done for her.
After she had nursed her sister as best she could, she went downstairs and turned her attention to the kitchen. She began cleaning it up as quickly as possible, aware that the fucking bastard would be home any minute.
By the time Pepper came through the door shortly after two in the morning and fell asleep on the sofa, Gracie was in her bed, sleeping, and Emma was sitting next to her, feeding the hate she nursed in her heart for their father. She was increasingly firm in her conviction that one day she would escape him. No one, not even Brianna, understood the nature of the untamed beasts lurking in Emma’s soul. Before she went to sleep each night, she prayed to God to kill her father. But He seemed deaf to her prayers and she knew it was ultimately up to her to ensure that her father paid for all the pain he had caused them.
The next day was just like any other in the house of horrors. Down in the kitchen that morning, while Emma was making breakfast for the beast, a rat scurried across the floor just in front of her feet. The girls were accustomed to small mice and bugs; it came with the territory, the neighborhood. However, this particular rat was as big as a cat. Emma screamed when she saw it and jumped up on a kitchen chair.
Pepper came thudding into the kitchen with Valerie following, infuriated that his sleep had been disturbed. When he saw the rat, which didn’t seem scared of them at all, he grumbled, “Holy Christ! Where the fuck did that thing come from?” Grabbing the broom, he swung at it. The rat shuffled off under the kitchen door from where it had originally appeared.
Pepper now turned on Emma, his favorite scapegoat. “If you weren’t such a fucking pig and knew how to clean like a real woman, we wouldn’t have this problem!” he yelled. “Now make my breakfast, will you? And when you’re done, I want this place spotless. Then take your fat ass down to the grocery store and buy some rat poison, you fucking idiot!” He looked at Gracie, then back at Emma. “You two are useless ! Now get moving!” he screamed sharply, making them both jump.
After breakfast, Emma scrubbed every inch of the kitchen. She emptied drawers and cabinets and rewashed clean bowls and dishes. She knew Pepper would inspect her work when she was done and also knew the consequences that awaited her if he found even a speck of dirt anywhere. While her father looked over her work, Valerie handed Emma a five-dollar bill and told her to run down to the grocery store for rat poison.
Emma knew she was leaving Gracie in a vulnerable situation alone upstairs in their room. She went upstairs to see her before she left and instructed her to stay in the bedroom and not to come out until she was back. She ran to the store as quickly as her feet would carry her. Pepper was impossible to satisfy and always found something to complain about. Emma was anxious to get back home in case he went after Gracie again. Her sister was so broken from the night before that Emma believed another beating might kill her. If it didn’t kill her, it would most certainly leave permanent scars on her already swollen and bruised body. Having made it to the store, she quickly found the rat poison and hurried to the cashier to make her purchase. Then she sprinted back to the house.
She had been gone less than twenty minutes, but the moment Emma stepped through the front door she knew violence had erupted in her absence. The stillness in the house, combined with the smell of fear and anger, gripped all of her senses. She hurried into the kitchen and found Gracie unconscious on the floor. Blood oozed from her nose and mouth. Her eyes had fresh bruises, in addition to the ones inflicted on her the night before.
After checking for her sister’s pulse and finding one, Emma went to see where the son of a bitch was. Unable to find him in the house, she went back to her sister. After cleaning the blood from Gracie’s face, she brought her to the
After she had nursed her sister as best she could, she went downstairs and turned her attention to the kitchen. She began cleaning it up as quickly as possible, aware that the fucking bastard would be home any minute.
By the time Pepper came through the door shortly after two in the morning and fell asleep on the sofa, Gracie was in her bed, sleeping, and Emma was sitting next to her, feeding the hate she nursed in her heart for their father. She was increasingly firm in her conviction that one day she would escape him. No one, not even Brianna, understood the nature of the untamed beasts lurking in Emma’s soul. Before she went to sleep each night, she prayed to God to kill her father. But He seemed deaf to her prayers and she knew it was ultimately up to her to ensure that her father paid for all the pain he had caused them.
The next day was just like any other in the house of horrors. Down in the kitchen that morning, while Emma was making breakfast for the beast, a rat scurried across the floor just in front of her feet. The girls were accustomed to small mice and bugs; it came with the territory, the neighborhood. However, this particular rat was as big as a cat. Emma screamed when she saw it and jumped up on a kitchen chair.
Pepper came thudding into the kitchen with Valerie following, infuriated that his sleep had been disturbed. When he saw the rat, which didn’t seem scared of them at all, he grumbled, “Holy Christ! Where the fuck did that thing come from?” Grabbing the broom, he swung at it. The rat shuffled off under the kitchen door from where it had originally appeared.
Pepper now turned on Emma, his favorite scapegoat. “If you weren’t such a fucking pig and knew how to clean like a real woman, we wouldn’t have this problem!” he yelled. “Now make my breakfast, will you? And when you’re done, I want this place spotless. Then take your fat ass down to the grocery store and buy some rat poison, you fucking idiot!” He looked at Gracie, then back at Emma. “You two are useless ! Now get moving!” he screamed sharply, making them both jump.
After breakfast, Emma scrubbed every inch of the kitchen. She emptied drawers and cabinets and rewashed clean bowls and dishes. She knew Pepper would inspect her work when she was done and also knew the consequences that awaited her if he found even a speck of dirt anywhere. While her father looked over her work, Valerie handed Emma a five-dollar bill and told her to run down to the grocery store for rat poison.
Emma knew she was leaving Gracie in a vulnerable situation alone upstairs in their room. She went upstairs to see her before she left and instructed her to stay in the bedroom and not to come out until she was back. She ran to the store as quickly as her feet would carry her. Pepper was impossible to satisfy and always found something to complain about. Emma was anxious to get back home in case he went after Gracie again. Her sister was so broken from the night before that Emma believed another beating might kill her. If it didn’t kill her, it would most certainly leave permanent scars on her already swollen and bruised body. Having made it to the store, she quickly found the rat poison and hurried to the cashier to make her purchase. Then she sprinted back to the house.
She had been gone less than twenty minutes, but the moment Emma stepped through the front door she knew violence had erupted in her absence. The stillness in the house, combined with the smell of fear and anger, gripped all of her senses. She hurried into the kitchen and found Gracie unconscious on the floor. Blood oozed from her nose and mouth. Her eyes had fresh bruises, in addition to the ones inflicted on her the night before.
After checking for her sister’s pulse and finding one, Emma went to see where the son of a bitch was. Unable to find him in the house, she went back to her sister. After cleaning the blood from Gracie’s face, she brought her to the
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