"WELCOME TO THE LOSERS CLUB" ▶ MIKE HANLON ◀

(ⅷ) My Sad Life

As I came out of the garage from putting my bike away, I tried making it to my room until Ernest called for me.

"June." He slurred, obviously drunk.

"June." I ignored him on purpose.

"June!"

"Yes, Ernest?" I finally replied as I slowly came up to him, but not too close. He was sitting on the couch.

"I told you to call me Dad from now on. Olivia and I have been your legal guardians for a long time." Yeah, right. It definitely doesn't feel like it.

"Now come here." He patted the space next to him. "Sit."

I sat slowly. He gripped my wrist. "It doesn't take that fucking long to sit!" He yelled.

"Answer my question. Why are you home so late? We had dinner half an hour ago."

"I-I was-"

I was truthfully at the arcade for about three hours. I went after I said my goodbyes to Mike.

"You were where? Spit it out!" He pulled my shirt.

I'm really getting sick of this. "I will spit it out if you'd stop interrupting me. You're the one who asked. For one thing, you better be glad I respect you."

"That does it, you little shit. We're going to your room." He dragged me by the arm.

"What do you mean we? Let me go."

He stayed quiet until we were in my bedroom. Putting his drink down, he pushed me roughly to the ground, slammed the door and told me to get up. I did what he said.

He then pushed me to the wall and started slapping me. "Who the hell are you to be talking back to me?! Huh?!"

"I'm June." I mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"I said I'm June! June Westbay! The girl you adopted to become your loving daughter, not a fucking rag doll that you-" I got cut off with his fist across my face.

"Don't curse at me, you useless bitch! I'm the reason you're still alive! If it wasn't for me adopting you, you would've been dead by now!"

"I'd be dead if you keep beating on me like this! Get off me! You're drunk and you would've been doing the same thing if you weren't! You're the worst! I hate you! You and Olivia are bad guardians! I wouldn't even consider you as parents!"

It's true. Ernest beats me all the time and Olivia knows about it. She just doesn't do anything. To make it worse, she sometimes joins in on the fun they're having. I have never hated someone so much in my life.

With all that being said, he blew many punches in my stomach and face, twisted my arms, pulled my hair, and kept dragging me on the floor. He went too far when he tried aiming his bottle of alcohol at me.

I thought he missed until I saw a trickle of blood coming from my head. Glass is shattered everywhere and now my head's bleeding.

"You're fucking grounded and don't come back out unless I tell you to or else you gonna get it, you hear me?!" I didn't respond.

"I said do you hear me?!" He kicked me in the stomach.

"Yes."

"Yes, what?!"

"Yes, Ernest."

"Wrong!" He stepped on my face a few times. "What the right one?!"

"Yes, Dad." I may have said it, but I would never mean it. It felt so disgusting coming out of my mouth.

"That's right. Stay in your room!" Walking out, he slammed the door again.

I got up, limped to my bed, and hugged my knees as I silently cried to myself wondering why I live such an awful life.

I could've been homeless, grow up in the lower class, or have financially struggling parents that were always arguing... but I never had or experienced any of those. I just had to grow up getting abused, abandoned, and bullied. Why was I born if my biological parents didn't want me and my adoptive parents are way worse? It's not like I knew what my parents were like, but I still think about it every day. I bet they are nothing like Ernest and Olivia, but why did they have to give me up?