Creak. Creak. The swing made a squeaking noise when it thrusted forward even slightly. In all honesty, it gave Matthias a little bit of nostalgia, thinking about what his childhood was, thinking about when he didn't know that life was a big ball of shit, waiting for you to step in it. He stared at the sky as he swung back and forth, softly. After only a couple hours of talking, Matthias could already tell that Annie had a positive, non-shitty life.
"...so then I said 'Oh yeah? You think you're so big and tough? Try this on for size!' And then WHAM! I kicked him right in his balls. Maybe that'll teach him about harassing girls who know how to defend themselves." Annie finished. She was swinging beside him, but she had so much energy that she was talking Matthias' ears off.
Matthias looked at the time. Shit. His dad was gonna have a fit. He sighed, regretting the return to his prison. So, regretfully he asked, "Are you finished?" To which Annie replied with a nod.
"Good. Now listen, just because I said we could be friends, doesn't mean you get to talk until my ears bleed," Matthias said sarcastically. "Also, don't you have somewhere to be?" he added, not wanting to be rude and shoo her off. Annie put her finger on her chin, clearly pretending to think about it. "Not really, no."
Matthias was surprised. "'Not really?' What's that supposed to mean? You have all this interesting stuff in your life, and you're telling me you don't have ONE place to be right now?"
"Well no," Annie said. "As to your other question, it means I don't have any specific place to be." she added. Matthias scoffed. "Smartass." he muttered. Annie punched his arm. "Hey! I heard that!"
Matthias laughed as he said, "Well I certainly hope so! I'd be kinda worried if you didn't!" That earned him another punch to the arm.
"It's getting dark. I should probably go home before my dad has a temper tantrum." Matthias sighed. Annie cocked her head. "'Temper tantrum?' Why would he throw a temper tantrum? What is he, a five-year-old?" Matthias burst into laughter. That was the best description he'd EVER heard of that fit his father perfectly. "Yeah, pretty much." he chuckled. "A grown-ass fuckin five-year-old."
Annie smiled as she said, "Damn, you must not like him much. I was just joking." Matthias scoffed. "Well I'm not. He's a goddamn alcoholic. I hate his fucking guts. I hate the ground that he walks on. I hate the stupid fuckin way he talks to me. It's bullshit. He won't even get help for his alcohol problem. Cause he doesn't think he has one. And that IS the problem. Cause if he thinks he doesn't have a drinking problem, then I don't think he even pays attention or knows himself at all." Annie nodded as she listened to his story.
"That sucks. I'm really sorry about that. If I could help I would. But I don't think there's anything to help fix THAT." she said sarcastically. Matthias nodded in agreement.
Annie sighed, "Well, guess I'll see you at school tomorrow?" Matthias nodded. "Yeah, I'll be there." She smiled at him. "Great! See you then."
Before she left, Annie gave Matthias a big bear hug. As she was walking away, Matthias asked himself, Why the hell is she being so nice to me?
It didn't matter why she was being so nice, all that mattered was the fact that she was even keeping him company. As Matthias walked away though, a chill rolled down his spine, as if someone were watching him...
By instinct, Matthias quickly turned around. He froze in horror. Because even though it had only been for a split second, Matthias spotted a pair of red eyes, just staring at him. It was only for a split second, but it was long enough to give Matthias the creeps.
"What the fuck?" he whispered to himself. Matthias shook it off, thinking that maybe he was imagining things. But as he walked away, little to his knowledge, the red eyes returned.
....
Matthias stopped when he reached the front step of his house. Home sweet fucking home, he thought miserably. As he walked up the steps, Matthias could hear that the TV was still on. Damn, he must still be awake. Matthias braced himself for the yelling that was going to follow his return home.
He opened the door. Sure enough, there was his dad, sitting in his stupid chair. A feeling of dread sank in his stomach. Matthias hated dealing with his father like this. Because he knew that there was only one way to deal with his dad: the hard way.
Matthias' dad had a menacing look on his face. "There you are. Now, wanna explain to me what the HELL is going on?" his dad snarled, obviously very pissed off. Andrew Jackson was your average middle-aged man (besides the fact that he was a complete ass). He was white, about five foot nine inches, and was the average level of not being obese. Meaning, for some odd fucking reason, Matthias' dad didn't gain any weight from all the alcohol he's been consuming. His dad spit on the ground. "Don't make me ask you again," he said, standing so close to Matthias that he could tell that his father had been getting his daily dosage of Jack Daniel's.
Matthias took a deep breath and said, "None of your business." Andrew looked taken aback. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" he screeched. "None. Of. Your. Fucking. Business." Matthias said defiantly. Then, out of nowhere, with no warning, he smacked Matthias to where he hit the ground so hard it felt like his just exploded.
"DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING SASS ME YOU LITTLE PUNK!" he barked. Matthias' lip felt warm. He lifted his finger to it, and when he drew it back to where he could see it, Matthias saw blood. His eye was starting to hurt, too. In fact, Matthias felt like his whole face was on fire. He got up to his feet.
