Jack Daniel's And Roses

13

Travis' point of view

"Happy Birthday Travis!"

Alex wrapped her arms around me as much as she could while holding her child. Meygan looked confused, shit. I forgot I never told her my real birthday.

"I'm sorry excuse me. Did I hear right? Did she say today's your fucking birthday!" So Meygan was pissed at me as we could tell. Her face was red as a tomato and she walked upstairs "To think I just fucked you for a good couple of hours!" I let out a chuckle but I knew she was mad "Meygan let me explain baby please!"

I ducked as a slipper almost hit me from Meygan's foot. "It's March 23rd! You told me your birthday was in fucking November! Why the fuck would you fucking lie to me you dumb fuck!" I dodged another slipper, which luckily meant she had no more. "Meygan if you would let me explain I'll tell-" I was cut off when I was popped in the face by a pillow.

I sighed "I deserved that." I walked up there and held her close "now listen. I didn't tell you my true birthday because I wasn't sure how long we'd last. But once we got further in I kinda forgot." She wasn't amused or excited about this. I could tell by her facial expression. "You're a liar. I don't want to talk to you right now." She went upstairs and I could hear her voice cracking before she shut the door. I ran my fingers through my hair, what everyone called my distress signal, then sat down on the floor.

Alex walked over and sat beside me "His names Jay..." I looked at the baby boy she was holding and I felt tears coming to my eyes, Meygan didn't want to admit it but that baby was dead...I knew it was. I had killed my child in a hysterical fit of rage that was completely uncalled for, I didn't have the right to be sitting there.

Alex held my hand "Now...how about you go tell her the real reason you didn't tell her your birthday." I sighed and walked upstairs and went to knock on the door, it was cracked. I looked in the crack at her, she was sitting on the bed looking at her hands. I walked in "March 23rd..today is my birthday... but I also share this date with something else. It was my 12th birthday, I didn't get parties, my parents didn't have the money for them. But my mom was making me a cake..." I took a deep breath feeling the tears coming.

*Beginning of Flashback*

I was watching my mom, she was in the kitchen baking me a cake. I turned 12 today, I became a man and would have to watch the house when dad and Theo were gone. Theo was 13 only a year older than me but only 6 months more mature if you asked mama. I went to walk into the kitchen when i heard the front door slam "Linda! Where the fuck is my god damn food!" I heard glass break, my mother looked shaky and was quickly fixing plate of food "I've got it right here Matthew." She walked with shaky hands as she carried the tray into the living room to him, I followed, not too close for her to see me, but not to far behind so I would miss anything. Sh sat the tray in front of him, he was looking at the food then let out a laugh, the laughed seemed as if he was disgusted, mom had the best cooking around. "You call this a meal, I could whip together some bullshit like this." He knocked the plate over and stood up, there was a whiskey bottle in his hand "TRAVIS! GET DOWN HERE!" I hesitantly walked into the room "Yes Sir?" He pulled me closer, his breath reeked of alcohol and he looked like he hadn't slept in days "Wanna sip?" My mother looked upset "Matthew stop it! He's a 12 year old boy!" My dad looked at her "Did I ask for your input woman?! I'm talking to my child now shut the hell up!" he turned and looked at me "Drink It!" I took a sip, it burned going down my throat and I coughed hard, my father chucked "He's a boy alright, doubt even that, the little pussy couldn't even take a swallow of whiskey, when I was his age I was downing bottles before my father could say go." I continued to cough, my mother looked hurt "Matthew he's your son, don't make him drink that, you already know how I feel about you drinking around him..." My father's cold stare at my mother made her quiet, she looked down, she looked almost terrified to look up.

He put the bottle in my hands "Drink it. All. Finish that bottle to the last drop, then I'll give you your birthday gift." I looked at my mother for help, she looked like she was pleading for me not to but my fathers stares got tenser and I caved, I started to drink the bottle. My father watched me, my throat burned but not as bad as the tears coming from my eyes, before I got half way my mother took the bottle from me and poured it out in the kitchen sink. My father looked angry and walked in there grabbing my mother by the neck and threw her across the room. "You little bitch! Who the hell do you think you are! Oh you're gonna wish you didn't do that!" I watched him beat my mother, then he held her down and climbed on top of her, I heard my siblings coming down so I ran upstairs and told them to go back in their rooms. I ran back downstairs to find mom crying her eyes out as dad took every ounce of dignity mom had right there on the kitchen floor. Something inside me took over, I'm still not sure where the courage came from but I ran over and threw him off my mother and punched him in the face. My father grabbed me and threw me off of him and fixed his pants "You ungrateful little brat!" He walked over and kicked me in my side hard, he beat me bad before I saw my mother's foot try to move, she slowly got up and had a gun in her hand her skirt still kind of twisted "Get the hell away from my son before I shoot you right in the head." He got up and walked over to my mother, he backhanded her and went to town beating her, that's when the sirens wailed from outside and the red and blue lights filled the house. Police flooded in and they hand cuffed my father taking him away. Ms.Richardson, the lady that lived next door wasn't but about 10 years older than my mom, she heard the commotion and called the police for us. We didn't see my father for a whole week.

*End Of Flashback*

Meygan was wiping my tears off my face "Baby, why didn't you ever tell me, all you told me about your father was that he beat your mother, if I would have known all this..." I cut her off "If you would have known this then it wouldn't have change anything, it still happened, my father raped my mother on my birthday and could have killed me, he started my drinking problem because after that day I always had to have alcohol in my system, I didn't feel safe without it. Without it I didn't feel like a man, because he told me I wasn't a man until I could drink a whole bottle of Jack and look at me... it's done nothing but turn me into a monster, its turned me into him."