My Second Chance

Awe Shit

The first thing I see when I awake are multiple bruises littered across my arms. Memories of last night flood my head, not that I wasn't dreaming about it though. Sitting up, I hear several cracks throughout my body; everything hurts.

With time, I crawl out of bed and make a run to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I feel my temperature drop when I see that the majority of the right half of my face is bruised, as well as my neck, which I can tell is slightly swollen.
Digging around in the drawers along side the sink, I find my makeup bag and pull out concealers and different powders. Within five minutes, I have pretty much everything covered, except for the cut underneath my hairline. I can always cover that with my hair, so that's exactly what I do.
My arms, I'll just wear long sleeves until they heal up.

"I have to peeeeeee!" I hear Bandit whine from the other side of the door.

I check my face, everything is pretty much covered. I open the door for her, and once she's in, I'm out and back into my room.

I throw on some sweat pants and a flannel, trying to gain enough courage to go downstairs. Nope. My bed won my attention. I hide underneath the blankets, encasing my fears and memories with me.

"Do you really think that would've worked? You can't hurt me, bitch!"

His hands feel like knives piercing my flesh.

I throw the blankets off of me and reach for my T.V. remote, signing into Netflix. I need something to distract me, or I just might scream. I put on Bob's Burgers, as I don't think I can handle horror right now.

"Ray?" Bandit knocks on the door.

"You can come in."

She walks in after given permission, "Mommy wanted to know if you are coming down for breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." I reply in all honesty. I really don't have much of an appetite, and I know I won't for a while.

"Okay." She says before walking out. I hear her footsteps retriet downstairs.

I unpause the episode, and daze out into the cartoon. Another knock on my door makes me sigh.

"Come in!"

Gerard struts in, affected with major bed head. He sits down on the end of the bed by my feet.

"You're not going to eat?"

I shake my head.

He purses his lips together, "Why are you wearing makeup?"

Shit, I didn't know it was that noticeable.

"I'm not." I lie.

He moves in closer, examining my face, "Yes you are."

"Fine," I mumble, "I have acne. Is there a problem with being insecure about it?" I lie again.

He looks taken back, surprised even, "You shouldn't feel insecure; you're a beautiful young woman, okay?" I don't agree with him. After last night, I no longer feel beautiful. He brushes my fringe away, leaning in to kiss my forehead, but stops.

I pull back and fix my hair, turning my back to him.

"Ray, what happened to your head?" He pushes down on my shoulder, flipping me to face him. "Did someone do this to you? Who was it?" His tone is protective, maybe even angry.

I don't answer. I close my eyes, hoping he'll just go away.

"Ray? Did someone hit you?"

I remain silent.

The bed rises at the loss of his weight, and I listen a he walks out of the room, most likely to go tell Linds. Not long after, he returns with a large blanket. Grabbing me by the hand, he makes me sit up, and while I'm up, he wraps the blanket around me, sort of like a taco. He grabs the remote and puts on Peter Pan, as I told him it was one of my favorite movies.
Linds now enters the room, Bandit following behind her. In Linds' hands is a plate of various fruits, and Bandit's hands are behind her back.

A look that only a mother can display on Linds' face, she sits down to my left, and Gerard sits on my right, leaving Bandit to lay on my lap, her head resting on my stomach. B holds her hand out to me, her Batman toy in her grasp. I smile and take it, feeling tears well in my eyes at their comfort.

I lean onto Lindsey's shoulder, no longer being able to entrap my tears. I cry. I cry. And I cry. Gerard's arms as well as Lindsey's and Bandit's close me in a tight hug.

"It's going to be okay, sweetheart," Lindsey whispers, resting her head on top of mine, "Everything is going to be okay."