Bittersweet

iii.

The silence in the car was awkward, the only sound being the stiffeled mumbles coming from the radio. Todd's car smelled of bananas and the leather seat was warm against Val's thigh's.

"Which way now? Left, or keep going?"

"Keep going."

Val could only believe that Todd probably thought she was sending him on a wild goose chase. The area in which she lived was far outside of town, and Todd didn't seem like he had ever been here before.

The buildings were moldy and gates were rusted; the streets were dull. It was a stereotypical "bad part of town" but of course it would be; that's what it was. The bad part of town.

The streets were littered with stray cats and dogs, and sat comfortably outside doors in their sleeping bags was a homeless person on ever block. Junkies with rolling eyes waddled down the streets and the occasional group of trashy looking boys walked past, keeping to themselves.

"Turn right here, please."

Todd did just that and turned down a one way street with high gates on either side.

"Have you lived here all your life?" he asked, his head low to watch the traffic and passing people.

"Uh, no. I used to live in an apartment building in the inner city but we were evicted. That was years ago though."

Todd hummed.

"Uh, you can just pull in here, this is mine."

Todd pulled up outside a tall two story house, red paint chipping off the walls and the front gate severely rusted. They could see in to the living room window and watched as Val's family members and other residence's occupied the space.

"How many people live with you?" he spoke up, shifting in his seat.

Val cleared her throat, "Me, mum, mum's boyfriend, my brother Lucas, Lucas's friend Glenn and a family friend, Charlie."

Todd stared at the house and the people inside. They all seemed to be arguing but their voices couldn't be heard from where Todd and Val were sat in Todd's vehicle.

Val shifted uncomfortably, sighed, and then moved to unbuckle her belt. "You better get out of here before someone starts steeling your car parts," she claimed, not a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Before she could get out of the car Todd stretched out and grabbed her wrist, holding her back. She glanced down at his fingers rapped around her arm and then up at Todd, her brows furrowed together in something other than confusion; annoyance, maybe.

"Wait, one second," Todd muttered and she did just that, sitting back in her seat as she watched Todd rush to find a piece of paper and a pen. He scribbled down a series of numbers on it and held it out to her. "If, uh," he cleared his throat, "if you're ever stuck and just, I don't know, ever need somewhere to go, or someone to talk to or just a coffee, call me, please?"

Val scoffed, "I don't need that."

"Please?" he sighed, before grabbing her hand and pressing the paper on to her palm and then shutting her fist. "Just in case."

She looked at Todd, at her hand, and then back at Todd before sighing and shaking her head. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, Mr. Watson." 

Without another word the door was slammed shut and Todd watched the younger girl jog up to her front door and slamming it shut behind her, almost seeming as if the whole house shook. Wearily, Todd started his car and drove away, anticipating the moment in which he would see Val once again.

Inside Val's home was the sound of men shouting at men; all voices trying to over-power each other. She saw the kitchen door shut and could hear that that's where the screaming was coming from. Slowly, she pushed the door opened just a few inches; enough to be able to see in but not enough to be seen.

Charlie and Roy, her mother's boyfriend were both stood tall in the kitchen, fists clenched and faces stern. Lucas sat at the table with his head in his hands, watching the sceen fold out in front of him.

The fact that both men were shouting made it difficult to figure out what all the rage was about, but Val could vaguely figure out that it had something to do with money; which they didn't have much of. 

She could see Lucas' mouth opening every so often as if he was about to speak, but under Roy's glare nobody could say a word, Val new this all too well. Mouth shut. Eyes open.

"I'm your best fucking friend, Roy!" Charlie cursed, "You can't just put me out on the street, you may as well be putting me out of my misery."

"Watch me, Charlie, this is my home. I pay the rent. I buy the food. I clean your shit up every single day, and I'll do as I god damn please!"

None of that was true, but Val knew where she stood on the matter.

From the stairs she heard a whisper sound, someone calling "psst," under their breath. Her head flung around to catch Glenn's head peeking over the banister, gesturing for her to come over. She would have much prefered standing there and listening to hear the end of the fight, watching to see if there was any blood spilled, but she was caught and couldn't ignore the men of the house.

She turned to walk over to Glenn but before she could she felt a hand resting on her shoulder. Wearily she looked at the hand, and then up at the owner of the hand. Roy stood tall, his dark eyes staring back down at her, a disgusting look on his face.

Val turned back to where Glenn was once sat on the stairs to see he was no longer there; he had ran back upstairs once he saw Roy.

Behind Roy stood Lucas, an apologetic look on his face, knowing there was nothing he could do about whatever happened next. Behind Lucas was Charlie, blood dripping from his lip.

"Charlie," Roy choked, his voice resembling the sound of thunder, "please take Lucas up to the bedroom."

Charlie, Lucas and Glenn all shared a bedroom. Roy and mother have one, and Val has one, a box room; the size didn't matter much to her, as it was all hers.

The two boys left. Lucas shot her a knowing look as he passed her, yet kept his head down with each step up the stairs. Once they were out of sight, Val was dragged back in to the kitchen, Roy's hand resting carefully around the back of her neck.

Once the door was shut Val was pushed against the table, the sharp corner hitting her stomach. She winced in pain, a quiet groan escaping her lips. Roy's hand was on her neck once again but this time he was pushing Val's face against the marble of the table, squashing it against it as hard as he possibly could. Val began to pant, feeling as if her cheek bones were going to crack and break at any moment.

Roy was bent over Val, his stomach pressed against her back, pushing her stomach harder against the corner of the table before whispering in her ear. "That'll teach you to ease drop, won't it?"

And that was it before he finally let her go, taking a few steps back as he watched Val's tiny body collapse to the ground, holding her stomach in pain as she silently began to cry, being sure that Roy couldn't see her face.

Not another word was exchanged between the two before Roy left, leaving the girl shaking on the cold kitchen floor.