Race to the Finish

Race to the Finish chp.56

The silence felt like it lasted an eternity. My blood ran cold and my heartbeat felt as if it would beat itself out of my chest. 

"What?" He finally whispered as if he had heard wrong.

I turned to face him. I wasn't sure what to say. I had to say something though because it would make him angrier if I didn't.

"My dad-" I began but he cut me off.

"You lied to me." He said not turning to face me.

I shut my mouth and didn't say anything more. I looked down at my lap as I played with my hands.

"I wanted to protect you. I f*cking love you Alexandra! I can't stand knowing that you've been hurt and I just stood around instead of helping you! It kills me Alexandra!" Titi yelled angry and sad.

"I'm sorry." I whispered weakly. 

"I'm sorry?!" Titi yelled as he turned to face me. He pinched the brigde of his nose and took a deep breath and looked at me again. "I'm sorry, A." He said.

I looked up at him with tears rimming my eyes. His eyes softened when his met mine and he walked to sit beside me. He grabbed and sat me on his lap and hugged me close to his body. 

"I'm sorry, A. I will stay calm now... Just please tell me what happened." He mumbled in my ear.

I nodded against his chest. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes letting a few tears escape. 

"My dad began beating me when I one years old. It was just a slap or belt whip. It was a real beating, but definitely not as bad as the one he gave me when I was ten." I said with a scratchy voice.

I felt Titi's arms tighten round me. He buried his face in my neck in took a deep breath trying to loosen up his muscles. I hugged him tightly as a form of comfort.

"Ok, you can continue." His lips brushed against the skin of my neck as he softly whispered.

I gulped and nodded softly. I cleared my throat and tightened my eyes close. I tried to block the memories from resurfacing so I could actually just tell the story, but I couldn't. The memories resurfaced and I was unfortunately immersed in them.

I was alone in my room sleeping. I had an old doll hugged tightly to my small chest. I was awoken my a loud crash. My room was cold and eerily dark. I sat up on my small toddler bed and hugged the doll closer to me.

"Mommy? Daddy?" I whispered quietly.

"Honey, what's wrong? What did I do?" A scared, shaky, female voice asked from outside my room.

"Get out of my f*cking way you whore!" A voice roared with deafening power that shook every bone in your body in fear.

"No, no! You can't go in there! Alexandra is sleeping. She didn't do anything!" My mom begged with every fiber in her body. 

Everything went silent for the exception of a soft thump. A minute passed and my little heart beat faster. 

I didn't know what was happening, but the rustling of the wind against my window, the eerie dark, and the thick silence crawled up my body like sickly hands  until they reached my heart causing it to beat faster with every minute; no every second that passed in dead silence.

Then suddenly I heard the floorboard creak with each dauntingly slow footstep stepping closer and closer in the direction of my room.