Family Comes First

Chapter 14: Falling Over The Edge

I could not stand to look at my reflection in the mirror. It was like witnessing a car crash, and I could not look away.

My neck had deep purple bruises from Jimmy's fingers, and another bruise guided itself along my jaw. There were more bruises scattered all over my body. Blood was dried up on the inside of my thighs. My wrist screamed in agony every time I tried to move it. My hand was cut open from the key and the corner of my lip was swollen.

From the bathroom, I could hear the blaring alarm coming from Jimmy's clock. I stayed locked in the bathroom all night and did not sleep.

I wanted to take a shower, but I was afraid of being punished for not asking. I was also afraid of being punished for running the water and waking somebody. I don't think my body could handle another assault.

I wrapped a towel around my body. I let out a shaky breath before I unlocked the door and stepped out into the room.

Jimmy was pulling a T-shirt over his head when I entered. My good hand kept a tight grip on the towel to ensure that it wouldn't fall down. A smile appeared across his lips, and it was sickening. This is the first time he saw the damage he had done to me.

"I want to take a shower," I said.

"Just be quick," he said.

I nodded and hurried into the bathroom. Some of the tension left my body when I locked the door again. I dropped the towel and stepped into the shower. Washing off all of the blood was the first thing I did. I struggled to wash my hair with one hand.

After leaving the shower, I tied up my hair and wrapped myself in the towel again. Jimmy was no longer in the bedroom, but a pile of clothes sat on my pillow. I put on the jeans and what must have been one of Jimmy's hoodies. It was much too big for me.

With every painful step, I made my way down to the kitchen. Charles and Jimmy were standing at the counter talking to each other. They stopped talking when they heard me walk into the kitchen. Charles smirked. He must be proud of his son for doing this to me.

Charles extended his hand and curled two fingers in toward him. It was a motion for me to come forward. I hesitated before I stepped toward them. When I came into Charles' reach, he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him. I winced as pain spread across my body.

His eyes examined my body. He brought his hand up to my face, and his fingers grazed along the bruise on my jaw. My bottom lip trembled as I was afraid that he would push harder into it to make me feel more pain. He slid his fingers down onto my neck. I wanted to pull away as he pulled down my sweater to look at the bruises on my chest, but I stayed still.

When he let go of me, Jimmy pulled me back toward him. He wrapped his arms loosely around me. He was being careful not to hurt me.

"Tell your brother to hurry up and meet me outside," Charles told Jimmy.

"Will do," he said.

"Good."

We watched as Charles put on his jacket and he went out the back door. There was a loud creaking noise as Tommy came down the stairs. Jimmy took his arms off of me and went over to the cupboard. Tommy's jaw dropped when he saw me. I avoided his gaze and looked down at the floor. He looked me up and down, and then crossed his arms over his chest.

"Dad says hurry up and get outside," Jimmy said.

"Yeah," Tommy said. "First, I want to know what happened here."

I scowled at Tommy for a second before the pain in my lip was too much to handle. He was the one that ruined my chance of escaping. Last night was all his fault.