Read Online Violence Begets... by Pt Denys, Myra Shelley - Free Book Online

not what
I need, I thought.
    “I came to tell you… I mean I forgot…I
came in your window to tell you… fuck,” he trailed off. I’d never heard him stammer
for words before.
    “Go away,” I forced out in a breath,
realizing at once that I had broken ribs. I didn’t know how to explain things to
him. I flinched as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
    “Don’t move,” he commanded, not threatening
but still Kevin. I heard him leave my room quietly. He returned moments later. “Now
come here,” he said, kneeling down next to me. I wanted to crawl under my bed and
hide from him, from my dad. But his voice was almost hypnotic to me, and I found
myself obeying his calm commands. I attempted to sit up and cried out before I could
stop myself. Slowly, he took my arm and wrapped it around his neck. He waited for
a second to let me get used to the position and then said, “Now try.”
    I took a deep breath and braced myself
for the pain as I used his body to lean against, gritted my teeth and slowly pulled
myself into a sitting position. I leaned back against my bed, refusing to look at
him. He reached up with a warm, damp towel and started to wipe blood from my face.
He put a bag of ice against the right side of my cheek. He wasn’t overly gentle
or tender, almost like a doctor just doing what needed to be done.
    “Here, hold this here,” he commanded.
I reached up and pressed the cold bag against my face, my fingers instantly chilling
at its touch. He finished cleaning me up, then got a fresh shirt. “Put this one
on.” I looked down at my t-shirt and saw that it was splattered was blood. I stared
at it, blinking, confused by the different shades of red. He stood back and waited
patiently. “You need to change.” I looked up at him, and he nodded slightly. With
every breath and every move my ribs caught fire. My face felt like a balloon. I
watched as he straightened up my room, spraying the blood spots on the carpet with
a bottle of cleaner that had appeared out of nowhere. Finally, he sat next to me
on the floor.
    “You going to tell me what happened?”
    What was I supposed to say to him? My
dad hates me and freaked out on me because he wants me dead instead of my older
brother?
    “Your dad did this.” It wasn’t a question.
“I saw him storm out of here.” I couldn’t find the words to admit to him what had
happened. “How long’s he been doing this to you?” he asked with a cutting edge.
When I didn’t answer he said more forcefully, “How long?”
    “This is the first time,” I admitted
quietly. It had been a long time coming. I was surprised he’d held it together as
long as he had after Jason died.
    “Really?” He looked at me skeptically.
He must have seen something in my face to make him believe me.
    “He hit your sister or your mom?”
     “Stepmom, and no.”
    He nodded, “Were they here?”
    “No.” I shuddered at the thought of
Emma possibly witnessing the fight. There was no way I was going to let her find
out what had happened.
    “What set him off?”
    “It’s a long story.”
    “I have time.”
    “Not now,” I said, shaking my head.
    I expected him to push again, but he
didn’t ask any more questions. I got lost in the shock of what had happened. I ran
through it over and over, going over everything I’d done wrong. If I’d only kept
my mouth shut. I always had to learn things the hard way. I wondered what would
happen when they all came home.
    I didn’t have to wait long until I heard
Sylvia pull in and Emma’s little feet running up the stairs. Kevin looked towards
my door, then the window.
    “Lock it,” I whispered frantically,
motioning towards the door, knowing the pain would keep me from moving fast enough
to lock it myself. Seconds before Emma tried the door, Kevin flipped the lock into
place.
    “Rick?” I heard her tiny voice from
the other side of the door.
    “Not now, schmunchkin,” I said hoarsely.
“I have a big test in school tomorrow. Can we