Separation Anxiety

"People Change"

Chapter 2- "People Change"

            Her breath is heavy. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest. She leans back against the door and starts to cry. The tears run down her cheeks like a waterfall. Isaiah wouldn't be angry that she had just shut the door in his face, but he'd know something was wrong. He wouldn't leave right away as she hoped he would. He would linger, fighting the urge to bust the door in and find out for himself what was going on. She knew him better than she knew herself, but she prayed, that at least this one time, he would do something unlike himself. He would listen to her, take her at her word and stop reading her the way he always did. For his own safety, she prayed he would go home.

            Suddenly, she hears a hard "bang!" It came from the kitchen. Her heartbeat quickens and her throat feels as if it's closing in. She hears the thump of his footsteps growing louder and louder as he gets closer to her. Her legs go numb underneath her and she crumples to the floor in front of the door.

            "Lacey! Who was that?" Her uncle shouts at her. He looks her up and down and she still sits on the floor, crying. She feels dirty under her uncle's gaze.

            "Nobody," she lies.

            "Then who was you talkin' to? And why you cryin'?" He stares at her incredulously.

            "I'm not. I got something in my eye." He smiles at her. Not a normal smile one should expect from their uncle, but a smile that Lacey fears. A smile that makes her skin crawl and gives her goose bumps.

            "Stand up," he orders her with that creepy smile still plastered on his face. She obeys and presses her back close to the door, keeping as much distance between them as possible. "Why you look so scared?" he brushes her cheek with his hand and trails his fingers down her neck. "You ain't gotta be scared of me." She says nothing but the tears continue to stream down her face. "You're a real pretty girl, Lacey. Anybody ever told you that? I'm surprised you ain't got a boyfriend. You a virgin, Lacey?"

             She closes her eyes and tries to put herself somewhere else. Think happy thoughts, she tells herself. She pictures herself with Isaiah. She feels safe with him, like he would protect her from anything. Her body calms slightly, until her uncle touches her again. This time his hands are on her waist. He is speaking but she doesn't hear him. She doesn't want to hear him. She doesn't want to be near him. He runs his hand up her shirt and grabs her breast, kisses down her neck. She screams at him. "Stop! Stop! Please! I'm your niece! Uncle, please stop! ¡Tío, por favor, no lo hagas!"

            He freezes. Something in his eyes has changed. He pulls his hands back and steps away from her. Her shirt is drenched in tears and she falls back down to the ground. She pulls her knees into her chest, wraps her arms around them, and cries. Her uncle goes upstairs. She tries to put herself with Isaiah again. She can't. She can't stop thinking about her uncle, the way he used to be when Lance was around. He used to be kind; he used to be good to her and her cousin. She thinks about Lance, about the day he died, her sophomore year.

            "Lance, I'm going to the store, you want anything?" Lacey asks her cousin as she opens the front door.

            "The corner store? The one that all the bangers hang around? You're not going over there by yourself." Lance tells her as he rises from the couch and walks towards her.

            "I know. Zay's gonna meet me there and walk back here with me."

            "Isaiah? He's a scrawny little kid. He can't protect you from anything. I'm going with you."