scream

two

i freeze, my face filling with warmth and my mind with fear. my lips purse, holding in all the words that i can't say.
"i expect an answer, child." She says, irrational growing evident in her tone. I jerk my head up slightly and then back down. She continues to stuff more and more food into her mouth, finishing with a bite of eggs.
"Ah!" She yells, spitting out the last mouthful of food. She leans down and picks out a small piece of eggshell.
"Who made the eggs?!" She screams, fear overtaking all four of us. we all try to hide our fear with a straight face, but the younger two struggle.
Sam stands next to me, his legs shaking extremely hard. He bites down on his lip so hard that blood flows.
"I can't let her do this to him." I think to myself. I raise a timid hand, and four sets of eyes look over.
"Younger three, go clean up and then do your chores. Seventeen, stay here." She gets up and slams the chair into the table, making it creak.
Sam whispers a small thank you before the three of them go upstairs. I wait, terrified in the kitchen.  I already know what's going to happen.
"Shirt." She appears almost out of nowhere, her voice terrifyingly calm. I quickly grab my shirt's hem and pull it over my head, knowing that if I hesitated, the punishment would be worse.
Without warning, she punches me in the ribs, making me double over in pain. I know without looking that a bruise will be there soon enough. Though she's only 5'3", this woman surely packs a punch (and a kick for that matter.)
She pulls off the black, leather belt from around her waist and folds it in half, grabbing the buckle.
"You get twenty. Another fifteen if you pass out." Silent tears run down my face, as I kneel over the table, the once soft skin of my back completely exposed and ready to be hit.
Soon, it begins.
"One."