//welcome home//

the start of it all

Evan Buckley was a wild child , that's what his sister Maddie used to call him , he would always be getting himself hurt trying to do some stupid new trick or show his friends he wasn't a wuss.

One afternoon when he was eight , he was riding his bike in the front yard when he got caught on a rock and fell forward off of the bike, landing on his elbow, his sister Maddie ran up to him to make sure he was ok.

Maddie " Evan! are you okay?"

Evan " I think so , my elbow hurts pretty bad though"

Maddie " Come on , let's go inside and get you cleaned up" she helped him up off the floor and then picked up his bike, they walked to up to the front of the house and placed the bike on a patch of grass .

when they walked through the front door , they could instantly smell the vodka that their father was drinking in the living room, it was very common these days for him to start drinking early , but he never started off with something as strong as vodka , that was usually later on in the night when he was bored of the bourbon,

Mr Buckley " Hey Maddie , come here " Maddie knew best than to disobey her fathers orders

Maddie " yea dad?"

Mr Buckley " get me the bottle of vodka please , my glass is empty"

Maddie turned around and rolled her eyes, which made Evan laugh, causing their father to look at him with a very indescribable face.

Mr Buckley " What's so funny Evan ?"

Evan " nothing Dad , sorry for laughing"

Mr Buckley " get your ass over here" Evan hesitantly started walking over to his father , Maddie was now also walking back over with the bottle of vodka.

Mr Buckley " Thank you Maddie, now look at me and tell me what is so funny" Evan was scared , he had seen his father drunk many times , but not like this , slurred speech , angry eyes , red face.

Evan " I it was just... a... a face Maddie pulled "

Mr Buckley " why are you stuttering like a little baby , stupid child "

Evan " s.. sorry " what happened next socked both Maddie and Evan to their cores.

Evan felt a hand connect full contact with the side of his face, leaving the spot burning like a flame underneath his skin, a gasp was heard exiting Maddie's lips, but before she could say anything her father spoke up again.

Mr Buckley " you're such a useless child!, can never seem to do anything right , always falling over and injuring yourself like an idiot , I can see the one on your elbow is brand new , how about I give you another smack for being such a twat" tears were now forming in Evan's eyes but the rage in his fathers was still there, so he refused to let them spill.

His dad had never hit him before , sure he had got angry and shouted, but never had he physically touched him, until now of course.

Mr Buckley " Maddie , get this idiot out of my sight right now"

She nodded quickly and grabbed her bothers hand before pulling him up the stairs into her bathroom.

Maddie " Evan I'm so sorry , he has never been violent before , I don't know why he did that" she cleaned up the cut on his elbow and put a plaster on it, after that was done she grabbed some tissue and ran it under the cold water before pressing it gently on her little brothers face , being careful so she didn't hurt him even more.

they sat in silence for a few minutes before Evan looked up at his sister.

Evan " Maddie?"

Maddie " yea Evan"

Evan " am I really useless and stupid ?" a single tear drop escaped his eye, but Maddie was quick to wipe it away and held the good side of his face in her hand, trying not to let her own tears spill.

Maddie " Evan , you know it's not true , Dad is drunk and he had no idea what he was doing , I'm sure he will apologise in the morning"

Evan " are you sure , it seemed like he really meant it , like he had been wanting to say it for a while "

Maddie " I promise you , he didn't mean it, it will all be ok , the slap was a one time thing , okay ? , I will make sure of it "

Evan " okay"

Maddie " now let's go to your room and get you changed ay?"

Evan " yeah"

What neither Maddie nor Evan knew was that the slap was not just a one time thing, it was just the start of it all.....