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CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: ' father of the year award goes to... anyone but elijah cameron '
9 YEARS AGO
Hayley kicked and screamed as her father punished her. She was only seven. She didn't know how expensive their furry, white rug was. Much less that you couldn't get red juice out of it.
"Stop!" Hayley screamed as her father's hand came in contact with her behind for what seemed to be the 100th time. "Mommy!" She screamed for her mother who was working in the next room, unknowing of the scene that was happened right outside of the door. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I won't spill my juice again!"
The child screamed as she looked up to her father. But when she looked into his eyes, what she saw he was anything but her father. He was a man, lost in his own rage to notice his actions, and how rough and painful he was being with his seven year old daughter.
Hayley couldn't take it anymore. With each hit, his strength got stronger, and the repeated hitting in the same spot made her feel like she was bleeding at this point. Hayley sucked in a deep breath, so deep it felt like she had stolen all the oxygen in the room. And she prepared to let out the most blood curdling scream. Hopefully, loud enough to shock her father and stop him, or get her mother's attention.
And then, she let it lose. "Mommy!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, making her father pause his actions. She could've swore she broke a few glass cups that day.
Immediately, Melissa was out of the room, sprinting into the living room. She didn't even notice the once white carpet that was now red. She immediately pulled Hayley off of Elijah's lap, but she was too angry to notice that she had thrown the girl.
"What are you doing!?" She shouted as she charged at the man, throwing punches left and right, not aiming for a specific spot on him, just trying to let out her anger and disappointment on him.
Hayley watched with tears in her eyes as she saw her mother hit and scream at the man. And it wasn't tears because she had just been beaten herself, but tears because she realized just how broken her family was.
≠
Hayley woke up to the noise of dressers being slammed. "Um, early." She groaned, turning away from the window.
"Sorry." Pope apologized, but the noise didn't stop.
"You have your interview, right?" She questions.
"Yep. In..." He looks at his wrist that didn't have a watch on it. "...15 minutes and I have no idea what to wear."
"Hey, calm down." Hayley stood up from the bed. "Here." She looked through his clothes, picking out dress pants, a button up shirt, and the jacket that matched the pants. "There. For once, you look like a presentable young man." She joked, causing him to laugh.
