On the Rocks

Adira woke up around three o'clock with a writhing pain in her side. She laid in bed for minutes trying to consume the pain. The pain became so unbearable.

Adira slipped her thin sheet off as if it were a fragile piece of glass. She lifted her legs over the side of the bed. She tip toed to her door frame. As she stepped into the hallway a long creek escaped through the floor boards. Adira froze making sure not to make another noise. She continued to the kitchen. She stopped in front of her parents room. She peered in and saw them aimlessly lying on their bed passed out. She reached the medicine cabinet without making a ruckus. She grabbed the handle and pulled toward her making no sound. She examined the shelves looking for pain medicine. She spotted a bottle of Tylenol on the top shelf. She stood on her toes and stretched out her arm until she reached the bottle. She uncapped the bottle and poured the pills into her palm. She set two of the pills on the counter and shakily replaced the extra pills in the bottle. The lid slipped out of her hand and hit the ground making a small noise. Adira stopped in her tracks. You would have thought someone just got shot. She franticly picked up the cap and twisted it back on. She placed the bottle back exactly how it was and slowly shut the cabinet door. She snatched the two pills and swallowed them dry avoiding turning on the facet for a glass of water. She crept back to her room and again stopped in front of her parents room. They were in the same state except her dad flipped sleeping on his other side. She went back to her room dodging the squeaky floor board and crawled back into her bed. She covered herself back up and closed her eyes. In her conscious she though, "I sure am lucky they did not awake."

Adira was just drifting off into a sleep when she heard footsteps in the hallway. She opened her eyes a slit so she could barely see out and it would appear they were closed. She watched the hallway as she could see the faint lights of the kitchen flickering. She remained that way to assure whoever was up went back to sleep.

In the kitchen Adira's dad, Harry, turned on the sink and filled up a glass with water. He drank the glass trying to relieve a headache from the alcohol he consumed hours earlier. He went to the same cabinet Adira was in and grabbed his Tylenol from the shelf. He dumped them all out and countened them as he did every time to assure no one took any. He noticed that two more were missing then there should have. He slammed the cabinet door shut and grabbed the bottle. He stomped down the hall and invited himself right into Adira's room. Through the small space of her eye Adira saw her dad enter her room. She prepared herself for what was about to take place.

Harry through the bottle out of his hand and it hit Adira right in the face. He threw the sheet off the bed and grabbed Adira by the shoulders and shook her. "Open your eyes you little pest!".

Adira opened her eyes in fear and saw the rage in her dad's eyes. Harry flung her around punching her. "Why did you take my pills you worthless brat? You know you aren't allowed to take them! You little wimp! You couldn't take the pain from your last beating or what?". Harry yelled at her over and over.

Seconds later Adira's mom, Corabelle, walked into the room. "You ungrateful girl! You had to piss him off and now you have me woke up and pissed as well!" Adira's parents took turns hitting her and yelling at her. Adira shed tears down her cheeks which only made the beating worse.

"You did the crime now take the pain!".

After a good solid ten minute beating Adira's parents left the room. "Will you ever learn your lesson?". Adira closed her eyes and let the held up tears flee from her eyes. She held in her whimpers knowing that if they heard they would come back for a second round. Their voices circled around in her head until she fell asleep.

 In her sleep she was haunted with memories of the incident. Her dad shaking her and her mom punching her replayed over and over in her head. She woke up abruptly that morning as the sun shined in through the cracks of her broaded up window. She still had tears on her face and quickly wiped them off. She walked to the kitchen and started the pot off coffee. Her dad came into the kitchen and back handed the back of her head and sat at the table. Adira brought him a cup of coffee and set his toast in front of him. Her mother walked into the room a little later and got her usual breakfast as well. "We are going into town to get some more whiskey and cigarettes. Clean yourself up and this place before we get home. You better have dinner done too!".

Harry and Corabelle finished their breakfast and walked out the door and locked it on their way out. Adira felt a relief as they left but soon dreaded the chores that she was going to have to do while they were gone.