Save Me

five

I began to head home realizing that it must be around 3 o'clock. Time really does fly when you are running around in the city. If John and Trish ever found out that I left the house they would kill me for sure. Maybe not kill, just beat, but either way I knew it would not be pretty.

It only takes me a few minutes to get home and my heart drops when I see something in my driveway.

My foster parents cars.

_________________

They came home early! They are going to kill me for sure.

I walk up the driveway, my heart pounding in my chest and my legs shaking in fear. my mind is racing trying to find an excuse for not being home and what they will do to me.

I open the door slowly and see the 2 adults facing me with anger in their eyes.

"What do you think you were doing? We told you to never leave the house without our permission!" Trish yells at me.

John walks to me and aggressively throws me onto the floor. He runs his foot into my side, hitting the bruises he had left the day before. Pain shoots through my body but it isn't as bad as I thought it was. I deserved this.

Maybe that is why I didn't scream out for help, because I knew that I didn't deserve help, I don't deserve love, I don't deserve life.

John continues to punch and kick me while Trish is yelling at me how stupid I am and how I am never to leave the house without their permission. A few weeks ago I would've screamed and cried but now I just wince at the blows and keep my mouth quiet.

John got tired, or maybe just bored, either way he stopped attacking me and yelled at me to go to my room saying that I wasn't getting dinner.

I complied and dragged my body up the stairs and collapsed into my bed that had no blankets or sheets.

I felt my eyes begin to water and burn, tears threatening to spill onto my bruised cheeks.

No. Olivia you can't cry. You promised yourself that you wouldn't cry anymore. Be strong.

I gritted my teeth and looked up at the sky, the tears left my eyes. I had already gone through the worst moments of my life, I couldn't cry over something stupid like John hitting me. It doesn't come close to the pain I felt 5 years ago.

I slowly drifted off to sleep hoping that a calm dream would comfort me tonight. I usually didn't have nightmares but tonight was different. I had the worst dream in my whole life. The night my family left me replayed in my head all night.

* Olivia's Dream *

I laughed loudly in the back of the car, I was sitting next to my youngest brother, Owen, we were being annoying and joking. My two other brothers, Andrew and Colin, were in the middle of our van laughing at something Owen had said. My mom was in the passenger seat turned around and looking at us with a smile, telling us to lower our voices so we wouldn't distract my dad while he was driving.

"How much longer, Mommy?" I asked her.

"30 minutes, my love." She responded. We were on our way back home from vacation, we were staying with our grandma over Christmas break who lived in Maine. The car ride home was long and I was longing to be home.