Man of the House

Chapter 4: One Free Place

The sun shines hot through Hayley's small bedroom window and the streams of warmth awaken her. She comes to and immediately a feeling of dread washes over her entire body, replacing any hope she had of a good day, when Mike walks into her room with a wide grin across his face.

"Your mom is working the day shift today, so I'll be picking you up from school." he announces, obviously overjoyed by the lack of supervision he will be under while Caren is at work. "You need to be the first one out so we can hurry home to play." Mike finishes and walks out the door, happily suspended in his own evil thoughts.

Hayley sits upright, un-tucking herself from the blankets she has tightly wrapped around her for protection from Mike. She climbs out of her small twin bed and begins searching for the clothes she will wear that day, frantically tossing shirts, pants, and undies this way and that. She sighs, it's not like it will matter, either way, she could dress in a garbage bag and Mike would still see that as an invitation.

"Do other girls have to worry about this?" she questions herself in her head, trying to piece together her mind and her outfit is like standing in the middle of a hurricane holding onto a stop sign and just praying that the wind won't lift her up and carry her away. She settles on some basic blue jeans and a purple flowery top. She can't wait to be in the car with her mom and on her way to school but, then she remembers what mike said about her mom working the day shift. "Shoot," she says to herself "mom's already gone for work, which means a car ride with..." Just as she starts to come to her own realization that the morning is ruined, Mike pops back into the bedroom.

"Ready, Freddy?" he asks, staring at Hayley as if she is a piece of meat, ready to devour. Hayley ignores him, grabs her backpack, and starts towards the door. It's no use with Mike standing in the way like he's guarding the queen of England or something. He puts his arm out to block her from leaving the room and then uses the other arm to wrap around Hayley. "So we aren't talking today, I see." he stares at her inquisitively, trying to pry an answer from her little mouth. That's all he can seem to think about now; her little mouth.

"I'm ready." Hayley mumbles, avoiding anything close to eye contact with him. Her soft, brown hair dangles in her face and Mike pushes a few strands back behind her ear, cupping her face in his hand.

"You don't have to talk to me, Hayley, you don't even have to look at me. You will respect and listen to me, however. Whether you'd like to or not. I am the man of the house and I can make your life a living hell if I wanted to." he suggests coldly. He's squeezing Hayley's chin now, almost to the point of bruising. He brushes her shoulders off, in some strange way, trying to comfort Hayley. "Now," he begins "get your little ass in that car, and don't come home with an attitude or I'll give you a reason to be upset." Hayley slides past him and walks, briskly, to the car. She gets into the backseat and slides on her headphones as to avoid any chance of more conversation with Mike. She can feel his eyes on her reflection in the rear view mirror and it makes her sick.

"Why does it have to be me?" she asks herself in her head. "Why can't he have a thing for somebody else? Why can't daddy just come and take me away from this man?" Hayley's father, Jack, had always been a deadbeat. Hayley's mind is still too young to understand that and she believes that any day now, Jack will come to visit and see the wrongdoings of Mike and Caren and he will take her away from here. Everyone else knows the truth though, Jack is never going to rescue his daughter, he can't save himself from his own misdeeds.

Throughout the rest of the car ride, Hayley's mind is silent, drowning out her thoughts with music, she tries to hurry the drive along by pretending that she is asleep in hopes to keep Mike quietly distracted from her. When they pull up to the school Hayley's third-grade teacher opens the door and greets Hayley with a warm smile.

"Good morning, Hayley." Mrs. Gallardo spouts as Hayley steps quickly out of the car, shutting the door fast behind her.

"Morning Mrs. G." Hayley replies smiling, it's the first real smile of the day, and it's probably one of the last smiles she will show today.

"Did you sleep well, sweetie?" Mrs. G asks with an extra amount of care in her eyes. "How about some breakfast?" she finishes warmly, slightly guiding Hayley to the cafeteria.

"I couldn't really sleep last night Mrs. G, I'm kind of tired this morning. Breakfast sounds cool though." Hayley replies with a smile that gives away nothing.

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that darling, we will go get some food in that little tummy and that should wake you right up." Mrs. Gallardo says as she points her hand in the direction of nourishment.

Hayley loved Mrs. G. Well, she loved the entire school really. That's why she had such good grades and an excellent work ethic. She thought school was the easy part of life, and she excelled at every piece of work she turned in. School was her safe place. She knew that, no matter what hell she had lived through the night before, she could always come here and feel loved, appreciated, and valued. Plus, Mike couldn't come to school with her. Hayley sits down to eat her breakfast at one of the long brown tables in the cafeteria. She eats alone and feels nothing, except for the dreaded sense of fear she has of going home today, to be alone, with Mike.