I was cutting carrots for a salad when the phone rang. Not really expecting Lily to answer it, I put my knife down and wiped my hands on my jeans before taking the cordless phone from the wall. “Hello?” I asked as I returned to the cutting board.
“Jai!” Tyler’s voice said, sounding relieved. “You have to help me.”
I frowned in concern. “What’s wrong?” I asked, glancing to the clock. It would be another hour before he was due home from school.
He hesitated. “Okay, so, there’s a big project due today, and if I don’t hand it in I’ll get an F, and this teacher’s just digging for a reason to fail me -”
“So what’s the problem?” I asked warily, returning the vegetables to the refrigerator. The salad was apparently going to have to wait.
“The project’s on my desk,” Tyler said weakly.
“Tyler -”
“I know, I know, I’m an idiot, I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “Can you please bring it to the school for me? It’s an emergency…”
I sighed and left my knife on the counter as I headed into Tyler’s messy bedroom. Posters of movies and rock bands covered the walls, and dirty clothes layered the floor. “What is it, this shoebox?” I asked, finding the box amid books, crumpled papers, and empty soda cans on his desk.
“Yeah, that’s it. Thank you so much, Jai, I really owe you,” Tyler said breathlessly.
“I’ll say.” I picked up the box and left the room, making my way to the living room, where Lily was cutting pictures out of a magazine with a pair of pink safety scissors. She was perfectly capable of using regular scissors, but insisted on the child-proof kind. She piled the pictures carefully on the coffee table, and though they were cut out perfectly, her dark eyes continued to dance from one spot to another at a rapid pace.
I hung up with Tyler and moved to Lily’s side. “What’s this?” I asked curiously, observing the pictures in the stack. There was a car, an orange, a grey kitten, three Christmas presents, and a cartoon turkey; though they were random to me, I knew they made some kind of sense to Lily.
“Listen, I have to go bring this project to Tyler,” I said, showing her the box.
Lily looked at the box briefly, her scissors never ceasing. “Grudging B minus,” she mumbled after a moment, and looked back to her magazine.
I grinned. “Sounds good,” I said, before my smile faded. “Will you be all right here for a little while?” I asked. “Twenty minutes at the most.”
Lily considered before nodding, adding a picture of a shampoo bottle to the pile and starting on another. “Fine,” she confirmed.
“Good. I’ll be right back,” I promised, and tugged my jacket on, grabbing my keys from the hook by the door before heading out.
I drove my electric blue Jeep to Tyler’s school, getting there in a record time of seven minutes. I delivered Tyler’s project to the receptionist in the front office, a very nice woman named Laura, who promised to get the project to my brother.
I wasn’t too worried on the drive home. I didn’t like to leave Lily by herself, for the simple reason that there wasn’t a lot she could do on her own. But she wasn’t one to get in trouble, and with how careful she always was, she rarely got hurt. I was certain she could take care of herself for twenty minutes.
It wasn’t until I arrived home and saw the puke-green Volkswagen in our driveway that I started to worry.
Dad was home.
“S**t.” I quickly parked the car and got out, stuffing my keys into my pocket as I hurried to the front door. ‘What’s he doing home? He’s never home, especially not during the day. S**t, I hope he doesn’t say anything stupid to Lily…’
I looked around as I entered the kitchen, but it was empty. I noticed that the knife I had left on the counter was gone.
My heart leapt to my throat. “Lily?” I called as I entered the hallway. Three doors on the right led to Dad’s room, Tyler’s room, and the room Lily and I shared. A door on the left led to the bathroom, and an open archway beside it led to the living room.
Belatedly I realized that my call hadn’t been answered. Normally this would be unsurprising, but this time, the realization of what it might mean sent a cold shiver up my spine.
I ran the short distance from the kitchen to the archway and froze, eyes widening at the sight.
The room was a mess. The coffee table had been knocked over, Lily’s pictures and safety scissors scattered across the floor. The television was on its side on the floor, and an old picture of Mom had been knocked off the wall. Stuffing bled from a large gash in the couch, the tan material stained red with blood.
And there stood Dad, one hand gripping the kitchen knife, the other entangled in Lily’s hair. His hair and clothes were unkempt and tired-looking, but his eyes were brighter and more determined than I’d ever seen them.
Lily was on her knees, dangling like a broken puppet. Her arms and legs were bruised, her left eye blackened, lower lip split and bleeding. Blood dribbled from a cut in her right cheek.
“Dad!” I heard myself cry, horrified by the scene. I shook myself out of my stupor and ran to him, grabbing his arm to stop the knife from cutting Lily again. “What the hell are you doing? Let go of her!”
“It’s all her fault!” Dad shouted, resisting my hold. “Everything is her fault! It’s all because she was born! I’ll kill the little b***h!”
My heart raced and my blood boiled. I yanked on his arm as hard as I could, pulling him off-balance, before punching him roughly in the face.
Unprepared for my assault, he stumbled back with a grunt. His legs bumped into the overturned coffee table and he fell backwards over it, the knife flying from his fingers.
