Silence

Chapter 11

Evelyn's POV

I get a beating everyday I come home from school.
I'm not sure what I do or what I did.
But for some reason, I feel like it's my fault.
I feel like I deserve the pain.
But I don't know why.
What did I do?
I don't know...

Mom kicked me in the stomach and a sound came out of me. A sound of all the breath in me getting sucked out. I couldn't breathe. I wanted them to stop.
I hate them.
I hate them so much. These cruel people. These cruel people who are supposedly my parents. How ashamed I am to be their daughter. And they tell me everyday 'we're ashamed of you'. Oh how much I want to tell them "I'm ashamed of you too'. But I can't.
Because I can't even imagine what they would do to me if I told them that.

I hunched over and then fell to the ground. Dad stepped on my legs. Dad punched my lip where there was already a cut. When his fist left my mouth, I saw blood smeared on his knuckles.

My blood.

His daughter's blood.

Suddenly the front door flew open. There stood 7 police men. Behind them were Noah, Nellie, and Emma.

"Put your hands up!" shouted a police. Mom and Dad stared at the policemen. Their eyes widened. I remained on the floor, shocked.

"We said put your hands up!" Another police man bellows, this time more forcefully.

My parents hesitate but their hands do go up, slowly and quietly.

"We saw the whole thing," said another police. "And we recorded it so we have proof." Then 4 of the police ran over to my parents and handcuffed them. My parents shouted curse words and things like 'Stop!'. After half a minute of them struggling, the police got them both handcuffed.

My mind was whirling around, spinning, rushing, overwhelming. Noah, Nellie, and Emma must've called the police.

My parents tried to struggle out of the police's grips but the policemen were strong and had my parents hands handcuffed behind their back. They grabbed my parents and pulled them to the police car. Noah, Nellie, and Emma moved out of the doorway when the policemen came through with my parents.

I ran outside to see them at the side of the door.

My parents were shoved into the back of a police car.

They were gone. The people who hated me. The people who hated me so much they tortured me every day. They were arrested. Gone from my life. Just like that. I was always too scared to call anyone.

Too scared of my parent's threats.

Too scared that I deserved the pain.

Too scared that they would hurt me more.

But today, some amazing people did what I should've done so many years ago for me. And I was thankful to them. So very thankful.

My frozen eyes remained on the police car. And I stared as 3 of the police men drove off with my parents handcuffed in the back.

I breathed. I blinked. I...
Was shocked.
It wasn't settling in.
It wasn't settling in that my parents would never hurt me again. Was it true? Was it really true?
It would sink in soon, right?
I knew it would. Soon. It would sink in. And I'd be able to smile.

I looked over at the 3 people who saved me. They were smiling at me.

I looked at them and I could feel my eyes soften a little. Not very much. But just a little.

The frozen ice that were my eyes thawed a little. Not very much. But just a little. A little so I could feel it.

And I could tell Noah, Emma, and Nellie could see my eyes soften a little too.

I walked over to them. I looked at them.

I could barely feel it. It was so slight. So tiny. But I felt it a little. The corner of my mouth pulled up a little. A very little bit. One step in a marathon.

They smiled big at me.

I crouched down and with my finger in the dirt I wrote

'Thank you so much'.

Noah reached out to me and hesitated. I looked at him and I nodded. He reached out further and lightly, softly, sweetly touched my hand.
And I didn't pull away.

Another step in a marathon.