Sevenoaks, England. October 1985.
"Expelled? Audrey I cannot believe you." The woman's frail face still pulled an impressive scowl as she regarded the teenager in front of her. "Mummy please, I can explain," Audrey begged, kneeling at her mother's bedside, still dressed in her school uniform. Red and orange pleated skirt, white blouse, red tie and orange jumper tied haphazardly around her waist. It clashed horribly with her ginger hair and made her look younger than her seventeen years. She and her mother were almost twins, their heart shaped faces and gentle sloping features a carbon copy of each other. The only thing Audrey lacked was her mother's eyes, which were brown and almond shaped, almost doe like. They had hardened to two beetles set into her skull as she glared at her daughter, too weak to argue. Stage 4 invasive ductal carcinoma, which meant at any time she could fall into an unending sleep. "Please just send me somewhere else, you cannot let Father know, please," Audrey continued to beg, her round eyes watering. "Your Father has been informed and will decide what is next for you Audrey, if I was you I'd pack a bag. You knew this was the last straw, you'll go to live with Victoria and you'll be cut off contact from any of your other family, including me and your father." Her mother finished, looking away from her daughter and instead to her skeletal hands, bony fingers clasped over one another in a deathly embrace. Regret swirled in her gut as she looked at her sickly hands, knowing she would never see her daughter again after this day, but it wasn't up to her. Audrey gasped and fell in on herself, sobbing. Her Father knew. She was done for. Dread began to twist her organs and her palms began to sweat. Her long veil of scraggly ginger hair shaded her from view as the door to her mother's room opened.
"Well well well, look at you. Begging for forgiveness? Get up. GET UP!" The man in the doorway was Audrey's father. He had broad shoulders that barely squeezed into the navy suit he wore, tight to the roping muscle that curled around his upper body. To anyone else, he would be attractive, with menacing dark eyes under stern black eyebrows. He wore a mask of stubble that made him seem even more handsome, his tall stature and clean cut hair polishing off the look of a chic businessman. In everyone's eyes he was doing so well, with a sick wife and a delinquent child. To Audrey, he was the monster that popped up in every single one of her nightmares, the reason she was scared of the dark and the reason why she now bolted upright so fast she got lightheaded. Determined not to show weakness as her Father roared at her, Audrey pulled her full lips into a thin line. If she could just tune it out it wouldn't hurt as much, the insults would bounce off her instead of sinking in. Her composure shattered when her Father slapped her across the face so forcefully that it sent her sprawling onto the hardwood floor. It was almost like her heart had stopped, her father terrified her, but not once had he ever laid his hands upon her like this.
"David!" Audrey's mother gasped at the sight, the beads of blood welling up on Audrey's pale left cheek, having caught David's Signet ring on her cheekbone. David looked at Audrey's mother with eyes darkened with rage. She quieted her protests and could only watch as David reached out and took a fistful of Audrey's hair, pulling her delicate frame from the floor and screaming at her. "YOU MADE ME DO THIS!" he bellowed into her ear, pulling her face up to his by her hair. Audrey was crying at this point, burbling that she would do anything, that she was sorry. "You sicken me, I am appalled that I have to call you my child. You have two hours to pack and say goodbye to your mother, then I'll be at peace knowing you're off to America. Thousands of miles away from me, the way I like it. You were one big mistake Audrey, never forget that," David whispered, using his other hand to grip her face and force her to stare into his eyes. Audrey felt all hope leave her as she stared into the tar-pit holes that were her father's eyes. He threw her at the bed, where the wrought iron frame caught her in the stomach, smashing the air out of her and leaving her wheezing on the wooden floor. David brushed himself off and looked at Audrey's mother, who cowered in bed, shaking. "Laura, dear, she'll be away from us soon, you can be in tranquillity," David smiled and without another word turned and left the room. Laura felt a single tear roll down her sallow cheek as she watched her daughter struggle to her feet after being chucked around as easily as a ragdoll. Audrey used the bed frame to steady herself, shuffling until she perched on the bed next to her mother. Laura's heart broke as she looked at her daughter. Her green eyes looked empty, her cheek was already red and swollen slightly, destined to become a nasty bruise. She had clamped her arms around her midsection and hair more ruffled than ever before. "Mummy I'm sorry you have me as a daughter," She whispered, fat tears streaming down her cheeks. Laura could only gape at her daughter as she shuffled to the doorway, clutching her stomach with one hand and the wall with her other.
