Stopwatch Children

Card House

Card House

As the yelling got louder I covered my head with my pillow trying to block out the angry man beyond my door. I squeezed my eyes shut and pretended I was somewhere else. The thin pillow did nothing to stop the noise so when the door opened I shot up like a bullet.

"Baby boy what are you doing?" I sighed realizing my little brother was standing in the shadows by the door.

"I'm scared." He whimpered holding his small shoulders steady.

I stood and he raced into my arms. I hugged him tighter as the yelling turned to screams of pain.

"Close your eyes baby; everything's going to be okay." I whispered kissing his head.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight wishing I didn't have to listen to her scream anymore. Wishing that these paper thin walls would just block out the world. Wishing that I didn't have to listen to his fists pounding.

Somehow we went from something so good and happy all the time to this card house ready to fall at the slightest gust of wind.

I bit my lip to stop myself from yelling out at the man beating a girl my age in the next room, if he heard a noise other than her screams he would come after us next. I looked up at the ceiling wishing not for the first time that I could get him out of here, give him something better.

I know he's a good kid and he can do so much. He doesn't belong in here, not in a place like this. Me on the other hand I can handle it but he can't protect himself and the bruises we both have are proof of that.

I wince as he holds tighter but never push him away. I stuck his head under my chin and move his hand away from the bruises littering my sides.

"Sorry." He whispers eyes closed tight trying to block the world out.

He means sorry for being the cause but his hand wasn't the one that struck me; washing dishes was never something he had to do so when it slipped from his tiny hands and shattered on the floor I wasn't surprised.

The King of this card tower thought he was to blame. Much like the screams of the girl on the other side of the wall my brother shouted my name and what I saw had given me the marks on my skin.

In my brothers place he hit me again and again; he tried to fend him off but his small frame couldn't do anything to make it stop.

"It's not your fault." I said in the quiet.

The Quiet.

Something was wrong, quiet never comes in this card tower; not until the sun comes up and he is finally forced to let his victim of the night go so he can be re-charged for the next to come.

I opened my eyes wide and listened for a sound. Nothing, I pushed him into the corner by the bed and motion for him to be silent. I kneeled by the door listening for footsteps, still nothing.

I looked back at my baby brother.

"Stay here no matter what, okay?" He nodded and sunk into the shadow of the bed.

Silently I made my way to the kitchen looking in the room next to mine where the screams had been originating. Bed abandoned and a broken, crying girl abandoned on the floor, still not a sound.

Her eyes told me things I never wanted to know, but tonight she was looking to the stairs. The kitchen at the bottom of the steps was dark.

The lights flicked on, "I thought you were the smart one. You think I wouldn't notice him missing from his bed or the whispers on the other side of that wall." He dropped his drink just millimeters from the counter too drunk to see straight.

I winced as it shattered on the ground.

"Now, whose fault was that?" His menacing voice reached my ears through the pounding of my heart as I stared at the amber liquid in a puddle on the floor.

I held to the counter as he hit me over and over, biting my lip to stop my screams. I'm just glad it was me and not my brother; he doesn't just check in to make sure we're all still in our beds at night.