Rugged Lace

Chapter Nine

*Doesn't matter if I scream, it never matters, never matters*

"Be there." Don crosses his arms, looking at her like a child. His eyes look darker, harsher against the sun streaming in behind his face. A harsh line of dirt trails across his forehead, traveling in a bead of sweat that he's pushed to the side. His hair clings to him, but she knows it's only for now. By the time their parents are home for church, he'll be the perfect child again. He's always changing, lying so flawlessly...

"I will, I will." She tells him, hardly able to keep the irritation out of her voice.

He makes a sound that is akin to a growl, short and strangled as if his throat had been run raw the day before. Don uncrosses his arms, recrossing them tighter before once again letting them go, as if unable to decide if he wants to hit her or not. Careful, careful..."You better be."

"I said, I will." Snappish. Wrong move.

"Don't get snappy with me, bitch!" His hand slams against her face, pushing her back and forming a bruise easily. Her skin stings, stained red by his palm. Though she flinches as he raises it again, he only grins at her. Holy shit, Tyler thinks as he starts to talk again, holy shit. "You're the whore who got herself found. If this leaks, we could be screwed. You better show, and do whatever the hell it takes."

"I will." She nods her head just slightly, afraid of him hitting her again. No matter what though, she promises herself, she won't cry. No matter what. I will not shed one tear in front of him. I will be strong.

Don grips her cheek, his words spit through his nasty yellow teeth, "Tyler-"

"I will, okay!" He slaps her again, his time harder, grabbing her shoulder with his other hand to jerk her closer. His eyes glare into hers before he shoves her to the floor. "I will, Don, I will..." A burning sensation brews in her throat, tears welling up and dropping over before she can will herself to blink them away. Weak, so weak. She doesn't look up at him, but down at the floor, her shoulders shaking and the pit of her stomach churning wildly. Though she's trying hard to control her crying, Tyler's racing heartbeat does nothing to aid her.

"Uh huh. Whatever, bitch. I'm tired of listening to your broken-ass ratchet voice." She listens as he storms out, his feet hitting against the ground hard before his door slams shut. The walls shake a bit, but she knows he doesn't care. Her eyes feel puffy, yet she can't stop crying. The tears seem to have a mind of their own, crying for her, and her throat seems to as well, as it lets out a low sob that threatens to turn into a scream at any moment. It burns, an ache that can't be controlled by nothing. She knows it can't. It never can.

Eventually she stops crying, wiping away her tears on the slightly torn black and silver jacket she has on. Tyler knows she's a wreck, but she doesn't care. Sniffling, the smell of pot catches her attention, but she quickly puts it to the back of her mind. "Pot?...It's just Don," she tells herself softly, "it doesn't matter. He'll do whatever the hell he wants. I'm tired of covering for him."

The door to the house closes swiftly behind her, and she doesn't bother to check her pockets for her phone. If I die young, her phone starts, Alise's new ring tone. Pain, without love, Pain, starts to play as well, both smiling faces popping up on the screen, as if battling each other. She takes it out just once, looking at it before turning off her phone completely. Tyler doesn't think, she doesn't hear, she doesn't do anything besides walk. She's got about an hour before she has to see the guy, just enough time to do something crazy.

For once in hear life, she doesn't care about anything. Always, always, she's had something to care about. Passing school. Dating her boyfriend. Talking to Alise. Talking to Kyle. Her brother. Her parents. Yet, today, none of it matters. None of it means anything, it's just information that's barely making it to her brain, barely registered at all. I've passed school, and there's no hope for college. They'd look me up and find Rugged Lace. I can't do anything with that. My boyfriend left me weeks ago, I shouldn't even think of him anymore. Alise has her own life, I can't just bother her with my own. Kyle has Marcus, I shouldn't even bother those two. God, I'm always bothering them. Even Don has a life! He's got friends! He doesn't need me. My parents want a perfect daughter, one I'll never be. They don't want me, they want her. Someone like Alise. Someone who will go far in life.