Chapter Eleven

“Freak!” Clara called out to some short girl in the cafeteria. She laughed as Kelsey examined her fingernails at the end of the table. I sat a few seats away, on my own, listening in to the conversation. “So are you coming to the concert?” Clara asked, her question aimed at her many peers. “Maybe, I have to ask my parents,” Sarah, her blond hair almost as perfect as Clara's, seemed tangled in her fingers. “Right,” muttered Clara, the word 'loser' falling from her lips. “You're coming though, right?” Clara nudged Kelsey. “Right?” Kelsey nodded slowly. “Huh? Oh yeah sure, whatever.” Kelsey stopped looking at her hands and instead started looking around the room. “Great! This is going to be awesome.” I rolled my eyes and poked my lunch. Cafeteria food wasn't the greatest, but Mum hadn't gone shopping for days, all the money we had left except for Dad's rent was going towards alcohol and smokes. “After parties are the best, we're gonna get drunk as hell,” was the last thing I heard from Clara as the bell rang. After party? Drunk? Go ahead, I thought. Kill yourselves on the way home, it'll save me the effort. Then I stopped and realized what I was thinking. Kelsey was going to that party. The party where everyone was going to get drunk and do something stupid they were going to regret. I pinched my eyes shut and tried my best not to think of how bad Dad got when he got drunk. Shaking my head I quickly stood up and ran to my next class along with the other late comers. I couldn't let her go. At least, not alone.

Walking out the school gates, all that was on my mind was the party everyone was talking about. “Jess!” I turned around face to face with Kelsey, who suddenly went very quiet. “Hi,” I said slowly. “We, haven't talked for a while,” she began, but I cut her off. “Kels, if you want something, just spit it out.” I knew I sounded mean, but I couldn't stand being here talking to her after all she'd done to me. Or, what she hadn't been doing. “I'm sorry okay, but I wanted to give you this.” Reaching out, she shoved an envelope into my hands. “What's this?” I asked, but just as soon as she had arrived, she was gone again. Stirred by the strange and short conversation, I opened up the envelope as I began the walk home. Inside was a small piece of paper, torn out from a notebook. An address, phone number and other details were scribbled on the paper, with Clara's name at the bottom of the page. “The party,” I whispered to myself. Kelsey wanted me to go with her? A million thoughts spun in my head. Of course I'm not going! But I have to. I have to keep things under control. What am I thinking? I could wake up the next morning in someone else's house with no clue of what happened the previous night! Crunching the paper I shoved it into my jeans as rain began to fall, drenching me to the bone. “I'm home,” I called as I twisted the door knob. Empty. I dropped the keys on the table as I examined the room. Bottle after bottle of God knows what littered the room. Dark black spots covered the carpet, loose ashes were spread everywhere. Carefully putting down my school bag, I picked up a couple of the bottles that were empty and put them in the bin outside. Next I emptied the remaining bottles down the toilet and swept up the rest of the mess. The carpet would never be the same, but at least it looked a little tidier. I pushed over the tipped coffee table and rearranged the sofas. The kitchen was no better �" the rubbish hadn't been taken out for days and the cupboards were empty except for a few boxes of cigarettes and cereal packets. Carrying my bag upstairs, I investigated the rest of the rooms. Dad's was a mess, the bed was torn apart and the old T.V was still on, black and white flickers beaming from the screen. Heather's room was locked tight, only the smell of rotten pizza lingered under the door. Next was Mum's room. The door was closed, but not locked. Gently I pushed it open. The room was bare except for the small bed and closet which filled the room. “Mum?” I called. No reply. Carefully I pulled back the bedsheets to reveal her. I gasped, fear began to choke in. Her face was pale and hollow, her eyes barely open but bloodshot. Her hair was spread messily on the pillow along with stains of blood. A few scratch marks lined her neck while her hand was badly blistered. “Jess,” she moaned, trying to move. “Wait here,” I said slowly, and ran downstairs to put some water on to boil. I got out her favourite mug, now chipped on the side, and rinsed the last spoon in the drawer. Using up the rest of the coffee I carefully picked it up, only to find Mum had already hobbled downstairs. I sat her down in one of the soft seats in the lounge and handed her the drink. “Mum, this can't keep going on. Dad's promised us money but all he's done is take ours!” I said, pacing and pacing up and down the kitchen. “We need to kick him out. Or we get out. Or something! We can take the subway somewhere, and call the cops, oh please listen to me!” I was trying hard to bite back the tears as I watched her shake as she sipped her coffee. “He's bringing it tomorrow,” she whispered smiling. “Jessica it's fine now. Everything is fine.” I couldn't stand to watch her tremble as she could barely lift the cup to her mouth. “No, everything is not fine.” I stated, trying my best to keep calm. “Look, your face is bruised just as good as mine, if not worse. You're just bones Mum and we can do something!” Shaking her head she stared at the floor, you couldn't even tell the stains from the rest of the carpet now. “After he gives us the money he owes us, he will be gone. We can...we.... can survive until then.” her words were quiet and empty as her face quivered. “No we can't!” I screamed at her. “He's a monster and he's killing us! All of us!” too upset to stand there any longer, I pushed open the door and ran away, just like I did every time.