Clayton's Girl

Chapter Four

||Aubree||

I stopped at the door mat and looked around the house.

Silence?

He went out.

I smiled internally and rushed to my bedroom. I'd be able to take my first shower in days without him here to tell me no.

Grabbing the old tattered towel off my bed, I tossed the black bag to the floor, a clinking sound could be heard, and I looked back towards the bag.

There was a tiny bit of silver peeking out from beneath the flap and I cautiously lifted the bag. Reaching in, my fingers grasped a clear plastic sandwich baggie. It felt heavy as I pulled it out and examined it. Quarters?

My fingers ran over the smooth plastic, feeling the cold edges of the coins inside it. On the inside there was a crumpled piece of notebook paper with a number and an address. I retrieved it from the bag and looked closer.

If you can't text me, find a phone booth and call me, or stop by.

– Clayton

-

I relished in the hot water trickling over my battered skin. My hand grazed over my bony hips, scrubbing until my skin felt raw. I wanted to scrub the bruises right off my body and rid myself of these memories.

I often thought that if I could look down the barrel of a gun, that I'd pull that trigger in a heartbeat, just like my mom. She had the right idea. Just end it all.

No one would miss me. No one would remember me.

No one would care.

I was just another person roaming the halls of Richmond High and teachers hardly knew my name. I was their lost cause. Just another face that they must look at until graduation. If they took their job seriously, I wouldn't still be in this house. But they don't care.

At the end of their day, they want their paycheck. Not a clear conscience.

Thump.

My eyes widened and I quickly turned off the water. In a panic I reached for my towel, not wasting time to dry my hair. Only focusing on my dripping body.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Slipping an over sized men's ratty tee shirt on, I practically sprinted into my room.

"What is this?" I stopped dead in my tracks, watching him as he held up the black satchel. "Where did you get money for something like this?" His words were cold and empty. He demanded answers and if I didn't answer quickly, he would make me sorry for my silence.

"I- "I stammered. I couldn't think of a good excuse. He knew I had no money.

"Am I raising you to be a thief girl?" His voice boomed and immediately, I felt small again. Useless and dead inside. Just this man's punching bag for his daily stressors.

"No." Funny, because you aren't raising me at all.

"Are you going to start stealing from me too?" His voice rumbled and he closed the distance between us. I could smell the stench of liquor on his breath, and I knew he didn't go to work today. He sat in the bar and he drank himself silly before he would come home to torture me yet again. It was a never-ending cycle.

My mom lived it, and she left me in it.

"Talk to me girl." He backed me into the wall, hand firmly closed around my neck.

I swallowed beneath his grip and the sick bastard almost looked pleased.

He bent in and nuzzled his nose just below my ear. I felt the draft across my skin as he deeply inhaled and forcefully exhaled. "Such a pretty, pure girl." I felt his teeth graze my neck, his upper lip dragging over my skin. "A tease walking around my house, just like your mom." He chuckled a little. "Sometimes I find myself wondering if you like it rough like her." My heart rate picked up. All these years and he had never laid a hand on me.

Not like this.

Suddenly pain nipped at my skin and my shriek was cut off by his hand clamping over my neck, the pain continuing as he bit down hard.

I used to hear the cries of my mom coming from his room at night. She fought him so hard, but he always won. He always took what he wanted and left her lying there in a bed of her tears.

"Shh shh shhhh. Behave." My body trembled beneath him, panic overriding my system. With one hand still over my face, his other traced the outside of my leg, making its way up to lift the long shirt that hung to the center of my thigh. "Please stop." I whimpered out from under his hand, but it resulted in him shoving his dirty finger into my mouth.

I ripped my face away and felt his tongue dance along my abdomen. "STOP." I brought my knee up and forced it at his jaw, watching his head snap back.

I stumbled over him in a panic and ran as hard as my feet would carry me.

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Song: Need you now by Plumb