Since you guys liked "The Wedding Dress", I thought I'd post this too. I wrote this a couple months ago. This is actually taken from a scene in the story my best friend and I are writing. So Billy's dad's dialogue is credited to Beky. I just expanded on it and added details of what they were doing. Our story is written like this:
Billy's Dad: Says something. *does something*
Billy: Also says something. *also does something*
So all I had to do was add to it a bit. By the way, by reading these short stories, you guys are getting a sneak peek of my book, Cursed Sleep :D BUY IT WHEN IT'S PUBLISHED PLEASE!
Here is "Danger":
Danger. The word itself isn’t really scary. But after what I’ve been through, it makes me shudder.
I’m afraid of my dad. I always have been. I’ve seen him beat my ma ever since I was a kid. When I got older I did my best to protect her, and I got a beating worse than he would have given her. Sometimes he’d stop paying child support and I’d blackmail him to get him to pay again. I’d threaten to tell his boss or new girlfriend about all the court orders we had against him. I had a copy of every single one, hidden in a shoebox under my floorboards where he couldn’t find it if he came over.
Once when he beat my ma I yanked him off of her and punched him. He slammed my head into the cabinet corner. Ma said she’d never seen so much blood, and the doctor said I would’ve been dead if I got to the hospital ten minutes later. One time when I blackmailed my dad he threatened my ma with a gun. That was when we moved.
Of course, just our luck, he found Ma at a gas station when she was topping off her tank. I came home from work and found her in bed, beaten and bloody, trying to light a cigarette. I remember how my voice cracked when I told her she was gonna burn the house down. I hated it.
She gave me the cigarette to light and told me what happened. He saw her at the gas station and grabbed her by the arm. He dragged her around behind the building and just… Whaled on her. I begged her to go to the hospital but she didn’t want to. Said the cops wouldn’t help, Dad was in with them and there had been one watching him beat her. I lost it, begged and cried. I mean, I’m just fourteen. I couldn’t stand seeing my mama like that. She went to the hospital. I felt guilty; my breaking down made her feel like a bad mother, but I was glad she went.
The next day was the day I almost died. I went to see my dad. I know it was crazy, a fourteen-year-old boy against a grown man, but you didn’t see what he did to her. You would’ve done the same.
I knocked, ‘cuz even though he’s a bastard my ma taught me to be polite. He answered and sort of grinned.
“What, you want me to make you black and blue too?”
Of course he knew why I was there.
“Stay the hell away from my ma.”
He smirked again and called her a word that I ain’t gonna repeat. That was when I punched him. He stumbled back and called me a bastard.
“You little bastard,” was what it was. “We’ll see if you survive this time.” He punched me in the chest and I couldn’t breathe, I just kept gagging and coughing. I wanted to punch him back but I could barely move.
“Stupid kid. I hope I kill you this time.” He punched me hard in the jaw and I tasted blood.
No way I was going down so easy. I stumbled backwards but then I lurched forward and tackled him. It must have been adrenaline or something, ‘cuz I know I ain’t that strong. He fell and made a weird noise, like his breath cut off. But he recovered quick and kneed me in the stomach. That made me gag, but I was pissed by now. I was on top of him and it was easy to slam my knee into his crotch.
“Ah!” He curled up and hollered for a second, but got up faster than I thought he would. “You little bastard.” He got his hands around my throat and started choking me.
That was the worst feeling I’ve ever had. I felt hot and my chest hurt, and I couldn’t get his hands off no matter how hard I pulled. It was only for a second but it felt much longer. He dropped me on the floor and I couldn’t stand; I just coughed. He started kicking me over and over again. I called him something I’d be ashamed to tell my mother.
“You started it, bastard.” His favorite word to call me.
“I hate you.” I’d never said it before, never thought about it, but it was true.
“Yeah, yeah.” He sounded bored, like this was nothing. “You wouldn’t hate me if your mama would’ve gotten rid of you like I told her to. I was even gonna pay.”
I didn’t know anything about that. I wasn’t real surprised. I knew he didn’t want me but Ma would never have told me that and confirmed it. I stumbled up to stand as best I could.
“She loves me.”
“I know, that’s why she wouldn’t do it. Too bad.”
I lunged at him, caught him by surprise, and punched him in the head as hard as I could. It didn’t effect him much; I was still pretty weak and still trying to catch my breath. He shoved me off easily. So I bit him on the arm. Hard.
“What’s wrong with you!” He punched me in the back of the head but I wouldn’t let go. No way was I gonna let go. Nobody hurts my ma, much less that sorry excuse for a man.
That was when he pulled his gun out. He put it to my head and that made me let go. I knew he’d do it. I was scared, but I wasn’t gonna back down completely. I called him that word again. My ma would be ashamed of me if she knew.
“What was that?” He cocked the gun.
“You heard me.”
“Be nice. I don’t want to call your mama and tell her to come pick up the pieces.”
“I hate you. I wish you’d die.” I was shaking and he could see it. I knew I should shut up, he really would kill me, I couldn’t do that to Ma, but I hated him so much. I couldn’t stop.
“Hm… Maybe I should kill you.”
“I don’t care.”
“I don’t want to waste a bullet.” He put the gun away and started to strangle me again. I got that hot feeling and I panicked. I started clawing at his hands, but he just smiled and squeezed tighter. I couldn’t breathe at all. I kicked out and managed to connect with his crotch, but I was weak. He pressed his thumb into my throat and I started to gag. I saw black spots and I got so scared. I knew I was about to die. He was smiling the whole time. I didn’t want his face to be the last thing I ever saw. That was what I was thinking right as I passed out.
After that, I don’t know what happened. I woke up on the side of the road. Maybe he thought I was dead and he dumped me, or maybe he just got tired of it when I couldn’t fight back. Whatever it was, I thanked God for it. I recognized the road, so I was able to make my way to Ma’s boyfriend’s house. Rex is a good guy. He put me in his bed and gave me a shot of vodka for the pain.
I begged, and he agreed not to tell Ma. It bothered him, I could tell, but I knew what it would do to my ma if she found out what Dad had done to me. Especially if she knew I had gone looking for him and it was because she was hurt. She’d think it was her fault and never forgive herself.
Rex swung by the house to get some of my stuff, and he told her I’d wanted to spend some time with him so I was staying the weekend. Ma thought that was a great idea, and I told her the same thing when she called. I didn’t want to lie. But I guess if she finds out she’ll forgive me, and God will too.
I’d never felt so close to death before. “Danger” is a real concept to me now, and it scares me. But I have to protect my ma. And I know Rex will protect me. We all have each other, and I pray all the time that my dad will leave us alone, so I know God is keeping an eye on us. My nightmares keep coming, and guns scare me when they never did before, but I think it’ll be okay. As long as I have Ma, I’ll be okay.
So there you go. A bit longer than the last one. Remember, people, comments are like crack for me. FEED THE ADDICTION.
