Lay Low 'Missing' Chapters

Coursework Incident

I definitely spent a lot of my time hiding away.   If I wasn't hiding from Tony, then I was hiding from other people what he had done to me.  School didn't seem to notice too much.  I stopped getting in trouble so much, as the fear of reprisals at home was high.  I suppose in hindsight maybe someone should have noticed; there were signs.

The Coursework incident, as I called it, was a one episode that I remembered well.   It started one night when I was working hard to finish my Maths coursework.  It was driving me mad - Maths not being my strong point - and I had come down from my room to work at the kitchen table in the hopes it would clear my head.  Stupidly, yet as usual, I had left it to the last minute to complete.  I didn't have much more to do thankfully and I shovelled some biscuits I had found into my mouth as I wrote.

I heard raised voices from the living room.  I could hear enough to realise that Tony and Mum were having an argument.  The voices got louder.  I got up from the table and made my way upstairs quietly.  It didn't pay to be anywhere near either of them when they were falling out with each other.  

I noticed a light on in Hannah's room.  It was late and she should have been asleep for a long time.  I knocked softly and poked my head in.  She was sat up in bed, her hand clutched around her Gorilla.  I went over and sat on the bed next to her, pulling the covers up around her.

"What are you doing awake Han?"

"They woke me up," she said, her eyes large, "are they arguing?"

"No," I lied, stroking her hair.  As if to contradict me, their voices became louder; Mum screaming at him.  "Ok, maybe a little, but it will be over soon.  Try to go to sleep.  Go on, snuggle down."

She shifted down in her covers; Gary still gripped in her small pale hand.

"Will you stay with me a while?" she asked.

I looked at the textbook in my hand and frowned. "Just for five minutes" I said, climbing next to her and letting her come into my arms.

After she had drifted off, I got up, careful not to wake her and snuck back into my room.   I managed to finish the rest of the coursework in about half an hour.  Mum and Tony were still going at it.  Their arguments often went in peaks and troughs.  The shouting reached a crescendo and then I heard quick steps on the stairs, and their bedroom door slammed.  They were quickly followed by heavier ones.

"Eva, let me in," pleaded Tony.

"No leave me alone," she responded through the wall.

"Eva, I am sorry.  Just let me in."

"No.  You don't really love me at all."

"I do baby.  Open up and I will show you."

"No, you can sleep on the couch."

He swore loudly and then there was a loud bang, as what I can only imagine was his fist hitting the wall. Before I had time to think of any other option, my bedroom door was flung open.  I jumped.

"What are you still doing up?" barked Tony.

"J...Just finishing my coursework; it has to be in tomorrow.  I was going to bed now." I said quickly.

He lurched over towards me and I got out of my seat and backed away against the window.

"Get out.  You are sleeping on the couch tonight."

I dashed past him and down the stairs, happy to escape without harm.

I woke shivering the next morning, the springs of the worn out couch digging into my back.  I looked at my watch and saw I was running late. I walked into my bedroom to see Tony and Mum entwined in my bed.  The bottom half of Mums body was barely covered with the duvet, her bare back facing me.  Her head was resting on Tony's bare chest.  I felt a little sick when I realised that they must have made up last night, and in my bed.  Eww.  Wasn't it enough that I could hear them through the wall most nights?