I dropped to my knees and grabbed Lily’s shoulders. “Lily! Are you okay?” I asked shakily, having nothing better to say. My mind was too jumbled to even think of a proper question.
Lily stared at the floor and didn’t reply, her hair a tangled mess. She was perfectly calm, as though nothing had happened.
“Come on, let’s go.” I stood and pulled her to her feet. I turned to leave, but Dad was recovering, and blocking our only exit.
“Juliana,” he growled as he stood straight, rubbing the spot I had punched. His nose was bleeding, but that wasn't what caught my attention. I was more focused on the look in his eyes; he didn't look sane anymore. he looked like someone who had seen too much, who had been through too much and lost everything. He looked like an animal. “Get away from her.”
“Shut the hell up,” I snapped, gripping Lily’s limp hand tightly. I was trembling, with rage or fear, I wasn’t sure. Probably both. “What the hell is wrong with you? How can you do this to your goddamn daughter?”
“She’s not my daughter,” Dad hissed, glaring at Lily with total loathing in his features. “She’s the spawn of a demon.”
“What demon?” Before I could stop myself, I asked in a low, harsh tone, “Mom?”
Pain exploded across the right side of my face with a single, loud slap that echoed through my ears like a gun shot. It took my mind a moment to register the fact that I had been slapped. Tears immediately gathered in my eyes, and I felt like an idiot for even thinking of crying.
Lily’s head shot up so quickly that her hair slapped audibly against the back of her neck. Her eyes were oddly focused and dancing with fire. She darted forward before I could stop her and placed her free hand against Dad’s chest, shoving him backward with more strength than her tiny body seemed to possess.
He swore as he fell back over the coffee table again. He laid there on the floor, eyes wide and breathing ragged, and he didn’t try to get up again.
“Let’s go.” I squeezed Lily’s tiny hand and skirted around Dad carefully as I led her out of the room. Swearing under my breath, I strode through the kitchen and outside, heading for my car.
Lily followed without a sound, until she saw my car. She suddenly stopped, and no amount of gentle tugging on my part could get her to move.
I should have expected it; Lily had always hated my car. She refused to go near it, and if I managed to force her inside, she would scream until she was out again. That had only happened once, when Tyler had been bitten by a dog and had to get stitches. Lily screamed the entire way to the hospital.
I knew I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I had been hoping for cooperation in light of the situation. “Lily, come on,” I said, trying to pull her along. “We’ve got to go get Tyler, okay?”
But Lily resisted. Stronger than she looked, she dug her heels into the ground and refused to move.
I groaned. “Sorry, Lily,” I muttered, and scooped her up, carrying her to the car. I managed to get her into the backseat before she started thrashing.
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have time!” I buckled her in and shut the door before she could manipulate the seatbelt. Climbing into the drivers’ seat, I stabbed the key into the ignition. The screaming started as soon as the engine came to life.
I did my best to ignore it as we sailed over the pavement. I hated upsetting Lily, but there wasn’t much time before school let out, and I didn’t want Tyler riding the bus home. I could only hope a police officer wouldn’t hear the screaming and mistake me for a kidnapper.
‘Why did he come home? He’s never home! How did he know I wasn’t there? Did he know? Would he have tried to do it even if I was there?’
My fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
‘No time to think about that. Get Tyler now, figure it out later.’
I reached the school in ten minutes. Lily scrambled from the car as soon as the engine was silenced, and then she was calm, standing on the sidewalk and gazing blankly at the school.
I got out and forgot to lock the doors as I grabbed Lily’s hand and pulled her into the front office, where Laura the receptionist was still sitting at her desk. She was talking on the phone and writing something on a notepad when we entered. She glanced up, then took a double-take, and I could see that, at first, she was surprised to see me again so soon. Then she noticed the state Lily was in, and quickly got off the phone. “Are you all right?” she asked as she started to stand, alarmed.
“I need Tyler Bradley for early dismissal,” I told her. “It’s an emergency.”
She hesitated, then nodded and sat down again, hurriedly calling for Tyler.
I led Lily to a small couch in the waiting area and sat her down before slumping into the cushion beside her. A poster on the opposite wall displayed a cartoon bear in a football uniform, declaring in bright colors that I should have a good day.
‘Go to hell, bear.’
Laura disappeared for a moment, and returned with two paper cups of water. “Are you all right?” she asked again. “Should I call the police?”
I accepted the water, but Lily ignored hers until the receptionist awkwardly placed the cup on a small table beside the couch. “No, thank you,” I said. It wouldn’t be long before the cops were called, there was no reason to do it twice. I looked at my water, and drained the cup at once, gasping as the cold liquid raced down my throat. Coughing a little, I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and looked up as soon as I’d recovered. “Can I use the phone?”
Laura blinked, then slowly nodded. “It’s on the desk,” she told me.
I nodded and left Lily on the couch as I headed to the pleasant, oak desk, painted brown and blue for the school colors. Picking up the receiver, I dialed a number that was so familiar I didn’t need to think of which buttons to press.
