HARLEY P.O.V
The wood cracks when the impact of my body hits it. He's going to kill me this time. His eyes are too red, his breath is too strong. He's finally going to do it.
I scramble over the remains of the coffee table trying to get away from the crazed drunk. Something hits me on my side and I can only take shallow breaths, then even those are taken away from me.
A meaty hand encloses around my neck and I'm effortlessly raised from the ground. I try to hit him away, the man that was supposed to love me and provide for me is going to kill me. Black dots start to appear at the edge of my vision and I can't help it anymore, tears start to spill down my cheeks. Collecting on his hand that's still stopping my airway.
My stepfather looks disgusted at me, he drops me to the floor and I scramble to the far wall. The room is quiet, only my harsh breathing is heard until he speaks. "Stop crying girl!" I don't look him in the eye and pull my knees to my chest,
"I'm sorry sir." there's a grunt and the pop of another beer bottle opening, "Macallans don't cry. We are stronger than that." He spits at the ground in front of my curled body, "You are an embarrassment."
I nod trying unsuccessfully to stop the tears, "I'm sorry sir. I'll be better." He grunts and takes a swig of his drink. "Good." He glares at me once more before he stumbles off toward his room, his parting words telling me to clean up before my mum and sister get home.
I've always hated my mother. Even when Father was alive she would forget that she had two girls that she needed to look after and so it wasn't really a surprise when she married some rich man that she'd known for a month and who tended to be heavy-handed.
I know she knows what Lucca does and she does jack shit about it, sometimes she even encourages it. She lets him hit me and threaten me with Colton and Lola but ignores it all and accepts his latest paycheck with a smile.
My older sister Rachelle, even just mentioning her name makes me want to throw up, she is the favoured child and my step-sister. She can't seem to do any wrong in both our parent's eyes. Even when she got knocked up at eighteen and gave birth to my nephew Colton. Somehow her having the baby was my fault. Like how the hell is it my fault. I don't have a dick, nor did I have sex with her.
The only reason I'm still here is because of Lola and Cole. If it was just me I would have left, but the two-year-old boy and freshman girl is the reason I stay, he is the reason that I take the beatings from my father and the emotional abuse from my mother and step-sister. He is the only reason that I am still sane.
Sometimes I think about running away but I can't. I can't look after them as well as myself. I know that Lucca and Lisa won't hurt him, they only hurt me. I am their punching bag, not their grandchild or younger daughter, who they treat more like annoying flies. And for that, I am eternally grateful.
When I'm eighteen though I will no longer let my so-called parents get away with all they have, I will fight for the custody of my nephew, even if I have to fight dirty. I'll find a daycare for Colton and I'll not go to college and find a job. There is no way I will ever risk the safety of my baby boy. Not even if it means that I have to stay a little longer.
*****
I walk into the daycare a grin on my face as I see Coleton sitting in a circle on the mat playing duck, duck goose. "Har har!" He squeals when he sees me standing near the entrance of the daycare. I open my arms wide and he jumps into them wrapping his little arms around my neck. "I just wonned the game." I grin, "Of course you did."
I set him on the ground and he runs to his cubby hole where his little bob the builder bag is. He insists that bob the builder is his favourite and I have to say its better than watching paw patrol. "Har har, look what I got." He grins holding up a slice of cake. "Wow, that's pretty special." He grins at me, "It was Thomas' birthday and I just got to eat some cake." I grin at him, "Did you say thank you?" He grins and nods.
*****
"I like it hew." Cole randomly says, his mouth full of vanilla cake as we sit on the grass at a nearby park. I prop myself up on my elbows, "Yeah? And why's that?" He starts to squish his fingers in the dirt, "Home is scary." He says it so simply and then goes back to pulling up grass like it's completely normal to have a household always filled with screaming. As he munches on his cake and continues to pick the little green blades he's ignorant to the struggle I'm having not to cry.
*****
"Why are you in so late?" Lucca, my tormentor, abuser/stepfather growls, Coleton moves further behind me and I try to school my expression. "I had to stop off to pick up some things from the store." Lucca glares at me, "Where is Lola?" Father asks me, "She's at dance. I'll pick her up in forty-five minutes." Lucca grunts and scrunches his face up in disgust. "Whatever, hurry up and make dinner." When he disappears around the corner I let out a breath I didn't even realise I was holding.
"I don't like him, Har har." I look down at Cole and the frown on his young face. I sigh and move him further into the house. "We're gonna be ok." He looks up at me with such hope in his eyes that it's hard to keep tears out of my own. When did I become so damn emotional? Probably the same time your father died and your skank of a mother married a child abuser. "You pomis?" I smile and kiss his forehead. "Promise."