My road, My world

Chapter 4

Why was he so afraid of his own mother? Wasn't he she was there? I would be if my mom was here. She did look like she could be a little scary at times, maybe a little cold. I wanted to know why Theo was so afraid of her and what made her so scary.

"Why are you so afraid of her? What did she do that you don't want to see her?" I looked at him waiting for him to say something.

"It wasn't her it was me. I didn't want to be a part of the family business and so her and my father kicked me out said not to come back. They cut me off of everything. What I had that was worth something I sold and my grandmother kept me secretly on her account and insurance. She did this without my parents knowing. I hope that this isn't about her," he looked out at his mother and was deciding whether or not he wanted to see her and talk to her.

"You should go find out. Take her up to our apartment and talk. If you need me I'll be down here. I can take over your tables for you," I looked at him with care and he nodded in agreement.

We walked out and he went to talk to her and show her to upstairs. I walked around introducing myself to his tables and letting them know he would be back shortly. I made sure everything was as normal as possible. I went back to the counter, as I was walking there I could hear the door open and someone in high heels come in. I turn around about to greet the customer as politely as possible, but I stop when I see it is my former step-mother since I ran away and am on my own. I was shocked to see she was here, she never came here when I lived with her so why would she want to be here now. Her face said I hate you and was afraid of what she might do. Melissa wasn't someone who cared what other people thought of her, so she would hurt me in front of the entire cafe.

"Hello, how may I help you?" I acted as if nothing was wrong. I didn't want to start anything if I didn't have to.

"Hello Darcy, how have you been? Did you like moving out alright?" I smiled at her comment.

"Yes, I did. It was quite easy since I didn't have much to move in the first place," I was being snide and rude but I didn't care. She needed to be shown that I'm not afraid of her.

"Well, I need you to move back. I need you to watch my son and clean the house for a few days," she looked around acting like she was better than the cafe she was in. I wanted to smack the look off of her face.

"Well, I'm not moving back and I never will. I am my own person and I won't be treated like some sort of animal or like your slave. I live on my own and I don't need you to support me anymore." I was confident in what I was saying and I don't care if she wanted to beat me in front of these people. Then they would see how awful they are, the people who called themselves my parents.

I turned around, but stopped when I felt a sharp pain in the right shoulder. Melissa had my shoulder and was squeezing so hard it felt like she was about to poke her long mainucured nails right through my arm. She then grabbed my hair and pulled me to the ground. I landed on my stomach, as soon as I hit the ground I covered my head so that she couldn't hurt my head, nose or eyes. I could feel her red pointed heels digging into my side every time she kicked me. She hit me right where the other bruises were and I thought I felt a rib crack. How was no one helping me. I could feel myself drifting into a sleep because of the pain. When I heard Theo coming to help me.

I woke up to the sound of running water and it was dark out. I was upstairs in the apartment on the couch. My clothes had been changed and I wasn't bleeding anywhere. I looked over the back of the couch and saw Theo washing dishes and cleaning things up. I attempted to move and get up my a weird almost animal sound came out of me and that got Teo's attention.

"Hey there, How are you feeling?" He looked concerned, I don't know why when he doesn't even know me.

"Better than I was. My side hurts really bad though," I laid down and tried to relax and see if that helped. I felt a sudden rush of cold on my side and Theo had placed an ice-pack on the side I had been kicked on. "Thank you. How are you?" I felt the need to ask him how he was since he was taking care of me.

"I'm good. Who was the lady who hurt you? It seemed like what she was doing was personal," and he was right.

"That is my old step-mother. The one I ran away from. She wanted me to come back to the house just to work and clean and watch her son," Theo looked mad when I told him that and his hands turned into fists. I was kind of afraid of him now and wanted to move away. I looked around and found that the floor was my best bet.

"She had no right to do that. It's a good thing someone called the cops and they took her away." I was shocked by what he said.

"They took her away? Like to jail?" I wanted to know if my dad would come and get me next.

"Yes, she was beating you. They took her away and she won't come back." He came across the couch and hugged me. I felt odd, I didn't get hugs often, only from Karen. It made me happy, I think.

"Thank you Theo, for taking care of me. And helping me." I was being serious, I was thankful for him and what he has done for me.

"No problem. I'm here now and I will be here for you now. No one will hurt you while I'm here." I didn't really know how to take that, what did he mean? Did he like me in the few weeks we knew each other? That couldn't be possible, no one likes me. I have no friends, I've never had a boyfriend, I've never had a sister or sibling that was related to me. So why would he care?

"Do you mind if go lay down. My side and head hurt really bad." He got up quick and held out his hands.

"I'll walk you to your room. I don't want you to hurt yourself more than you already are." I took his hands and he gently rubbed circles on the top of my hands. I felt safe and warm, I looked up and saw that he was intently staring at me. I looked down and focused on my feet, hiding my blushing. I didn't want him to see that I may have  feelings for him, he already had enough going on and I didn't need to corrupt his life anymore. I hope that me being here won't make his life any harder.

"What did your mom want today? I meant to ask when you came back but I kind of couldn't" I asked as we walked to my room.

"We can talk about that when you feel better. Maybe tomorrow before our shifts" He seemed stern, or concerned,"And if you don't feel well enough to go to work then you can stay here and rest. I'm sure Karen won't mind". 

"I'll be at work tomorrow and talking before shift sounds wonderful. I'll listen to what ever you feel comfortable telling me", I was starting to feel really tired again.

We made it to my room and he set me gently on my bed and pulled up the covers. I crawled underneath them and laid on the side that wasn't as bruised. I flinched every time I moved. I could see a look of concern on Theo's face and I wanted to make him feel better. I didn't want him to feel like he needed to take care of me. Theo pulled the covers over my body and kissed my forehead before walking to my door.

"Get some rest Darcy. I'll see you tomorrow", he turned off the light and closed the door leaving a crack so that a sliver of light could shine in. And with that I was drifting off to sleep. Hoping tomorrow would be better.