D A M A G E D • HS

39

I'm not too surprised, they always lock my door when I'm grounded. Luckily for me, since I'm so smart, I figured out how to unlock the door with one of my bobby-pins I put in my hair.

I go to my bathroom, and get a bobby-pin. I bend it open, and rush back over to my door. I stick one end of the bobby-pin into the lock, and jiggle it around until I hear a click.

Once I do, I take the bobby-pin out, and stuff it in the pocket of my sweatpants. I carefully open my door, making sure to make very little noise.

I'm not supposed to leave my room until my daddy says I can, but my tummy hurts, it keeps making weird noises, and I'm starting to feel sick.

I usually can last a whole day without eating, but by day two, I need something to eat. I still drink water. I put my head under the faucet of my sink in my bathroom, and let water pour into my mouth.

It's hard to walk, my legs feel weak, like twigs. I make sure to grab onto the wall when I walk, so I don't trip, and get a boo-boo.

I walk on my tiptoes to avoid making the floor creak. I realized that it's more quiet to walk like this when I was playing spies with Mr. Bear.

I grab onto the stairwell tightly when I'm walking down. I chew on my bottom lip to comfort my nerves.

I successfully made it down to the bottom without making any noise. I lift one of Mr. Bear's paws up, and high-five him.

"We did it Mr. Bear." I whisper quietly. "We gotta keep quiet, I still need food."

I continue my path towards the kitchen, as I get close, I halt my steps completely when I hear talking coming from the kitchen.

"Anwir, it's dangerous." I hear my mommy say in her stern-talking voice. She doesn't sound happy. "You are risking mine and Arlo's life.

"Shut up, I don't give a flying fuck about the danger. Think of the money." My daddy says back, his voice is cold, like always.

"But our daughter Anwir, you're setting her up to get killed." My mommy's voice cracks. I wonder if she's crying.

I take a few steps forward, barely peaking my head around the corner, so I can see them.

My mommy is leaning on the counter with her head in her hands. My daddy is still in his suit, minus the jacket. He has a cup of his special drink. He always has a cup before going to bed. It's brown and smells bad.

"If she gets killed, then clearly she isn't strong enough." My daddy scoffs, I can see him rolling his eyes.

My mommy gets up, and rubs her hands over her face. "Anwir, how can you speak about our daughter like that? I know you don't like her, but she's only a child. You'll ruin her."

"I don't fucking care!" My daddy screams at my mommy. "Don't you dare make me seem like a terrible person, you hate her too!"

My parents hate...me.

I try to hold back my tears, I'm strong, and strong people don't cry.

"You made me hate her!" My mommy screams back. "You ripped her away from me the minute we left the hospital. You never let me bond with her. Now, when I look at her all I see is how fucked up you made my life."

"That's really cheap Lucia. Blame it all on me, the one that got us out of poverty when we were teens."

"Oh don't use that bullshit on me, Amwir. I never asked you to get into this type shit."