Too Young

Ch 6

The room was dark. He swore his arm was broken. He was left in the basement, his forehead bleeding and his bone connecting his shoulder and elbow most likely fractured.

Jay was alone and afraid.

He called out for his brother Will, suddenly fearing for his life in the cold, lightless basement. He scrambled around trying to find the stairs, or even something to defend himself with.

"Will! Somebody!"

"Shut your mouth, boy!" A door slammed shut behind him. A flickering light turned on and a man stormed down the stairs.

"Leave me alone!" Jay shouted. "I'll call the cops!"

"And they'd believe a twelve year-old boy saying what, exactly?" He stroked his short, black/grey beard. "If you think I'll ever be scared of petty cops you're mighty wrong, boy." He crouched down next to Jay, who sat on the floor glaring at the dark figure of his father standing in front of the light. The man grabbed Jay by his throat and shook him.

Jay managed to pull away and stood up. "You can't take it out on your family just because you can't hold a job!" He half-shouted, half-cried. "You're a weak, drunk old man and you'll never be anything better."

He laughed and kicked a wooden chair, hard, to its side. It clattered to the ground. He grabbed his son, about a foot and a half shorter than him, by the neck again. He shook him, and brought him closer to his face. "You think you're better than me? You think just because you can handle to get B's on your homework assignments you're God? You're not God. You're a sad excuse of a son! Get out of my house!" He shoved him at the stairs.

"Leave! You can come back when you have the manners to respect me and the sensibility to understand you're a weak, ignorant fool! GO!"

Jay sprinted up the stairs, his arm bobbing and stinging severely. He ran out the front door, leaving his brother and mother asleep upstairs. He slammed the door on the way out, hoping to wake them to protect themselves from the monster.

SLAM.

Jay sat up abruptly, the room dark except a small light coming from the hallway. A small camp-candle held by a small girl in a pink nightgown.

"Jay?" Erin said in an exhausted voice before yawning. "What's wrong?"

"Daddy, I can't sleep." Hailey leaned against the door.

He relaxed his muscles as much as he could. "Hey, Bug. Come here."

She rushed over to the bed and hopped in next to him. Jay pulled the blanket over them and held her close to his chest. He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes.

Erin put her arm over them and rested her hand on Hailey before burying her head in Jay's back.

Jay's nerves were still on edge, but he managed to calm down once he sensed the comfort of his two favorite girls.