Home Survivor

Warning: Some swearing shall be involved but no "f" words.

~~~

"I don't want him to come home." My little sister Haley whispers to me. I nod and stroke her hair some more. I hear a rymthed knock on the attic door and I push the slides open.

"Is dad home yet?" I ask Chrissa. She shakes her head and climbs up into the attic and then over to me and Haley. I breath a sigh of relief and start to braid Haley's black hair. Chrissa starts to braid mine.

All three of us have black hair and green eyes, except my two brothers. Liam is the oldest of all five of the children. He's twenty-two and has blonde hair and brown eyes. My other brother looks the same.

I hear another knock and Chrissa pulls the slides over this time.

Derek and Liam's heads pop up and they jump into the attic, a giant bag flopping behind them. Liam turns around and pulls a cupcake with a candle up and into his arms. He reaches down and helps Lacey, his girlfriend, up and into the attic also. The candle on the cupcake lights up the attic and we all scoot into a circle. Lacey covers the entrance and sits on top of the tile.

"Happy birthday, Nia!" She claps and hands me a small box she was hiding behind her back. Liam pulls out a bag and throws it into his lap. He pulls out a box and puts it by his side. He gives the largest box to Derek and a small, wrapped one to Chrissa.

"I grabbed them from downstairs, didn't want him to get a hold on it." Liam explains. We all nod our head, knowing exactly who him is.

"Open it!" Lacey encourages me and I pull the lid off of the box she gave me. A small gold necklace lays at the bottom of the box. A half of a heart charm is connected and words are etched into the gold.

'Best-'

"Where's the other half of the message?" I ask Lacey. She winks at me and pulls out the other half from underneath her shirt. She connects the heart for the whole message.

'Best friends' I smile and throw my arms around Lacey.

"Thank you." I whisper in her ear. She kisses my cheek and sits back down. I love Lacey. She's twenty but she treats me like I'm her age. She's like a sister to me.

"My turn!" Chrissa says and hands me her box. I quickly clip on the necklace and eagerly rip off the wrapping paper.

"What is it?" Haley asks and quickly scoots across the attic and sits on my lap. I smile and put my arms around my little 4-year-old sister so I can still open the present and so she can see inside.

A card lays on top of the tissue paper and I pick it up to read it.

'Happy 11th Birthday, Nia. I'm sorry dad is going to be drunk on your birthday. But I love you! Love yours truly, Chrissa'

I give a small smile and pull out the present. It's a pair of headphones, and expensive ones at that.

"How'd you get me $200 headphones?" I look up at Chrissa bewildered and she smiles.

"Dad was passed out on the couch one time and he just so happened to leave his wallet on the table. I only took $200 but there was $300 that he probably took with him to the club." Chrissa gives me a mischievous smile and I laugh.

I hear the garage door open and then it slams shut. Slurred words are trying to sing a song and then I hear a bottle smash onto the floor.

"Shit."

"Speak of the devil."

"Dammit."

I don't know who said what, but Liam begins to stand up.

"Where are you going?" I hiss at him.

"To talk to him." Then Liam pulls the slides and jumps out of the attic. I scramble after him but as I'm about to jump, Lacey grabs me and pulls me back into the attic.

"You're not going too." Her face is pale and her breathing is shallow.

"But he'a gonna kill Liam. Kill him!" I look at her desperately.

"Don't you remember?" I ask. I'm sure Liam must of told her about dad screaming at Liam to never come back to the house ever again. And Liam's back in the house right now.

Lacey sighs and lets go of me. I stumble out of the attic and race down the hallway.

I hear dad yelling and I run faster. I trip down the stairs and stand up to fall down the stairs again. I jump up and run into the kitchen.

"You threw out my bitch!" Dad yells and swings his pocket knife at Liam. I'm about to cry. Dad told Liam to never come back when dad was in the middle of a 'session' with a girl he brought home and Liam grabbed the girl and kicked her out of the house. So he did the same to Liam. Liam ducks and hops over the kitchen counter. He pulls out a pan to dodge the knife's blades. Dad swings again and Liam blocks it with the pan.

"Atleast I'm trying to shield the girls from being scarred the rest of there lives." Liam spits back.

Dad shouts a string of cuss words and throws the knife. It clatters against the pan and skids towards me. Dad lunges and tries to pick it up but I grab it before he does.

"Give it." He snarls. I shake my head and throw the knife out the open window.

"No." I say.

"Give it or your gonna be in a world of pain." He spits in my face and pulls his arm back, ready to hit me.

I squeeze my eyes shut and brace myself for the stinging pain I've felt so many times, but it doesn't come. I force one eye open. Nothing has changed.

Dad still has his arm pulled back, but the only difference is his facial expressions. His face relaxes and he looks more gentle now.

"Oh, Nita!" He says and pulls me into his arms. Tears well up in my eyes. He doesn't even remember my name when he's drunk. I can smell the alcohol on his breath and I see a small dot on his arm where he probably injected drugs.

Dad picks me up and carries me over to the couch. He throws me on the couch and tries kissing me. I push his face away so he goes for my shirt, grabbing the hem of it and trying to rip it off.

"Liam!" I scream and Liam is immediately at my side. He hits Dad on the back with the pan and he crumples to the ground.

"Go!" Liam yells and we race upstairs to the attic. Liam grabs my waist and throws me up into the air and Lacey grabs me. I pull my hand back down and I grab Liam. He reaches my hand and leaps up into the air, grabbing hold of the attic tiles. Liam heaves himself up into the attic as I hear Dad regaining conscious.

"Where's my bitch?!" He yells and storms up the stairs.

We slide the tile over the entrance as dad reaches the top of the stairs.

Derek grabs a box full of breakables from a corner and lobs it over and onto the entrance.

Just in case dad somehow finds our hideout.

Lacey looks at me and breathes a sigh of relief.

"Are you two okay?" She whispers even quieter than before. For all we know, he could be below us right now.

Liam nods but looks at me.

I shake my head and begin to cry.

"What's wrong?" Lacey asks.

"He tried to take my shirt off and he tried kissing me." I sob. Lacey rubs my shoulders and I lean against her.

"I effing hate him." Derek says.

Haley crawls over to me with the cupcake in tow. The candle still burning bright.

"Are you gonna make a wish?" She looks at me and then the cupcake.

"Yah," I say. "I wish dad was dead."