“Get to your fucking room, Rae.”
“Please—”
His foot launches out and hits her in the stomach, sending her flying backwards into her bedroom. I scream out his name, trying to squirm free, but he’s got me so tightly I can’t move. Tears stream down my face as I look at his sisters crumpled form on the ground, clutching her stomach, looking at him with such horror and pain.
“I said mind your fucking business,” he roars so loudly Rae flinches.
He drags me further down the hall, and I fight to free myself, needing to go to Rae. She could be seriously hurt.
“York, please,” I beg. “Let me go.”
He reaches the room and kicks the door open, tossing me in. I stumble a few times and land on my hands and knees near the bed.
“Get your fucking clothes off.”
My eyes get wide, and I crawl towards the bed. “No. York. No.”
“Take them off. I’ll find out if you’ve been with other men.”
“York. Please. This isn’t you.”
“Now!” he barks.
I back up until I’m pressed against the mattress. I huddle there, just staring at him. He wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t make me get naked. He wouldn’t ... he wouldn’t ...
“You have two seconds or I’ll fucking do it myself, Maddie.”
“York, please, I’m begging you ...”
“You want me to go in there and give my sister another fucking kick? Will that get you moving?”
The cruel. Heartless. Pig.
He’s using my softness against me. He knows I’ll protect Rae. She’s just a young girl. Of course I’ll protect her.
So, with shaky fingers, and tears running down my face, I do as he asks.
I take my clothes off.
~*~*~*~
“I’ve been trying to get hold of you for weeks,” Shania says on the phone, her voice concerned.
“Sorry,” I say, my voice weak and pathetic. “I’ve been busy working.”
“Something is wrong. I know it is. I can feel it. Is it York?”
I flinch at the name, and glance towards the door to make sure he’s not listening. He keeps tabs on me all the time. He took my phone. He drives me to work and brings me home. He won’t let me out of his sight. His paranoia is out of this world. It’s gone far and beyond. He’s using heavily, and the only peace I get is when he’s asleep. I spend most of that time making sure Rae is okay.
She’s been out with some boy constantly, barely coming home. I try to talk with her, but she’s too far gone. She’s using heavier now, also. Whoever she’s seeing is giving her drugs. York is abusive to her, and to me, but she has the chance to escape. She disappears into her drugs and her boyfriend, but I’m stuck here, too afraid to leave, too numb to force myself to walk away.
York is sleeping, and I managed to sneak his phone so I could call Shania.
“No, everything is fine.”
“You’re my best friend, Maddie. I know everything is not fine. I know it. What’s happening? Please.”
“I can’t talk,” I whisper. “I can’t talk, Shania. Okay?”
“Is he hurting you? Has something happened?”
Her voice is frantic. I want to tell her, but I can’t. If I tell her, then she’ll come here, or call the police, and I can’t even imagine what York would do to Rae and me if that happened. I don’t trust him. I don’t trust how far he’d take it. I’m terrified he would indeed take a life in one of his fits of rage. That thought petrifies me. I should run, but I’m starting to think there is nowhere I could hide.
“No. I’ve been unwell,” I lie.
I hate lying. I hate it more than anything.
“I don’t believe you,” she says, her voice low. “I just don’t believe you.”
“I’m telling the truth.”
I try to steady my voice, to make it sound as normal as possible, but it’s really hard when I know, with every piece of myself, that I’m doing the wrong thing. I should tell her, but I’m too afraid of the consequences if I do.
“Do I need to come up there?” she asks.
“No,” I say, probably a little too quickly. “No, please don’t. I’ll come and see you soon, I swear, but please, just let me be for now.”
“Maddie, seriously ...”
“Shania, if you love me, please trust me. I’m okay, but I need you to do as I’m asking.”
Her voice goes quiet for a second, before she whispers, “Fine, but if I don’t see or hear from you soon, I’m coming up there, Maddie. End of story.”
I keep my voice from shaking when I say, “Okay, but I promise, it’s going to be fine.”
She hesitates again, then says, “I have to go, but please, please, I beg of you, call me if you need me.”
“I promise,” I whisper.
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I hang up the phone and press it to my chest for a moment, taking a few deep, shaky breaths. I hate lying. Hate it more than anything in the world.
“What the fuck did I tell you about the phone?”
My back jerks straight, and the phone slips from my hand. No. He was listening? He was there? I turn slowly and see York standing in the doorway, an expression on his face that terrifies me.
“I was just, ah ...”
“What the fuck have I told you about the phone?” he bellows so loudly I flinch and take a shaky step back.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to, I just ...”
Why am I stammering? Why can’t I defend myself? What the hell is wrong with me?
I’m so weak.
So pathetic.
“Give me that phone,” he hisses, stepping forward.
I hand him the phone without hesitation.
But that’s not enough to cool his mood. He’s coming down. He hasn’t had a hit. He’s angry and unhappy, and he’s about to take it out on me. I can see it in his eyes, in his body language. It’s written all over his face. I prepare myself, taking a deep breath, clenching my fists, trying to take my mind to a happier place.
“You’ll pay for disobeying me.”
And pay I do.
Pay. I. Do.
CHAPTER 17
NOW – BAYLEE