Behind the Mask

Chapter 4

I just realized that when I got an update on the app it deleted this chapter thank goodness I wrote it somewhere else and transferred so I'm sorry about that anyway read on:)

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I woke up at eleven. Must mean my parents are gone already, or I'd have been up hours ago. I breathed in deep and yawned and stretched. I stumbled down the stairs. Josh had made coffee. He must be out, checking fences. I sighed as I sat down. I noticed a list on the fridge. It was a "To Do List"

You better have all this done by the time we get home or else. Dad wrote. It wasn't too much. Organize the kitchen, fix the hole in the fence. Small things that could be done in a day. That's probably what Josh was doing. Fixing the hole in the fence. I went upstairs and checked my phone. I had a missed call from Travis. I called him back as I pulled off my t-shirt. I sucked in a breath as I saw the bruises on my collar bone, and chest. They were from...him. I closed my eyes and he picked up. "Hello?" He said. "Hi. I uh, missed a call from you?" I breathed. "Uh, yeah. Do you want me to pick you up? Or..." "Yeah that's fine. Where are we going?" I asked. "It's a surprise." I could hear the smile in his voice. I rolled my eyes. "Well, can you tell me what to wear?" I asked softly. He chuckled. "Yeah, something pretty, but casual." He said. "Okay...when will you be here?" "I'll pick you up at 7:00." He said. "Okay." I mumbled. "And Roxanne?" He asked. "Yeah?" "Your voice sounds weak still, you ok?" He said. "I drank some coffee. It helped. I have cough drops too. It should be fine by tonight." I whispered, looking in the mirror. I could basically feel him frowning. "Okay, I'll see you at 7." "Bye, Travis." "Bye." And we hung up. I pulled off my shorts and examined my lower half. There were finger marks on my thighs. My skin was still tender. There were scratch marks on my stomach. And more finger marks on my sides. The bruising from my stomach the other day was turning blue an so was my back. I had a slit in my lip from my mom's slap last night. I sighed and pulled on my shorts again. I walked out to find a shirt and Josh was standing there. I gasped. "You almost gave me a heart attack!" But he wasn't looking at my eyes. He was looking at all my bruises. His face slack with shock. I walked over and went to pull on a shirt but he stopped me. "He did this to you?" He asked clenching his fists. "Joshua. Calm down. Right now." I told him firmly. "I will not calm down Roxanne! They are monsters! He did this to you! I could hear you pleading with him, screaming begging him to stop from the fields. That's a mile and a half away. Your voice was halfway gone before you went to the game and then you were yelling. You lost your voice because of that...thing." He spat out. "If you think for one second that I'm gonna let him do this to you again. You are out of your damn mind! I'm staying. No more of this but you're my baby brother shit! Because I am gonna protect you, with my life if that's what it takes! And Travis is gonna keep your mind off all this. Even though he's clueless to it. But he will. I know you think he's a pain in the ass, but you have to get to know him." He said. I pulled my shirt on. "Fine. And he's only being nice because you've been telling him stuff about me. He's always been a pain in my ass, making my life even worse than hell. And now he's nice. I guess I should thank you? I don't know! But if you think for one second that I don't know they are monsters then you are wrong on SO many levels. I have kept you from this so you don't have as much baggage. That's the only way I can protect you. And fine, but I'm not telling him anything. He already doesn't believe me. Do you know how dangerous this is? To let him in my life?" I asked.

Josh looked me in the eyes. "I know, but I'm tired of hearing you cry yourself to sleep. I'm tired of seeing your eyes dim, I'm tired of the screams in the middle of the night, the nightmares, the fear of what they're gonna do. I'm tired of seeing you so depressed, and angry, and lifeless. The only time I see you remotely happy is on Jigsaw, or playing basketball. And that's only because your mind is preoccupied. And now, I've seen you smile around Travis. And I want to see you smiling more often. Because you can hide from everyone else but you can't hide from me. And you won't be able to hide from him, for long. I've seen the way he looks at you. You might not trust him, or like him right now. But just give him a chance. Let him in, and he can fix you. I promise." He said, looking me in the eyes the entire time. I gave him a tight hug. He squeezed back. Not too hard...but enough. "Okay. But I'm doing this for you. Not for me." I said. He nodded. "As long as you try." He said. I got a text.