I groaned at the sound of my alarm clock echoing through my silent bedroom, the clock read 8 a.m. I jumped out of bed my alarm had been going off for thirty minutes. I threw my hair up in a messy bun and dressed as quickly as I could. I snatched my bag up off the floor and made a run for it. I couldn't be late on my first day. I sped down the stairs and as soon as I hit the landing I made a break for the door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
My heart leaped into my throat, he was drunk again. I shifted my eyes to my feet wishing the ground would swallow me where I stood.
"Look at me when I am talking to you!" He yelled chunking his near-empty liquor bottle at me. It crashed in the floor at my feet sending shards of glass in every direction.
"I-I'm so sorry it won't happen again," I replied turning to face him.
"You're damn right," He said stalking towards me. "Now answer the fucking question."
"I have my first day of classes," I answered lifting my head high trying to show him that his pointless little outburst hadn't bothered me.
"You aren't leaving until you clean up this mess." He said pointing towards the shards of glass coated in whiskey.
Anger bubbled up in my gut, I was tired of being treated this way, I wasn't his slave or even his daughter. There wasn't a way in hell I was cleaning up a mess he made trying to hurt me.
"No."
"No? You're going to regret saying that." He threatened pinning me against the door. I could smell the alcohol radiating off of him.
His hit came a lot quicker than I expected, he cocked his arm and swung. The pain and force were so intense my body crumpled to the floor. I lifted myself feeling the glass rip into my palms. In seconds, James had snatched me up onto my feet and landed a second punch, but this time his target was my mouth, blood spewed from the gash and dripped down my face onto the hardwood floor. My vision became spotty and blurred, as I fought to stay conscious.
"Poor little Lana, no one gives a shit about you. Not even your parents." He said giving me a wicked grin.
"Fuck you." I croaked spitting blood on his bare feet.
"Someone is getting a little bold."
He smiled at my words, readied his fist, and swung. When his heavy fist landed that last hit on my jaw my whole world went black.
{Three years earlier}
"Mylana, are you ready to meet your new foster parents?"
I nodded in response because anywhere was better than Karen Masters' Home for Girls, the place is basically an upscale prison. The two of them presented themselves well. He was a lanky man adorned with a navy blue suit and she was a brunette wearing neon pink gloss and a skin-tight dress to match. Their toothy smiles reeked of false intentions that I couldn't quite read yet. I'm sure Karen spilled her guts about my parents and all of their assets.
"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Fisher this is Mylana Evans and I am her social worker Karen Masters." Miss Masters said resting her perfectly manicured hand on my shoulder.
"Mylana, you're so beautiful. I am Tammy and this is my husband James, it's so nice to finally meet you." The brunette said giving me a tight fake smile that looked as if it would split her face at any second.
"Thank you, it's so nice to meet you both. I've been looking forward to it." I replied lying through my teeth and giving them both a firm handshake.
"Shall we sign some paperwork?" Karen asked crossing her finger in mock anticipation.
"I believe so," Tammy responded nearly jumping with excitement. "I'm so happy we get to take you home.
My eyes fluttered open slowly and then all at once, my vision was blurred and my head was spinning. It was quiet; I could only hear the sound of my own heart thumping behind my ribcage. The cold floor beneath me begged for me to regain consciousness. I pushed myself up on shaky arms feeling the glass tear into me once again and stumbled to the bathroom locking the door behind me. I rested my hands on the porcelain sink waiting for the water to warm up. I began picking the tiny glass shards out of my hands biting back tears that threatened to spill over. When I finished I splashed my face and began scrubbing the dried blood from the gash in the center of my lip.
When I looked in the mirror the girl looking back was unrecognizable, her waist-length blonde curls matted with blood, her left eye had a dark purple bruise forming, and her bottom lip was split. I have waited so long for divine intervention or for some prince charming to ride up on a snow-white horse. The truth is I'm not a Princess and as it turns out the only person I can count on is myself, it was about time I took matters into my own damn hands. I marched into my room and gathered the essentials and stuffed them into my black backpack; toiletries, clothes, blanket, my laptop, and an extra pair of shoes. The only thing lacking was money and I knew exactly where to find that. I slung my heavy pack over my shoulders and crept towards their room. I pressed my ear to the door and listened for any sign of life, after no sound came I pushed the door open and lurked towards Tammy's large mahogany dresser. I pulled open the top drawer and pushed aside her belongings revealing a yellowing white envelope filled with enough cash to get me where I needed to go and then some. I jammed the money into my back pocket, turned on my heels, and began walking towards the door, but a thin older woman was blocking my path. Her hair was brown and she favored Tammy a lot, but in reality, they were nothing alike.
"What are you doing Mylana?" She asked with eyes full of confusion and concern.
"I'm leaving Frankie, Staying means losing everything I have left of my mom and dad. I can't wake up every day and wonder if I'm ever going to do it again." I replied, feeling tears well up in my eyes.
Frankie Lawson was Tammy's older sister, she had always protected me, given me a safe place to escape from James and Tammy's abuse.
"Those two will come after you, you know... They have dedicated nearly 4 years to that company and all that money that comes along with it." She said giving me a deep frown that showed her age distinctly.
"I know, but I can't keep on living like this. I need to get as far away from here as I can." I said letting tears fall freely.
Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, she had a crazy idea in her head.
"I have a crazy plan, but it just may work."
Frankie and I worked all night. She lobbed off my long hair and began layering on Tammy's favorite shade of brown in my now shoulder-length hair. She then proceeded to cover my busted and bruised face with make-up a bit too light for my complexion.
"If I would have been here this never would have happened to you. I'm so sorry honey." She comforted giving me a gentle kiss on the cheek.
"This isn't your fault and never will be," I said squeezing her hand.
"It is, I should've gotten you out of here before it came to this. You didn't tell me he was hitting you again." She sighed pinching the bridge of her nose.
"He hadn't in a couple of weeks; I should've known the first time he hit the bottle he'd be back to his old self," I explained
From there we rode in her silver Buick to the Greyhound station a few towns over; we rolled up at 4:36.
"I love you, honey, so much." She said hugging me across the console.
"I love you too. I'll call you when I can. I promise." I said giving her one last tight squeeze before stepping out into the cool night air.
I walked towards the window the light was on, but the worker was absent so, I dinged the small silver bell and waited.
"Hey, Darlin, where ya headed?" Asked the warm woman from the opposite side of the thick glass.
"Nowhere in particular, when's the next bus leaving?"
"30 minutes, it's going to Canada, but it's hitting a bunch of coastal towns on the way." She replied in a thick southern drawl.
"Can I get that ticket?" I asked pulling out my wad of cash.
"Round trip?" She asked typing away at her computer.
"One way."