Across The Hall

The Projects

Anything is better than nothing. Living with my dad was rough, him coming home drunk, expecting me to have cooked food, have cleaned the house, and more before he got home. He was abusive, verbally and physically and it was hard for me to hold my own.

Luckily I had a plan; on the night of my eighteenth birthday I was gonna leave and he wasn't gonna even know what hit him. I've been planning this since the day my mom left. She too was tired of my father and decided to leave me here to deal with him. She left without saying a word.

It was a cold night in the middle of winter, the heat wasn't working because my father hadn't paid the bill. I laid on my bed reading my favorite book for the 100th time. There was no bed frame and no box spring, just the mattress. I was used to having nothing with a little bit of something, ever since my dad had lost his job when I was 9  we haven't had as much money as we used to. We lost our house, our car, and we even had to give away the family dog.

My mom was the only one working. She worked at a small laundry matt washing people's clothes at a drop-off. That night she was working overtime and wouldn't be home until 3:00 am. She took late shifts often and I would usually wait for her, occupying myself with a book or two.

My dad had been getting worse over the years, he goes to the pub every night after having a day of unsuccessful job interviews. He would drown his sorrows with liquor and I understood why you don't feel pain when you're numb.

But he would come home first and usually just sprawl himself on the couch and watch T.V when he does. But that night was different. As I was reading my worn-out copy of The Little Prince, I heard a disturbance downstairs. I always kept my door locked because I never knew if my dad was gonna do the unthinkable at any second.

I unlocked my door and stuck my head into peer down the stairs, it was silent. I was just about to close my door when I heard a woman's voice. It wasn't my mom's.

I slowly crept down the stairs, thinking that maybe it was one of her friends who just came to check on me. When I got to the final step, I took in the sight in front of me.

My dad and a woman I've never seen before was on the couch in the living room. His pants were at his ankles and were pressed behind the womans back, thrusting and grunting.

I dropped my book and covered my mouth. My book was not so silent, it made a small thump that echoed ever so slightly through the room. The sound caused my dad to turn around to face me and instead of stopping her whispered to me.

"She's better than your mom." He said, and laughed.

I couldn't believe what I was watching, my Dad was fucking a woman who wasn't my mother, in our house, on the couch where my mother and I would play board games while letting me watch. I ran back up to my room and locked the door. I regretted unlocking it in the first place.

~

Later that night my mom came home, I had already fallen asleep. The women had already left and my dad was asleep on the couch.

I heard my door open and heard rustling around the room, I thought nothing of it. It was probably just my mom, taking off her work clothes and getting ready to sleep.

Suddenly the rustling stopped and it was silent. I started drifting back to sleep but then I felt a pair of lips pressed against my forehead. I thought it was my mom just giving me a kiss goodnight.

But little did I know it was my mom giving me a kiss goodbye.

~

The next morning I looked to my right and instead of finding my mother sound asleep I found the necklace that was always wrapped around her neck so securely.