Trials and Tribulations

Chapter Two

Juniper squares her shoulders, backing away.

"Dad, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to keep hitting you," she huffs out.

"Yeah? Well, tough luck."

He swings out hard, getting Juniper right in the stomach. She gasps out, the wind entirely knocked out of her, and she folds in half, keeling over. Even as she drops to her knees, it's graceful and practiced, caught off guard yet still put together. They've walked this road before, but it never fails to surprise her at every stop.

"YOU THINK ANY OF THEM CARE?" Her father shouts at her fallen figure, spitting. "YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST WALK AWAY? YOU CAN BEG AND PLEAD BUT FIGHTING IS THE ONLY WAY YOU ESCAPE WITH YOUR LIFE!"

Juniper coughs weakly. She raises her chin from where it's touching her chest, meeting his matching icy blue eyes. She pretends that her own, aren't watering.

"Don't be weak, June Bug," he seethes, shaking his head at his crumpled daughter. "You get up and you keep fighting, or you die. You fall now at the hands of your dad. What are you gonna do when they start taunting you? What are you gonna do when those monsters come at you guns blazing, unafraid to bash you so hard that your brain comes out your ears?"

"They aren't born monsters, they're made into them," Juniper replies hollowly, eyes narrowed.

"Monsters survive. Cowards die."

Her father's transparent and matter-of-fact expression shifts abruptly into a shocked one, as Juniper kicks the back of his knee and it gives it out under him. While he's caught off guard, she jumps up behind him and shoves. Her father keels much like she just did, falling forward. He goes down like a wall, chest meeting the grass of their backyard. Juniper crouches, rolling him on his back before he completely registers what's going on. She straddles him, a leg on each side of his chest, and puts her arm against his throat.

He breathes deeply, eyes trained on hers as if urging her to continue.

"Go on, June Bug. Hit me." He whispers, looking at her expectantly.

Juniper leans close, putting enough weight on his windpipe that he exhales abruptly, coughing. Juniper's lip quivers.

"You're the coward," is all she can think to choke out.

The smile that slowly spreads on her father's face makes a chill ripple through her body. "Yet I'm still alive."

Juniper steels herself. "Alright. You are a monster. But were you made into one, or were you born one?"

He doesn't answer. Carefully, Juniper swings off of him, letting him go. He lies pressed against the grass, unmoving even when freed. Juniper watches him observe the sunshine easily, clear skies, and chirping birds blissfully ignorant of the day it is, the day that families dread and the true monsters anticipate.

"I'm going to go wake up your kids. But if I were you, I'd think about it all a little longer." Juniper makes to turn away, but hesitates, having one more thing to tell him. "And if I really am doomed, are these the memories you want to recall?"

Her father begins to sit up but Juniper is already retreating to the house, wiping furiously at the tears she wishes weren't spilling from her eyes.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

Penelope is an amazing hair-braider. Usually, the older sisters twist ribbon in the strands of the younger, but Juniper's nimble hands, which are built for fishing, are not delicate enough to weave intricate styles. So, instead, it's Juniper who's sitting on the floor of her and Penelope's room, Penelope perched on a stool, tongue out as she concentrates on the blonde locks. Juniper is holding up a mirror so that her sister can see.