"YOU ASSHOLE! DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU DID?! YOU FUCKING MADE MY LIP BLEED YOU BASTARD!" Matthias didn't know why he even bothered making this statement. He knew his father didn't give a damn. His point was made when his father threw him back to the ground, grabbing his wrists, pinning him.
There was nothing Matthias could do. He couldn't move. Nothing he said would change his dad's mind. He knew that. But then, much to Matthias' surprise, the pressure subsided. He was free of his father's grasp.
Filled with rage, Matthias picked himself off the ground once more. He charged at his father, only to get knocked back down again. But this time, with major consequences. Because this time, when his father struck him down, Matthias blacked out and lost consciousness.
....
As Annie reached her bedroom, she was exhausted. All the yapping she had done hanging out with Matthias had really worn her out. But I don't regret it. Not at all, she thought to herself happily.
She arrived at the door of her bedroom, letting out a sigh of relief as she opened it and flopped onto her bed. Annie giggled as she recalled her day with Matthias. "Man, he was a tough cookie to crack. But I got him though. I think this is going to be an awesome friendship." she told herself.
Ring! Ring! Someone was calling Annie. She picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Addy, are you home?" There was only one person who called her 'Addy': her mother.
"Yeah Mom, I'm home." she replied. Annie heard her mother let out a sigh of relief. "Why, is there something going on?" she questioned. Her mother took a deep breath as she calmly said to Annie, "I don't know, sweetie. I was just worried because I heard some yelling coming from someone's house." That was odd. Annie couldn't think of anywhere in their neighborhood where there'd be a lot of yelling going on.
That pressed her to ask, "Are you going through our neighborhood right now?" because if she was then there was something fishy about that. "No. I had to go through another one today. But it's fairly close to ours so I wanted to make sure nothing happened. I couldn't take the usual way home because there was an accident on the road I usually take home." Annie froze, very puzzled. An accident? There's never been an accident on that road for as long as I can remember. I mean sure, there's reckless drivers but it was never a serious problem.
"What kind of accident?" Annie pushed.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what kind of accident?"
Annie's mother laughed. "Don't be silly. It was a car accident. What else would it be? Although it looked like there was only one car so hopefully the casualties are little to none. "
Only one car involved? "Are you sure there wasn't another car?" Annie asked. "Maybe it was a hit and run."
"I'm fairly certain."
"Well I just wanted to be sure cause that's a little odd."
"I know it is." she heard her mother sigh. A feeling of confusion set in Annie's stomach. How is it that all of a sudden there's a car accident on a road that seemingly never has seen anything worse than a squirrel being run over?
Then Annie decided to push further. "Exactly HOW bad was it?"
"Well, his car was flipped over, so pretty severe I would guess."
"But let's just say a deer ran in front of him, it wouldn't cause his car to flip, would it?" Annie pointed out.
"I'm not sure. Either way, I don't know what the hell's going on."
"Me either," Annie said. "But they'll figure it out, won't they? The police?" Her mother sighed as she said, "I sure hope so." That didn't sound very convincing.
"Well, I gotta go so I can concentrate. Love you." Annie replied, "Love you too, Mom." and hung up the phone. Annie REALLY hoped that her mother got home safely. Of course she will, she realized. She always drives safely. It wasn't her mother that Annie was worried about, it was how other people drove that worried her. And now that there was the possibility of an accident? Well that only made her worry more.
There was a knock at Annie's door. She got off her bed and answered it. She opened it to find her sister, Katherine. "What's up, little sis?" she smirked. Katherine was mostly like Annie, except she was a little taller and instead of straight, blonde hair, her sister had brown, curly hair. Instead of blue eyes, Katherine had brown eyes.
"Nothing much," Annie replied. "Where have you been?" Katherine shrugged. "In my room." Katherine looked Annie up and down. "So, I heard you having a conversation with Mom. Is everything alright?" she asked worriedly. Annie replied with, "Yeah, SHE is." Katherine raised an eyebrow.
"Why'd you say it like that?"
"Well... it's just that Mom told me that she heard yelling in someone's house near here." Annie replied.
Katherine didn't seem too surprised. "Well, if she was running through Matthias' neighborhood, then I can't say I'm surprised." Annie paused. What was THAT supposed to mean? The better question was...
"How do you know Matthias?" she questioned, giving her sister a suspicious glance. Katherine sighed, as if she knew this question was coming. "Honestly, can't you be a little more knowledgeable?" Annie scoffed. "Since when do you use big, fancy words?" Her elder sister laughed. "Look, all I'm saying is..." she trailed off, clearly not finding the right words.
Katherine sighed. "Has Matthias ever mentioned his dad?" Annie snorted. As if he wouldn't. That was the one constant in Matthias' life: the misery of living with his father. "You mean the piece of shit asshole who is always cussing at his son? Yea, might've heard of him." Then she noticed a look on Katherine's face that said 'this isn't funny.'
