NEFARIOUS. (Nardo Wick)

20.

Sighing deeply, I got up. "I don't get battered woman freebie points or something?"

"That's nothing to joke about, Giselle. I still want you to press charges."

"I will, soon. I just don't want him to come back and beat my ass some more because I told." I answered her while slipping my phone in my pocket.

"You could always come back to your old room here. I could use the company anyways, I'm so used to your daddy running around here causing a rucket when he came home from the truck trips. Besides you won't be here much longer, you enrolled into school yet?"

"I don't start until winter. I don't wanna bring my drama over here to you, you know crazy bitches love keying my little Honda up when things go wrong." I lifted the mattress up, frowning at all the papers and stuff scrolled out. "Why is he so unorganized?"

"Just like his damn daddy. You oughta see that 'man-cave' he called himself making, it look like a tornado ran through the room."

Grabbing one group of papers, I looked through them. Finding nothing but old schoolwork with bad grades. Then, I grabbed the next group, a picture falling out from them.

I picked it up, looking at the really old picture of him, me and Shauni all sitting on the porch of our old house. "Ma, look" I held it up for her to see, watching the smile go across her face. "Remember this?"

Back when he was brother of the year!

"I think that's the time Whitney found out that Shauni busy self had asthma. She was running all through the yard and then came to me wheezing, telling me she couldn't breathe. Scared the mess outta me."

I put the photo aside, looking through the rest of the papers. "I don't see anything."

"Try and look under the bed."

Getting down, I looked at the dark area — barely anything being visible. "Can you turn the light on? It's dark under here."

"You know how long it's been since Sean slept in here? That bulb went out about a year ago. Just grab and pull, be careful though. You know you like to throw up when you're freaked out."

I hummed in response while feeling around, an uncomfortable frown going across my face at the vulnerable feeling.

I pulled the first thing that felt normal. I slid the paper folder out, a random DVD coming along with it.

"You looking for the papers or you being nosey?"

"Mmm, both" I answered, pulling the DVD case from in between the papers inside of the folder and frowning when I saw the cover with the aged white spots on it.

Dry-heaving once I read over the cover, I stood up quickly — running out of the room into the nearby bathroom. The throw up flowing out as soon as I dropped to my knees in front of the toilet.

"Sweetpea, what's wrong?!" I heard her yell from the bedroom. "What is—"

—————

"You have to say something, Kendra. You can't just ignore it, Serafina definitely won't be able to."

"I am, I'm going to — I just don't know what the hell to say. What can I say?"