“Hello?” a woman’s voice asked after two rings.
“Aunt Chloe. It’s Jai,” I said, gripping the edge of the polished desk in my free hand.
“Jai? What are you doing at Tyler’s school?” Aunt Chloe asked, startled.
“How do you know where I am?”
“It’s caller ID, hon. What’s going on?”
I sighed and rubbed my eyes with shaking fingers. I was getting tired of being calm, and the tears were getting more insistent. “Can we stay with you for a few days?” I asked when I was sure I could speak without choking.
“Of course, honey,” Aunt Chloe said without the briefest hesitation. “But what’s the matter?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there.”
“You’ll tell me now. You sound like you’re going to be sick.”
Aunt Chloe knew me too well. I was silent, gathering my composure before I could speak. “Dad hit Lily.”
She was silent for a moment. “Oh God,” she whispered finally.
“A lot.”
“Oh, Jai.”
I noticed movement from the corner of my eye. Glancing up, I could see Tyler running toward the office. “We’ll be there soon,” I said, and hung up before she could reply.
Tyler didn’t slow as he neared the office. He burst inside, shoving the door open so roughly that it slammed against the wall. As soon as he spotted Lily’s condition he ran to her, one hand grasping her shoulder, the other on her uninjured cheek. “What the hell happened?” he demanded of me as he inspected her.
I didn’t answer him. “Let’s go,” I said, briefly thanking the confused Laura before leaving.
Tyler followed, leading Lily by the hand. “Jai!” He hurried to catch up with my quick stride. “What’s going on? What happened?” He sounded angry, but I could hear the frightened waver in his voice.
“We’re going to Aunt Chloe’s house,” I told him as I reached the car. Lily halted on the sidewalk and refused to budge.
“That’s not what I asked.”
“Help me get Lily into the car.” I opened the back door and moved to take her hand, but she jerked away. “Lily, please -”
“Tell me what’s going on,” Tyler insisted, even as he helped me restrain Lily. “Why is she beat up, and why is there a bruise on your face? Who hit you? What -”
“Tyler!” I shouted, and he fell silent, his eyes widening. I froze for a moment; no matter how annoying he’d ever gotten, I’d never shouted at him before. I felt cold, before shaking it off. “I’m sorry,” I muttered. “But if I explain right now, I’ll start crying, and I won’t be able to drive. I’ll explain everything when we get to Aunt Chloe’s house. So just help me right now, okay?” I heard myself pleading.
Tyler stared at me, then slowly nodded. “Okay,” he said, and together we got Lily into the back of the car. He sat next to her and did his best to keep her calm as I drove. We were silent during the drive, though Lily’s screaming more than made up for it.
Aunt Chloe lived in a small neighborhood made up of large lawns and three-level houses. Children were playing in the street, scattering whenever a car came along. A garbage truck was rumbling down the street, occasionally pausing to pick up a trash can and dump the contents into the truck. Lily’s screaming intensified at the sight of it.
Aunt Chloe’s house was two floors and made of dark red brick, the roof, windows and front door painted black. A large sassafras tree stood near the edge of the front yard, coated with the red and yellow leaves of autumn.
I parked on the street, not trusting myself to get in the driveway without taking down Aunt Chloe’s mailbox. Besides that, the driveway was already occupied with a police car.
I knew Aunt Chloe too well.
The engine was cut, and Lily scrambled out onto the grass, fleeing cross the browning lawn.
“Lily!” Tyler hurried out after her, trying to catch her before she escaped into the neighbor’s yard.
I groaned as I got out, slamming the door shut. It figured that today had to be the one day that Lily decided to misbehave. “Lily!” I called, trotting after my siblings.
I hadn’t gone more than a few paces before the sound of screeching tires filled the air, followed by a piercing crash. My feet froze, and I turned to look over my shoulder, my eyes widening in disbelief.
The rumbling garbage truck had slammed into the back of my Jeep, shoving it forward into the sassafras tree only a few feet behind me. The front of the car was folded like an accordion, every window shattered.
Across the lawn, Tyler called out to me, but I couldn’t hear what he said. The driver of the garbage truck was climbing out, looking horrified by the wreck. My aunt and two police officers had come out of the house and were running toward me, my aunts’ cotton sweater flapping in her self-made breeze.
None of that mattered. All that mattered was that Lily had stopped running. She was standing behind Tyler, looking toward me with distant eyes, perfectly calm.
‘Did she know that was going to happen?’ I wondered, not paying attention as Tyler and Aunt Chloe led me inside while the police officers talked to the truck driver. ’How could she have known? How? She couldn’t have…’
Aunt Chloe sat me on her soft red couch and offered me a cup of water, but my hands were shaking too badly to hold the glass without spilling. Lily was seated across from me, and I stared at her, but she didn’t seem to notice.
‘How could she have known?’
prev chapter
![[send message]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/mail.png){kind=small}
![[befriend]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/friend.png){kind=small}
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Read Request
My Library
Flag Writing