Death Wish

21 | Nightmare in Knightsbridge

Chapter 21

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Warning : Physical Abuse.

Raina shuddered subtly, suddenly finding interest in her bare toes as countless eyes stared at her, accessed her. Bloodshot red eyes. Her father and his friends were in the living room, smoking all sorts of weed and drinking together.

This was a usual ritual for the eight men, this was their own way of hanging out. All divorced or lacking a proper female in their lives, intimately. All struggling with slips and slips of overdue bills. They would drink to oblivion and sometimes, sneak some hard drugs into the house.

They did not need to speak to communicate. This was their own way of having fun, coming together to get high and then part ways after preparing another get-together for themselves.

" Aye’ Foster! Your girl looks so much like your late wife! " She could hear a man slur, followed by a tense silence and then the sound of something smashing. Raina's late mother was a touchy subject.

A no-go area.

With a gasp, she finally stared up and spotted her father holding the man by his neck as he had him pressed against the wall, behind the now broken frame.

" Don't you ever mention her name. Don't you ever speak of her again.." Foster McCoy warned as a lit cigarette hung from his lips.

Greg Davies lifted his hands to show he meant no harm and slowly, the man pulled away from him and snapped his head towards Raina McCoy, causing her to immediately avert her eyes.

" Don't ever stare at me with those eyes, you filth! Those eyes belong to my wife! Not to you  " He would tell the child.

Edena McCoy died when Raina was just six and it had been six years since then. Her father blamed her for her mother's death. What he loathed the most was the fact that she looked exactly like her mother.

Foster McCoy was a pure African while Edena, her late mother was Hawaiian which also made Raina Pōpolo.

Raina held in her breath as she heard her father slowly approach her. Her body shook and she let out an inadvertent whimper. She was scared, she feared the man who she was supposed to look up to.

Foster McCoy stopped before his twelve year old daughter and pulled on her hair so she could stare up at him. Taking the cigarette away from his lips, he scanned her face where a faint bruise formed on her jaw from an earlier hit, " Go to your room "

Raina wasted no time as soon as he let go of her hair and dashed up the stairs to the basement where she was given as a room. As soon as she stepped into her once safe haven, she slammed the door shut as tears rolled down her face.

Her eyes immediately caught on to her mother's picture. Her father was right. It was her fault. If she never pestered her mother that night, things would have been alright.

Sniffing, she picked up the fading picture which was the only one she had of Edena McCoy, the rest were destroyed by her father and he had no idea she had stolen this one before he set the valuables of his late wife ablaze. Laying on the floor mat which served as a bed to her, she curled her small body into a ball, clutching the picture to her chest as her eyes drooped.

Hopefully, she could see her mother again soon enough. Wishing it was her end that knocked on her door, she let her eyes close and let sleep in, engulfing her.