Julianne's POV
May 23
I walk into the house after school, home early because I have no finals today. I leave my bag next to a bar stool in the kitchen as I run too the restroom. The guest bathroom downstairs is way awkward but I don't have the time or bladder to run upstairs to mine.
I finish and make way to my bedroom for a quick wardrobe change. I exchange my jeans for a floral print bubble skirt, an old choir tee for a strappy off-the-shoulder, coral top, and finish my outfit with an aqua pair of silk ballet flats with ribbons that tie up the ankle. I tie the bow at the back of each flat and dump my school clothes in my hamper, ready to head back out soon with the girls. As I turn to walk out my door, I catch a glimpse of a purple-yellow blotch just below my collarbone. A tear is forming at the inside of my right eye. I wipe it away and the feeling fades faster than the mark she left.
That's when I hear iy. A door slams downstairs. Nobody is supposed to be home. There's a familiar yet frightening click of her pumps on the ceramic tile. Silence. I can't make it out my window, and I left my bag downstairs. Loud thuds ascend the staircase accompanied by furious grumbles. If I were my old dog Petey, I would be cowering in the corner and have peed myself. I haven't peed myself, but I have the cowering part down, A+.
I almost think she passed my room. There is a moment of silence, almost deafening, then slowly the wood begins to splinter around the doorknob. It's like a bad scene from a horror film as she crashes through my door, outraged with me and on a rampage.
I fall back next to my bed as she gets closer, "Ma.."
"What was this doing on the kitchen floor?" Her voice is booming.
"I put it down to go to the bath-"
"What have I told you about leaving your shit everywhere?"
"I was about to go back out.."
"Don't talk back to me!"
"I-I'm not.."
"What did I just say?!"
Her hand meets the left side of my face, between my ear and the corner of my mouth, leaving a red welt. At least this time she didn't use the strap of my own bag. At least this time she didn't draw blood. It still stings like a mother, and I want so badly to cry but I can't show my weakness.
I can't grasp what is happening. Her behavior is so typical, yet there is no reason for why she does this to ME. I'm holding my face, staring at the carpet before me, when I see the things I had been carrying in my bed slowly start hitting the floor. My eyes turn up to her, a cold stare I have seen one too many times but still can't call my mother. It's something else entirely, and it hates me with its lack of soul.
She's been a train wreck since dad left. She takes it out on me, but what am I to do? If I report her, where do my baby brother and I go? As long as it's me and not him. But when I'm old enough, I'm getting us both out of here.
She's gone, and I collect my things so I can be too. As I approach the mirror, the welt is obvious. I'm accustomed to covering bruises but explaining this in a few minutes when Svetlana comes to get me will be a challenge. Nothing that comes to mind makes a believable lie. Maybe I'll just have to trust my friends with the truth.
Four minutes later her car pulls up by our mailbox. I'm trying go cover up as much of my face with a pair of sunglasses as I possibly can, and I duck my face to the side when I get into the car, but it's to no avail.
"Juni! What happened?!"
I don't know how to say it. I sputter a little and pull off my glasses, turning to Svet. All I can do is wrap my arms around her and begin to cry. Somehow she understands; she knows.
"Oh, babe, I.. I can't believe she.. Everything's gunna get better."
And I believe her.
