Winter's Wonderful Summer's Special

A Thousand Words

Pretty girl screamed all night, much longer than he screamed when his dad beat him. Evan the times when he was so angry Angelo couldn't walk for days.

Angelo never thought his dad would hurt pretty girl, he seemed to love her so much. Angelo didn't go to his bedroom in the basement, but instead stayed up in the living room listening as pretty girl screamed, became quiet as the nights right before a storm, and screamed again.

After a long time it seemed to be over and his dad stumbled out of the room, fixing the belt around his pants. In the dim lamp light Angelo could make out faint scratches on his dad's neck. He stared at them with wide eyes.

"What in the hell are you looking at?" His dad snapped as he slammed the bedroom door closed. Angelo quickly looked away. "I wouldn't have hurt her if she would have behaved. She just gotta learn to behave." The man stomped into the kitchen and threw the fridge door open and removed a beer. "Go to bed, boy, don't bother her."

Angelo stood quickly off their ratty, brown couch. "Yes, daddy," he said.

(SB)

His dad got up early in the morning and cooked pretty girl breakfast, eggs, toast, and sausage. His dad had never cooked him breakfast. The man let him have a couple slices of toast before taking a plate into pretty girl's room. Angelo nibbled on his bread and watched the door and listened. All he could hear was his dad's muffled voice and soft sobs. He couldn't understand why pretty girl would cry when his dad made her breakfast and she got to eat so much good food.

He frowned, deciding that maybe pretty girl was ungrateful like his dad told him he was. He knew for a fact that ungratefulness made his dad very angry.

A little while later his dad came out of the room again but didn't close the door after him. He looked around the living room until his eyes landed on him. "Clean her up, boy, and that better be all you do. Get some warm water and the fresh towels I bought for her."

Angelo quickly stood. "Yes, daddy."

He quickly went to work finding a bucket underneath the kitchen cabinet and filling it with water. He then went to the hall closet which housed all of pretty girl's towels and soaps. Balancing all of the items he moved into the bedroom.

He almost dropped everything at the sight in front of him. Pretty girl's usually deep brown skin was pale like and the front of one of the white gowns his dad bought pretty girl was stained red in the front. His heart pounded in his ears at the sight of the blood, recalling the amount of blood that had soaked the stray dog that use to live under their porch fur after his dad had gotten drunk and killed it with his butcher knife. He had liked that dog. It was a small, cute brown mutt with half a ear.

Afraid. Angelo moved forward quickly and stopped next to the bed. "Pretty girl, are you okay?" He asked, voice shaky with fear. Her eyes were wide open but dull, like the color of Mr. Banks truck. She had tear treks beginning in the corner of her eye and disappearing into her hair. Her gaze was unfocused, just as the stray dog's had been.

Angelo felt his eyes fill up with tears. His dad had taken away something else he liked. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, it took him awhile to realize that pretty girl's eyes were no longer staring unseeingly at the ceiling but were own him.

He realized she was still alive and smiled. She simply stared back. "I'm here to clean you up." He told her. "I hope the water is still warm." She continued to stare at him, but her brows did furrow. When she didn't say anything, Angelo nervously looked away and set the bucket down. "I guess I'll get started now."