I gently touched Jamie's face and he winced. "Sorry." i mumbled. "Why did you say that? You knew He would get upset..." Jamie gave me a pained look. "I'm sick of this. I'm sick of being a prisoner here. I'm sick of getting slapped around." his voice got quieter and he reached out and touched my face. "Sick of standing by while he beats the rest of you and I'm completely helpless. I've been her twelve years. Twelve! Twelve years since i've seen my family. I hardly remember them. Do you remember anything about your family? Anything at all?" I shook my head. "And Tyler and Marie and Johnny, do you think they will remember their families in twelve years?" I shook my head again. "And for now the beatings aren't too bad, just stinging slaps. But what happens when he comes back really drunk? What happens when he forgets to be careful and he beats us harder? What happens if one of us dies?" I heard a gasp and turned towards the door. Tyler, Johnny and Marie were standing there. Each had a few apples and slices of bread in their hands. Marie's eyes were wide and frightened, and her mouth was gaping open. Tyler and Johnny were staring at us, trying to hide their terror. I swallowed and tried to put on a smile. "Wow, he had fruit? Looks like we have a feast!" The three children slowly came over and handed Jamie and I each an apple and two slices of bread. We ate in silence, and every so often Jamie would flinch as pain shot through his face. He was having trouble swallowing because of his sore throat. I looked around at all of their sober faces and sighed. What was going to happen to us?
He sent me to bed earlier than usual. That was strange. He usually stuck to a schedule. Oh well. 'Today must have been a hard day and He wanted me out of his way so He could sleep.' I thought. Where was Jamie? I worried about him sometimes. He must get hurt a lot, he screams so much every day. I wondered what he did to himself.....The door opened and He came in. I supposed he was going to read to me again. He looked different. He was sluggish and His eyes were bloodshot. When He talked his words were slurred. "I told you to go to bed half an hour ago!" I snuggled down deeper in my bed. "I'm sorry. I'm not sleepy and I was wondering where Jamie is." He snorted. "That boy is none of your concern. When I tell you to do something, you'd best do it ya hear? Since you disobeyed, i'm gonna hafta teach you a lesson." He staggered towards me and grabbed my arm. Then He yanked. Hard. I yelped in pain. He pushed me roughly against the wall and then slapped me across the face. I stared at Him, wide-eyed and shocked. He grabbed a handful of my hair and shoved me to the ground. I hit the wooden floor hard and scraped my knee. He turned me over and started to slap my face again. Then my arms, my legs, my head. He slapped me until I was lightheaded. When he stopped i was curled in a ball on the floor, sobbing. "That oughta teach you!" he mumbled. He shuffled to the door and went out. I crawled to the corner and cried and cried. A few minutes later-or hours, it was hard to tell- the door opened again. I whimpered and pressed close to the wall. But it was Jamie that entered. He came slowly towards me and sat down beside me. "It's okay Ilise. It's over now." He stroked my hair and rubbed my back and gave me a hug. He held me and rocked me back and forth back and forth back and forth back and forth.....
I awoke with a start. Marie was standing next to my bed. I sat up. "Marie? What are you doing out of bed?!" I whispered. " If He catches you, you will be in so much trouble." Marie looked close to tears. "Ilise? Are we gonna die?" My mouth dropped open slightly. I held out my arms and pulled her close to me. "Of course not, Marie. He won't be able to kill us. Jamie and I won't let Him. Besides, if we just do what he says, he won't hurt us. We will be okay. I promise." I hugged her close and rocked her from side to side gently until she fell asleep. Then I carried her to her own bed as quietly as i could. When i returned to my own room i had to bite my lip to keep from crying. What was going to happen to us?
