“Alba, stay right here with me and be very quiet. Okay?” I tell my little sister as I sit her down on the closet floor.

She looks up at me with her big blue eyes. “Bella, I’m scared.”

“I know. Me too,” I admit to her as I quietly close the closet door, and lock it just like mommy has taught us.

“Where are those little shits?” Daddy yells.

“Nick leave the girls alone.”

“Shut the fuck up, you bitch.”

The sound of a sharp, smacking noise makes me jump—he slapped her.

Alba starts crying, so I hold her telling her it’s going to be okay. We cling to each other tighter as we hear Daddy banging on the door.

“Open this door, goddammit!”

I startle awake, my heart pounding, as sheer panic grips my insides, until I realize it was just a dream. Sometimes the dreams can be so vivid that there’s a blurred line on reality, and it takes me awhile not to feel the suffocating feeling of dread known as anxiety, a black hole that can swallow me whole.

Our father passed away when Alba was only five, and I was six. She doesn’t remember much about him at all, and I have only a few memories of him. None of which are good. No child should have to live with that kind of evil clogging their brain. It doesn’t help when you have the kind of parent that repeatedly trades one no good man in for another.

A few years after my father died, mom met and married husband number two, who was a good man, but he soon realized he didn’t want the burden of two small girls to raise.

About six months after he left, she decided that we needed a change, so she got in touch with an old friend that lived in Polson, who offered for us to stay with her until we could get our own place.

Mom packed us up and we left Wyoming, the only home we had ever known.

After getting settled in the new town, mom found a job at a diner. Three months later, she moved us into a two-bedroom apartment. We’ve moved a few different places since then, but we’ve been in this house the longest—going on two years now.

She met Lee last year. He came into the diner one day and asked her out. Within six weeks he was living with us. A couple months after that, they married. My mother can’t seem to break the cycle. She has blinders on when it comes to the opposite sex. She’s not good at being alone. It’s like she needs a man to feel good about herself, only in return, they all bring her down. Hopefully one day she’ll open her eyes.

It didn’t take long for Lee’s true colors to show either. As soon as they married, he suddenly developed a back problem and couldn’t work anymore. Mom struggled to pay the bills and keep Lee stocked with beer that he demanded all the time.

As soon as I was old enough to work, I got a job, and now with Mom’s hours cut at her job, a lot of the burden is being put on my shoulders.

Lee is a low life. Scum of the earth type of guy if you ask me. The man wakes up drinking and passes out at the end of the day from all the booze. He also has a nasty temper and hasn’t been afraid to use it on my mom in the past. I’ve seen the proof on her arms before. He’s careful not to leave evidence on her face for everyone to see the kind of man he really is though.

Let me rephrase that because he isn’t a man. More like a piece of shit!

He also keeps mom’s bank account drained every month. The lazy fucker can’t even hold down a damn job long enough to collect the first paycheck.

I roll over and look at the clock glowing on the nightstand, which reads 6:00 am. I wish I could say I’m getting up to go to school, but after graduating I didn’t really have an option to do the whole college thing. I needed to keep working so I could help pay the bills, help keep a roof over mine and my sister’s head, and make sure we have food to eat and clothes to wear because our Mom struggles enough as it is.

My goal is to save enough money so I can get my own place, bringing Alba with me. I want her to have the chances I didn’t. Like going to college, living and experiencing life... soaking up as much as she can without all the negativity that our current situation is offering.

I close my eyes, “Just a little while longer.”

Rolling out of bed, I walk out of my room, dragging my feet down the hallway to the bathroom. On the way, I pass my mom’s room where I notice her sitting up in bed watching TV.

“Morning, Mom,” I say as I walk in and hug her neck.

Even after all she has been through, she’s still a beautiful woman, and I wish she wouldn’t waste herself staying with Lee

“Hey, sweetie,” she says, cheerfully. “Are you working today?” She asks while she reaches for the remote, changing the channel to the local news.

“Yeah, I have the morning shift at the store today,” I tell her as I sit down on the edge of her bed.

“Okay sweetie,” she responds, patting me on my leg, as she starts watching the weather report.

I get up and make my way out of her room when she stops me by calling out. “Oh, wake your sister up, I don’t need her missing the bus again. Lee doesn’t like when I use his truck to run her to school.”

“I’ll take her to school on my way to work. Lee needs to quit being such a dick about that truck. Hell, you pay for the damn gas in it anyway.” I say irritated.

I hear her let out a heavy sigh. I know she wants me to keep my mouth shut, but sometimes something needs to be said.

I decide to drop the subject.

“I love you, Mom,” I murmured, walking out of her room.

Finally, in the bathroom, I reach into the shower and turn the water on letting it warm up. I walk back, checking to make sure the bathroom door is locked because I don’t trust Lee to not ‘accidentally’ walk in while I’m in the shower.

I strip out of my black sleep shorts, letting them pool around my feet. Then I pull my tank top over my head, chunking it on the floor. I walk over to the counter, grab my phone, and pull up my playlist, hitting play before stepping into the shower.

Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars’ voices fill the air, singing “Safe and Sound”, as the water cascades down me. For just a few short moments the melody helps me to escape.

When I finish my shower, I head back to our bedroom, the one I share with my younger sister. Alba is 18 years old and a senior in high school.

She is, in many ways, my complete opposite.

You wouldn’t know just by looking at us we’re sisters. I’m petite, only standing five-feet-two-inches, with long, deep brown hair, and hazel eyes I feel are too big for my face. I’m also mouthy, opinionated, and stubborn.

Whereas Alba is five-feet-seven-inches, legs for miles, long blonde hair, and blue eyes.

She always has her nose buried in a book and is a bit of an introvert.

She is also very timid, shy, and would rather be reading about romance and adventures than to go out and find one of her own, but I’m not one to be preaching because, besides a couple of high school boyfriends, I haven’t done much living myself.

“Alba...Alba!” I say as I poke at the lump that is now mumbling some form of the English language.

“Time to get up. I’m taking you to school today on my way to work,” I inform her while making my way over to my dresser.

I rummage through my drawer until I find a pair of black lace panties and a matching bra and start to pull them on when Alba whines.

“Come on, Bella, just a few extra minutes. Please?” she says while curling tighter into the sky-blue comforter on her bed.

She is not a morning person, so I entice her a little bit.

“Alba, if you’re up and out this door with me in one hour, I’ll bring home that new release you saw at the bookstore last weekend.”

That gets her attention. She sticks her head out of her blanket burrito.

“You add a bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups and you have a deal.”

“Deal.”

She unwraps herself from the blanket and starts to get ready for the day. I walk over to the closet to find something to wear, grabbing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and slip on a green sleeveless blouse.

My phone chimes with a new text message, so I walk over to my nightstand, pick up my phone, and then sit on the bed pulling up the text. It’s from Mason.

I ran into him about a month ago at the coffee shop downtown while shopping with my sister. He asked if he could take me out sometime, so we exchanged numbers. We went out a few times. One Friday he called wanting to go to dinner and a movie, so I agreed. The whole night he was super handsy and the asshole also conveniently forgot his wallet, so I ended up paying for everything. I decided to give him another chance after he apologized but that was a huge mistake.

I throw my phone down not bothering to respond to his text. I reach down, picking up my favorite pair of brown boots, pull them on and walk over to the full-length mirror putting on some mascara and my favorite lipstick.

Fifteen minutes later I grab my phone shoving it into my back pocket.

“Grab your shoes and put them on in the car, Alba. We got to get going,” I shout as I walk into the kitchen, grabbing my keys and smock off the counter.

On our way to the front door, we’re stopped by Lee, who is blocking off the door leading to the garage.

Jesus, the man reeks. It smells like he bathes in beer.

“Lee, I don’t have time for any of your shit this morning. I need to get Alba to school, and still make it to work on time.”

He stands there, letting his eyes linger on the both of us, causing my skin to crawl, and Alba to shrink behind me before he speaks.

“Your mom needs some money to go to the store, I need to eat.”

What the fuck! I know I just spent most my last paycheck to get groceries and mom just got her check not long ago.

“What the hell, Lee! Where did all the food go that I just bought? Huh?”

The asshole just stands there with a smirk on his face. No way in hell he’s getting my hard-earned money.

“Look, I’m tapped out. And if I did have it, I sure as hell wouldn’t be giving it to you.”

That pisses him off.

“That smart mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one day, Bella,” he hisses as he goes to sit at the kitchen table, passing the fridge on the way for another beer.

Popping the top, he says, “One way or another, you two are going to earn your keep.”

I usher Alba out the door pausing just long enough to look back at him. “You know, Lee. How about you get off your ass and go find a job. Mom may not want to see it, but I know where all the money is going.”

I’ve heard enough gossip in the checkout line to know he’s been seen with some shady people in town.

The little smirk he was just wearing turns into a scowl.

I shut the door and head to my car. My sister has a look of concern as I climb in. “Nothing to worry about,” I tell her, starting the car, and pull into the road.

We’re about two blocks from the high school when Alba speaks up.

“Bella?”

Reaching over, I turn the radio down.

“Lee gives me the creeps, the way he stares at us.”

“Yeah, he makes my skin crawl too, but hopefully in a few more months I can afford a small apartment, and we won’t have to worry about him anymore. I wish Mom would stand up to his bullshit, and dump his ass.”

“Me too,” she agrees.

I’m sitting at the traffic light when a motorcycle pulls up beside me in the other lane, followed by at least five others behind him.

I can’t take my eyes off the lead biker. Damn, he’s hot.

I don’t realize I’m staring so hard until my sister breaks the spell.

“Oh my god, Bella. You’re totally perving on that biker over there!” She laughs, “And is that drool?”

“Girl, look at that! Hell yes, I’m perving!” I turn my head to catch one more look at him, and just my luck he catches me.

His lips turned up just enough, letting me know he caught me checking him out.

I shyly smile to hide my embarrassment as they all rev up and ride away.