cared for the boy. They started dating even though people were talking about them behind their backs all the time.

                “The boy asked the girl to the Fall Dance and she said yes, of course. There was an evil Barbie who tried to steal the boy away from the girl, but he rejected her, standing up for the girl.” My voice got softer now, “The girl asked the boy to come for a walk with her. They sat down on a bench and the girl handed a beautiful flower that he had given her earlier and told him that if he listened to her story and he still wanted her to have it, then he could give it to her again.”

                Liam looked shocked now, even though he was smiling slightly. Extending the hand that was holding the flower; he gently tucked it behind my ear. “The boy gave the flower back to the girl, and that was when she realized she loved him.” I finished, sealing it with a kiss.