Journey Home

1. The Old Struggle

     My home was hell. To be honest, it wasn't even a home. My mom's name is Jenna and she's was always hooked up on her husband, Jonathan. And that dude? Jonathan is always drunk and never notices when something's wrong with her. And when he's wasted? All of his anger comes onto me. Of course, I've tried to tell my "mother". Whenever I tell her, she goes off on me and says that I'm trying to break up their "happy relationship". The best thing I can do about the situation, is to grin and bear it, along with covering up the bruises.

     My name is Lyra Jackson, but people who have the chance to get know me call me Cliff. I'm 16 and as you can probably tell, my life is complete crap. I'm sixteen and I go to Limery High School. I'm not a complete loner, although people think I am. I choose to talk to people that can understand my life, and the things I go through with my "family". Until recently, I had a friend named Kaiya, until she choose her new friends over me. Because of the situation I'm in, I don't have that much money. I barely have a place to sleep sometimes, considering that my "stepfather" kicks me out when he's drunk. Usually, when that happens, I find a park, and I sleep there until the next day. It's either spend a night at a park, or spend my hard-earned money on a crappy motel. I work at a diner called Shakers. When I'm not at school or at the place I have to call home until I'm eighteen, I work at Shakers to earn money because I have a plan.

     My plan is to run away. I'm tired of Jonathan, and my mom. They don't care about me and I could care less about them too. They probably wouldn't care if I was gone either. I've been saving money for about a year, and I have a bank account that i used for special occasions. This, happens to be a special occasion. After my shift at Shakers, I go to AT&T to get a phone, just in case. There are so many phones to choose from, of course, I don't know which one to pick because I've never had a phone. Mom and Jonathan say I can't have a phone because they'll think I'm talking to a boy. Of course, that was not the case at all. I don't talk to anyone at my school so that would never happen. Anyways, the cashier shows up and nearly scared me half to death. Its a guy, and if I'm being honest, the guy is kinda cute. He asked if I needed help and i shook my head no. My trick is not saying anything and notice things more. By looking at him and his name tag, his name is Isaiah. I continue to look at the different phones and decide to get an iPhone XS Max. The only cashier that isn't busy is Isaiah. Of course, I don't feel like talking to him, but sadly, I have to. I walk up to him and tell him I'm ready to check out. "That's the first word I've heard you say the entire time you've been here", he says. "I like to remain mysterious", I tell him. We remain silent until he tells me the cost. Once I pay for the phone, I grab the receipt and start to head out. "Hold on, I didn't catch your name", he says. "Don't worry, if you're meant to know it, you'll find it out sooner or later", I say as I walk out of the door. My next stop is Walmart. While I'm there, I buy a small suitcase, the necessities and new clothes. I get out of there before it gets dark and I begin to walk home. 

     When I arrive, Jonathan's car is there and as I enter the house, the smell of Tequila stings my senses. Jonathan is absolutely wasted, as always. I try to get my stuff upstairs while avoiding Jonathan and my mom. If they saw my stuff they would flip because they would think I'm running away, which is what was attempting to do. I get in my room and start putting together my things. I finish up when Jonathan begins banging on the door. Do you really think I would stay in my room and not lock my door? "Open this door right now Lyra or you'll be in big trouble", he shouts. I make sure my phone and suitcase is hidden before I sit on my bed. The banging and shouting stops and silence falls over the house. Next thing I know, the door swings open with a loud bang. Jonathan runs in and starts yelling in my face. I sit there and listen. "You piece of crap! You do nothing but ruin everything! Your mom made a mistake by having you! You shouldn't have been born", he screams. These are the things I have to deal with. Next thing I know he takes a swing. I dodge it. He swings again and i manage to dodge that one also. The next punch he throws, hits me right in the eye. My eye begins to throb when he hits me again. I get up and try to hit him back but he manages to grab my hand and swings it around my back. With a swift flick of his arm, he slams me on the bed. Of course, my mom is oblivious to what's happening. He then starts to take off my clothes. I try to fight him but it doesn't work. He does what he wants and leaves. When he's done I feel horrible. I go directly to the shower. When I get out I put on some old clothes and sit on my bed. Jonathan walks in and tells me to get out of his house. I obliged because I want to get out of here. He leaves the room and I get ready to go. I grab my phone and my suitcase and begin to head out. Jonathan is standing at the door and I tell him to get out of my way. "Who do you think you're talking to young lady", he shouts. "Obviously you because you told me to get out", I shout back. He grabbed me and slammed me against the wall, hard enough to bruise my skin. He punched me twice and I waited silently for him to walk away. Once he walked away I made sure I had my card, my phone, and my suitcase and I dash for the door.

     Once I got out of the door I looked at the time. It was 11:30 p.m. and it was too late to try and get on the train. I decided to go to the park so I could get away from the house. When I got to the park I found a bench where I wouldn't be seen by any passing police officers and where i could take a nap. As soon as I was beginning to fall asleep, I heard a bunch of voices approaching me. The voices were deep so I assumed it was a group of boys. I sat up and pretended like I was playing a game on my phone to try and avoid making any eye contact with them. "Oh look here, ma's all alone on her phone", one of them says. I keep my head down to show I don't want to talk. One of them approaches me and snatches my phone out of my hand. "Gimme my damn phone back", I yell. "Well look, she does talk", one of the boys reply. I reach out to grab my phone but he quickly pulls back. "Not so fast. I'll give you your phone if you tell me your name", he says.  "You can have my phone then", I reply as a couple more boys walk up. In the group of boys that join the others, I see a familiar face so I look at my shoes so he doesn't recognize me. "Hey you were at the AT&T store right", one of them says. "Yea", I say. He grabs the phone from his friend and hands it to me. "Thanks", I say as I look up taking the phone from him. As I look up, I see it's Isaiah, the cashier from AT&T. "You guys can go, I'll catch up later", he says dismissing his friends. Once their gone I sit down and go back on my phone. "What are you doing here so late at night", he asks. I don't reply. "Oh come on, first you won't tell anyone your name and now you won't answer my simple question. I just want to make sure you're okay", he says. I look up at him and say, "I'm fine". "What happened to your face", he exclaimed. "Do you want me to take you home", he asks. "I'm fine", I say as I look back at my phone. I can't believe I forgot to cover up the bruises. "Have you eaten yet", he asks. "I can take you to get something to eat", he continues. "I'm fine", I reply. "Look, I won't try anything my car isn't far from here we can just grab a quick bite", he states. "Fine", I reply. I grab my suitcase and follow him to his car. We decide to eat at Waffle House.

     The car ride was mostly silent until he started asking questions. "You never told me where the bruises came from", he says. "I know", I reply. "If it was your boyfriend I'll fight him" he say with complete seriousness. "I don't have a boyfriend. It was my stepdad, even though he doesn't deserve a title", I say. "I'll fight him too", he says as we pull up. We eat and make small talk but most of it's him talking. Through our conversation I find out that he's my age and goes to my school. Once we're done I go up to pay but he pays for it. "So where do you want me to take you", he asks. "Can you drop me off at the park", I request. "Hell nah", he says. "There's no way I'm letting you sleep outside tonight". "I'll be fine", I reply. "Your favorite word must be fine because you say it a lot. I have a place, you can crash there. I'll sleep on the couch", he says. "I'm good", I say. "Okay then come on let's go", he replies. I hesitate as he walks to the car. "Come on", he calls.