The Oak Tree And The Shotgun.

Chapter 2

Jackie's POV

Believe me, there was a time when love existed, but it definitely was not in my time.

I find it hard to believe that this period where "love" existed was even in this dimension.

But everytime I looked at this broken frame capturing this moment at my mother's wedding, it seemed as if there was at least a spark.

She had less bruises and her flesh was full and matched with colour. Her smile was wider, her emrald eyes bigger and brighter and her strawberry blonde hair was more taken care of. I had her sharp nose, cheekbones and hard jawline, but I had my dad's brown hair and electric blue eyes.

I hated myself for that but I loved Izzie so much more just for the fact that she looked exactly like my mother and nothing like my bastard father.

Ever since I came into this world, my father abused my mother and appologized afterward. Before even, that's why I was born with these underdeveloped elf ears and left shoulder.

My dad was a horrible person but my mother loved him. Or she was blinded by the fact that she thought she loved him. I honestly don't care what the story was.

We were extremely poor. After Izziel was born it became ten times worse. We lived off bread and got sent apples, canned fish, potatoes and tomatoes from Grandma. And my father was forced to go hunt and fish while my mother was forced to grow a garden in our backyard and sell a few flowers for money.

But things took time and effort. Seasons changed, luck wasn't consistent and that drove us over the edge.

By the time Izzie was old enough to go to school we didn't even have money to send her to school. She didn't even go to a pre-primary school so she couldn't get a bursary as I did.

My grandma was diagnosed with cancer that year. She moved in with us, but all she done was lay on her death bed. We didn't even have money to send her to the hospital so we kept her with us.

My father was an ill man, and my mother was his sheep. They came to a conclusion that my Grandma was suffering and that they had to take matters into their own hands and put her out of her misery. All her inheritance would fall to my mother. Things we could sell. A house, furniture. Things we could use to send Izzie to school and make life better for everyone. And my mother agreed to help her husband murder her mother for money.

And yes. They gone through with it without getting caught. Got everything they thought and more. My Grandma had a funeral policy and had opened college funds for both Izzie and I. That money was enough for so much more than school fees and food. So we went out. Celebrated. Renovated. Spent until the money evaporated. And we went back to the beginning of our struggles.

Through it all, my father was abusive. He hurt my mother probably everyday of my life. Even on the "good" days.

I remember hearing my mother scream from the kitchen. Begging for him to stop. I heard loud thumps and hard breathing. Slaps and curse words.

I ran on my toes and turned around the corner and what I saw made me want to throw up. My Teddy bear fell on the floor beside my bare toes as my mother was drapped over the kitchen counter, my dad pinning her down by her head and neck and her pants and underwear circled around her ankles as my dad thrusted into her from behind. Her eyes shut as she cried and I watched until my dad started moving in and out more slower until he gave his last hard and deep thrust and pulled out, grabbing her by her neck like she was a dog and threw her to the ground, where she curled into a ball and cried.

Then he walked to me after zipping up his pants, fishing a bottle of beer from the  fridge, lighting a cigarette and crouched down in front of me. He put the bottle between his legs and blew smoke into my face after removing the cigarette from his lips. Then he caressed my cheek and raked his claws the my hair, down my neck and down my chest where he unbuttoned my sleeping dress to look at my body. He rubbed his thumbs over my nipples as a tear fell from my chin onto my Teddy bear; eyes locked on the ground. He jerked my head up so I could look into his eyes.

"You see what happened here little girl?" He asked me, tilting his head with some... Maniac crooked smile but I just froze and nodded.

"Now you know what happens when you don't do as you're told." Was what he said after shoving my Teddy bear into my arms and pushed my toward the stairs, gesturing for me to go to bed and I silently complied.

That night I didn't cry, but my heart literally shattered as i replayed every scene.

"Now you know what happens when you don't do as you're told."