Come on Jess, get in the car." Charlie looked at his younger daughter and motioned towards the back seat.
Jess looked from the car back to the entrance of the school. She knew that her Mum was still in there as she could see their car in the headteachers space. It seemed so wrong to be leaving in this other car. Jess sighed, she couldn't put it off forever. "Ok Dad." She got into the car next to Harry. She took one final look before she shut the door. There she was walking out of the front doors. Jess jumped back out the car and ran across the parking lot.
Karen saw Jess running towards her. She had tried to leave late enough that she wouldn't see them, but Jess seemed to have other ideas. Karen put down her two bags in times to catch Jess in her arms. She wrapped her arms around her tight and breathed in the familiar perfume. She could feel Jess shaking in her arms. Karen lifted Jess' face to hers. She placed a kiss on Jess' forehead. "I love you Jess, remember that, but you have to do this." Karen heard her voice cracked as she thought back to the day in court.
Jess nodded as her own tears fell, each one ran a faint black line down her cheek as her black mascara ran with the tears. Jess gave her Mum another hug. "Love you Mum." She didn't want to let go, she wanted to get into the dark blue Volvo and drive home. However that wasn't an option.
Karen gently prised her daughter off. "Now. Wipe your tears and keep your head up." She gently wiped the tears from under Jess' eyes. "And always remember how proud I am of you." Karen gave her another quick hug and then nodded back towards Charlie's car. Jess gave a smile and kissed her cheek before walking back over to her Dad's car.
...
The fish and chips had arrived and a film was playing on the tv. Charlie had nipped out to pick up some bits for the weekend. Jess kept looking down at the plate of food. She had so far managed to eat one chip. She wasn't trying to be difficult, but the greasy food was making her feel sick. Whether it was the baby or the fact she didn't want to be there she wasn't sure. One thing was for certain, she didn't plan on eating any of it. She finally placed her practically untouched food on the floor before leaning back to watch the film.
"Jess can I have a word." Maria's voice caught Jess off guard. She looked over to the woman and shrugged.
"Sure." Jess looked at her expecting her to say something. It would no doubt be about the uneaten food.
"In the kitchen." Maria stood up and walked out of the front room.
Jess watched her go and froze. The last time the two of them had been alone she had ended up being slapped. She didn't plan on letting that happen again. After five minutes Maria walked back into the room.
"I mean now Jess." She stood glaring to where Jess sat. When Jess didn't move again she picked up the remote and paused the film. Bex and Harry groaned before looking at Jess.
Jess looked at Maria and then at her siblings, great. She stood up and followed Maria into the kitchen. She lent against the side waiting for the explosion.
Maria stood on the opposite side of the kitchen. "How dare you treat me and your father like this Jessica."
Jess wanted to laugh. No one called her 'Jessica.' Occasionally when she was small and had done something wrong. However she kept her face straight. She didn't want to wind the woman up.
"Well...what do you have to say for yourself?"
Jess looked away from Maria. What was she meant to say? They all knew that she didn't want to be here. They didn't really want her here.
"I'm talking to you Jess."
Jess looked at the older woman. "I wasn't hungry." She pulled out one of the chairs around the central table and sat down. She got the feeling she would be here for a while.
Maria walked over and slammed her hand down on the table. Jess jumped. "Not good enough! You will eat the dinner we bought for you."
Jess kept looking down. Again the hand slammed down on the table, this time Jess was ready for it and didn't move an inch. She wasn't going to let the woman frighten her. Maria walked from the room and Jess breathed out. She put her head in her hands. There were suddenly steps and the plate of fish and chips were slammed down in front of her.
"EAT IT." Maria shouted down at her.
Jess didn't speak she just shook her head. Suddenly Maria grabbed her mouth and forced a chip into it. Jess felt the grease around her lips and her stomach churning at the thought of the food. She wouldn't do it. Maria looked down at her and sneered. "Fine, we'll do it the hard way." She shut Jess' mouth and covered her nose.
Now Jess was panicking she couldn't breathe. There was no choice. She had to swallow three times to force the chip down her throat. Maria released her and Jess found herself coughing. She could feel it rising but Maria was blocking her path to the sink. She didn't hear anything being said to her. Suddenly she was sick across the table and Maria. She gagged again and again. She knew that Maria was screaming at her but she couldn't stop. The tears mixed with the vomit and her mouth was burning. She looked up through her stinging eyes just in time to see the hand swinging for her face. She didn't hear any pain, just the sound of skin on skin vibrating around the room.
Jess stood from the chair and ran to the front door. She pulled the handle and nothing happened. It had been locked with a key from the inside. There was no way of getting out of the house. Instead she ran to the only room in the house with a lock. Once inside the bathroom she locked the door. Her ear was still ringing from the impact, there was a strange taste in her mouth. She looked in the mirror and saw blood spilling from her cut lip. Sitting on the pushed down toilet seat she sobbed. What was she going to do? Then from the corner of her eye she saw the pack of razor blades. The next few minutes were all a blur, next thing she was back on the toilet with a blade in her hand. She rolled back a sleeve. She didn't feel any pain, only relief as the bright red blood bubbled against her skin. She relaxed as she felt the tension leave her body. Finally she sat on the floor and fell into a deep sleep.