"Well, did you ever think that he's done MORE than just cuss at Matthias?" Annie's blood turned cold. Was Katherine saying what she thought she was saying? Her sister must've seen the look on her face because she said, "Yea, it's no secret. Matthias' dad isn't just an alcoholic, he's a child abuser. And I think that maybe he might've hit his son a little too hard this time."
THE NEXT MORNING
Matthias opened his eyes. Fuck. I knew I was gonna feel that in the morning. As he attempted to rise off the ground, Matthias checked the time.
"Shit!" he muttered to himself. Thanks to his loving father, Matthias was gonna be late to school. As fast as he could, Matthias marched upstairs and got his school supplies and his backpack and headed out the door for school.
Walking through the halls of the school, Matthias realized that people were staring at him. What are they looking at? Then he also realized that he probably looked like he had just gotten out of a bar fight. That might be because Matthias' dad decided knocking him out wasn't enough.
He knew his father had beat the shit out of him when he was unconscious. How did he know that? Because when Matthias still had his conscience, he hadn't had any pain in his rib, or any other place besides his face. He also knew for a fact that his father hadn't kicked or punched him in the ribs when he knocked him out.
Ring! Ring! The bells signaled the late bell. Goddammit. Matthias thought to himself. Thanks a lot, Dad! "Matthias?" The sound of Annie's voice filled Matthias with alarm. He couldn't let Annie see him like this. So doing the only thing he could think of, Matthias pulled his hood over his head. He heard Annie's footsteps approach him from behind.
"Hey." she said. Matthias couldn't think of a reply so he simply just said "Hey" back to her. He felt her tug at his shoulder. "Let me see your face."
"What?" he was so thrown off by this statement that 'what' was almost an instinctual response. She stepped right in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks. "Hey! What the hell?" Annie had a look on her face, a look that set a serious tone in Matthias. "Let. Me. See. Your. Face. Now." Matthias was taken aback. "Yes ma'am. But not right now Little Miss Feisty." he scoffed.
As he tried to walk away, Annie stuck her arm out to stop him. "Why are you being so secretive? What is there to hide?" Matthias scoffed. But she was persistent.
"Why didn't you tell me your dad hits you?" Matthias swallowed what felt like a lump in his throat. He wasn't prepared to answer that question because he didn't think he would have to. So, he took a deep breath and replied, "Because it's hard to believe it myself. Because..." he paused. "I don't like the way I am with him. The PERSON I am when I'm AROUND him." Matthias could feel his fists clenching as he was talking. "I guess I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to see the one fucked up thing about me." He looked over at Annie.
At that point, she was looking back at him. She had a sympathetic look on her face and removed his hood to look at his cuts and bruises. Even though it was clear that she was very accepting, Matthias couldn't help but feel a sense of shame. She placed her hand on his cheek, tracing around the bruise his father had put there the night before.
Matthias sighed. "I don't wanna talk about it. So just...drop it, ok?" Annie didn't like that.
Just then, Jericho bumped into Matthias, making his heartbeat ten times faster. "Oh h-hey Jericho." Jericho looked back, shined her beautiful, intoxicating smile, said "Hi" back, and waved as she walked away. Matthias felt his face become hot with shame.
"Well, NOW the subject's changed." Annie said, sarcastically of course.
Seeing that there was nothing else to talk about, Matthias stuck his tongue out at Annie and walked away. As the bell rang and Matthias walked away, Annie started to develop a plan to make Matthias feel better, one involving Jericho. Now, just to put it into play.
....
"You did WHAT?" Matthias was shocked to hear what had just come out of Annie's mouth. Completely baffled. "Just one question: why?" Annie, who had her arms crossed just shook her head
"Then go talk to her." Annie pressed.
"Eh, maybe later." he said.
Clearly, Annie didn't get the message that he was being sarcastic because she replied with, "Really? That's your response? What do you mean, 'maybe later'? What do you think she's just gonna WAIT for you or something? C'mon, Matthias. Just tell her how you feel!" Matthias was starting to get irritated. "Why do you even care so much? Don't you have your own love life to worry about instead of fuckin with mine?" he hissed. Annie looked taken aback.
"Ow, that's hurtful!" she said, clearly hurt. Matthias felt ashamed and lowered his head. She didn't deserve that. She was just looking out for him. Hell if anything, "I'm sorry. I just wanna know why you're so interested in who I like." he mumbled. "It's okay," she sighed. "Look, you're obviously miserable with your dad and all. If you just go TALK to her, then MAYBE your life wouldn't suck as bad!"
Then, not knowing what hit him, Matthias snapped. "Oh? And what would you know about that? Hmm? Does YOUR dad hit you? Does YOUR dad make you feel like a loser who nobody gives a shit about?" Instantly, he felt regret for lashing out at her like that. But he had taken it too far. Because Annie had started to cry. "No," she sobbed. "But at least you HAVE a dad to hate!" Annie stormed off. "Shit! I'm sorry! Annie! ANNIE!" Matthias called after her, but it was no use. Annie had already left. Matthias scolded himself for possibly pissing off the one person who actually cared about him.