Dad.

Introduction

He hit me with his belt over and over, with each hit the pain faded away. My blood covered the barren concrete floor of the deep, dark basement. Blood trickled down my thigh like the stream in the back of the woods where I would play with my friends before the "Dark Times." Dad never did this to me before mom died. I was a punching bag, useless no one could help me. I just wish my mom were still here.

Dad smoked a fat Cuban cigar, as he pulled it out of his mouth a ring of smoke rolled off his tongue, just like a dragon breathing fire. His arm slowly bend down, he took the ash covered tip and smashed it into my forehead. It was a searing pain; the ashes fell upon my tongue and they tasted like sorrow and despair. I am just glad he didn't cover me in gasoline at light me on fire, that would be living hell. As it singed my skin all I could think about was the first time he had did that to me.

It was way back last year I was sitting in my room playing my guitar from the dollar store. (My family never had enough money for real stuff.) I heard him holler my name I shot down the stairs to see what was wrong. "Why didn't you clean the dishes Jackson?" He screamed at the top of his lungs with a large cigar still burning in his hand. " I forgot, can I go back to my room?" I quivered. He bends over and shoves that cigar right in my throat. That was the last time I can ever remember not being in the basement.

But back to the story, my father grabbed me by my blood drenched white shirt, he through me into a small dog cage. My back had to be hunched to fit in there it was as if I lived in a kennel. HE walked up the old creaky stairs as I sobbed silently. The only thing that lit up the basement was his old barber shop sign from his last business.

I am beginning to see why my father beats me it is my fault, not his. I should have never been born, maybe if I weren't my mom would have never died. Why did my mom have to die she was the nicest person in the world. She wouldn't hurt a fly. I think it is time to take my own life.

I started banging my head on the cage It wasn't working, I started to bite at my fingers think that if I could get one off I might bleed out. I did it my pinky was off, I can't stand the sight of blood, I fainted why did I do that what was going through my mind. I will never do that again I hope my dad doesn't find me here before I wake up.

Interlude

We were in the car driving down the highway, my parents bickering in the front of the car about how we didn't have enough money and everything else under the sun. This was a normal car ride for me nothing but the usual, I just sat in the back of the car with my CD player listening to some music because mom always played lame classical stuff in the car.

Mom was never a good driver she would always be on the phone and distracted, she was lucky nothing had happened before that. I called for my mom in the back of the car I needed to go the bathroom. She turned around in response; she swerved into the left lane. I saw it, that semi-truck barreling towards us. The headlights lit up my eyes. Everything turned white. That was it, game over, my entire fault, now what.

I heard the sirens coming I couldn't move it looked like someone was grabbing on to me, it was but it wasn't what I thought it would be. My mom's dead mangled arm on me, I couldn't move it the seat at completely trapped my arms all I could do was sit there and cry my heart out.

Chapter 1

A pool of blood sat on the bottom of my cage it smelled horrible, it was an overwhelming smell. My dad was coming I could hear him coming down the stairs but it sounded like he was falling. The thumping finally stopped but was at the bottom of the stairs wasn't what I expected, what lied there was a man in about his mid-20's duct tape around his mouth and his hand and feet zip tied together.

He had cracked his head on the way down the stairs his blood dripped slowly down his forehead, what was my dad doing up there. It appeared that the victim had strangled wounds on his neck, was he dead or living? I heard steps coming down the stairs again this time it sounded like my dad's. My heartbeat raced was I next what is going to happen?

His giant masculine hands were holding iron wool what was that for, why did he have it? He unlocked my cage I didn't say a word. He saw all the blood on the cage he started to say something. "So what you do it looked like you tried to kill yourself, what's the fun in that?" He grumbled. "Why don't you love me son, I never did anything wrong, you were the one who killed your mom."

It was my fault he was right I was ready to except the punishment he has for me. "Do you want to end up like that dead mangled body, no? That's what I thought now get out of your cage it's time for a bathroom break. Every week or so he would let me go to the bathroom, but it want the toilet it was the corner it was horrible the flies and rats would swarm around it. If you were down there you would have thought an outhouse had tipped over.