We Are Without Hope

Chapter 3

"Please,
Don't judge.
You Don't know
What it took for
Someone to
Get out of bed,
Look presentable
As possible, face
The day & face
The world.
You know
NOTHING
Of their daily
Struggles."
--Unknown

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The lunch bell echoed through the out the halls as I headed towards the cafeteria, something I haven't done in a long time.
I walked up to one of the lunch ladies to get her attention.
"Any chance you have some fruit of some kind and apple juice?" I asked the lunch lady.
She smiled sadly and headed towards the back. She came out again with a small pasta lunch, an apple, and a small carton of apple juice.
I smiled gratefully at her and walked outside, after grabbing my salad from my locker.
I headed towards the small football field and sat on the bleachers.
Brandon cried out in joy when he saw the food. I smiled and opened the small pasta lunch. I took my fork and got a piece of pasta. In less than 3 minutes, he had finished the pasta lunch.
I took out the apple and cut it open with the knife in my salad. I removed the skin and cut it into smaller pieces.
I tried to feed it to him but he just moved his face away from the fork. I sighed and tried again.
"Here comes the airplane!" I called to him. He looked at me and opened his mouth. I put the apple inside his mouth and he giggled.
"I like apples Summer." He said.
I dropped my fork and spilled my salad.
"W-what?" I asked him.
His eyes widened and he closed his eyes. Tears fell down the side of his face.
"Brandon please talk again!" I begged.
He shook his head, the silent tears only increasing.
When my mom died, Brandon wouldn't talk to anyone anymore. Brandon and I had to learn sign language just so he could talk to me.
I packed up the remaining food and carried him away from the school and towards the park.
I walked past what seemed to be just a rock and vines, with nothing behind it, but there is a secret doorway in one of the rocks.
I opened it and entered the small, secret, and safe area.
A small cooler laid at the far corner of the area. I opened it to pull out two beach towels, two pillows, and two blankets. I laid the towels on the ground and placed Brandon on one of them. I placed a pillow under his head and put a blanket over him. He fell asleep as I set myself up.
I set an alarm on my phone to wake me up before school is over.
***

An alarm went off and I woke up with a start.
I looked around and the reminder of today came tumbling back to me. I woke up Brandon and quickly put up all of the blankets, towels, and pillows.
I grabbed my phone and picked up Brandon. I walked back to school and entered the parking lot.
As I got closer to the parking lot, I stopped in my tracks and stared open mouthed at the truck that stood parked at the front of the school.
My dad stood outside of his truck with an angered face. When he spotted me, he glared at me.
I slowly walked to the truck and entered it. I put Brandon behind the drivers seat and I sat on the right side of the back seat.
My dad entered the car and buckled his seat belt. I did the same and helped Brandon put his on.
"You skipped school." My dad growled.
I stayed silent. My dad didn't start driving the car yet. Instead he grabbed something from the front seat.
A ruler.
He smacked my leg hard. Before I could react, the ruler hit my face at a fast speed.
I cried out in pain and my dad told me to shut up. He drove away and avoided anywhere but the house. He constantly scolded me and slapped me with the ruler.

***

It was 8 o'clock when my dad finally reached the house. He headed inside with a grunt. I told Brandon to run upstairs to my room and lock the doors. He ran away from me and I turned around to get the mail.
As I opened the mailbox, two hands grabbed my sides and threw me to the ground.
I looked up to see my dad standing over me, obviously very drunk, holding a knife. I whimpered in fear and my dad growled.
He took the knife and stabbed my side.
I screamed out in pain and felt him slap my face.
"Shut up bitch." He yelled.
He stabbed my legs and my other sides. He cut my arms and my face.
Many shouts echoed through the night as I started to see death itself.
My dad was pushed off of me and someone asked me if I was alright.
"Brother. Upstairs. Locked." Was all I could say before I fell into the open arms of death himself.