Short Stories

Shay and Naya Part 2

18 years old. She started her university preparation course, that allowed her to start her UNI degree once completed. After four long and agonising years, her parents received the news that they divorced. Her mum and her boyfriend were ready to marry each other, and her father found another girl who was his first serious girlfriend after his divorce. As her small little world was finally starting to heal from all its wounds, the real world was facing a pandemic: COVID-19. She was finally free from school, she finally accepted her bisexuality as a strength, and her home life was finally better than the last few years, but she was now restricted by the world. She missed exploring her city. She missed the freedom of catching the bus after school and UNI and spending hours exploring her world. She missed her family and friends.

Towards the second half of the year, as restrictions started to ease up, she began to explore her world again, and especially fall in love all over again with her city. She was close to her immediate family, and life was good once more, until it wasn't...

Her mum and her boyfriend often said they loved each other, and they were each other's 'soulmates', behind it all, she often heard them argue late at night, or behind closed doors. After a sudden massive argument between the two, it changed the dynamic at her mother's house. She didn't know how long they were going to last, and she knew both were keeping dark secrets.

He had one kid in a previous marriage, so when it came to the five kids, both dismissed their feelings towards one another, and portrayed their affection and attention to their 'Brady-bunch clan'. They'd often spend one-on-one times with their kids, showing as much attention as they could possibly have, almost like they were trying to prove to the kids that they were the better parent.

Things took a turn one night when her mother was out with her friends, and he was home alone with the 5 kids. From early on in the night he entered a grumpy and moody state. The oldest, being the girl who had her family tipped upside down from the age of 14, knew something wasn't right. She cooked and looked after her 4 siblings, while her step-dad was either in his room drinking away his worries, or on one of the televisions playing video games. Finally, she managed to have them all in one room watching a movie, whilst she went to check on her step-father.

He, being fully intoxicated, and his mind gone, saw her at the corner of his eye, and she knew something was going to happen. In all of the next 10 minutes, her world changed dramatically for the rest of her life. He had raped her. She tried and tried to squeeze freeze from his touch, but he was a 6'7, 120kg man, and she was a 5'4 55kg 18-year-old girl. She tried to call for help, but his hand easily covered her screams. After the incident, he dismissed her like nothing happened, and she ran to her room.

After a while, she realised her mother's boyfriend was in a deep sleep, and so was everyone else. Though she hadn't had her license yet, she packed the family car with her and her brothers' things and, one by one, she carried the four of them into the car. She wanted to be able to protect them from that monster. She didn't know where to go. It was past midnight, her mother was off enjoying her time with her friends, and she didn't want to stop her fun, she knew her mother had been miserable for a while now. So she decided to go to her father's house, he was away to see his girl-friend who lived in another country, and she knew she could reside there for a while. Her step-brother and her half-sister have never been there before, and she knew that once they all woke up, they would want answers.

That morning she got up early, she tried to sleep, her body was deprived of it, but her mind wouldn't rest. It kept playing the same scene over and over again. She texted her mum the night before, letting her know where everyone was, when the rest of her siblings awoke, she briefly told them what happened the night before, spinning a few lies here and there in order to protect the innocent.

When her mum came to collect her and her siblings, as much as she didn't want her full and biological brothers to go back to that place, she knew she needed time to herself. She didn't tell her mum anything that happened that night, except for the fact that he was rude, abusive and intoxicated.

Her father was away for a month, and so she locked herself in his house. She told her boss at work that she was dealing with 'personal matters', and she only left her house for grocery shopping or to exercise. The only thing people heard from her, were sudden 'likes' or 'comments' on social media, with the occasional ordinary chit-chat.

A few weeks after the incident, she began feeling nauseous. "Was it the sudden exercising?" "Is this my body's way of taking out all the junk food I've been eating lately?" She ran to the toilet and threw up. She then made some toast and sat by the TV and watched Netflix. As much as she wanted to concentrate on the screen, her mind wondered. "Why am I feeling so nauseous?" "Why am I so lethargic?" Then it came to her, "Could I be pregnant?".

She knew that when her father came back, everyone would want answers, and whether she liked it or not, she had to give them.