Finding Me

Chapter 5

"What brings you here?" he asks kindly.

I roll my eyes. "Don't act all excited. I don't even know why I'm here."

He sighs. "Does Emma know you left?"

I sigh out of irritation. "What would happen if I said no?"

"Maya," he replies flatly.

"Yes, she knows. Now, I'm leaving so goodbye," I tell him as I get up to leave.

"I'll see you at home."

I just nod and quickly walk out. I don't see Cassandra anywhere, so I hurry down the path to the house. I walk through the back door of the house and try to walk quietly past the dining room where Emma is.

"Maya!" she exclaims as I walk past her.

I sigh and turn around to face her. "What?"

She ignores my annoyed tone and asks, "Any ideas for dinner tonight?"

I think for a moment before suggesting something. "I really like baked potatoes."

She raises an eyebrow. "Hmm. I may have to save that for a special night because those go really well with steak, and I don't think I have time to do that right now. Any more ideas?"

I roll my eyes. "Something that doesn't require me to have to sit with my uncle at the dining room table."

She gives me a look that says that's not going to happen. "Very funny. I guess I'll have to think of something. I'll see you later, Maya."

I nod and hurry up to my room where I set my things down on my bed and hurry out to my balcony. I lean on the railing and look out at the private beach. I breath in the fresh air as I look at the beauty around me.

This is what I live for. I live for being able to seem normal, even if it's behind closed doors. I live for the peace and quiet I get when I'm alone, and I live for being able to be someone who isn't being judged all the time by people who don't even know me, yet they think they do.

I watch as a lone figure begins to walk on the beach. The figure stops and stands as though he or she is mesmerized by the beauty just like me.

I sigh and sit down in my chair while I close my eyes and find myself being taken back to part of my horrible past.

~•••••~

"Worthless piece of junk that I have to call my child," he snarls at me as he throws a book at me.

I manage to dodge the book, but I cower in fear at the monster before me. He comes closer and closer to me with a disgusting grin on his face. I keep backing up but find myself backed into a corner where there's no escape for me.

"Oh, look who's trapped; the worthless weakling," he says as he begins to extend his hand toward me.

I shut my eyes and wait for the sting of a slap or something similar to that to come. It doesn't come. I hear him walk away from me. He starts yelling at someone else, and I slowly open my eyes. My eyes land on him pushing around my mother, telling her to leave.

She tries to tell him something, but he keeps telling her to leave. She doesn't, and she gets slapped for it, along with being called names that should never be repeated or said in front of a child. I hear the slap from my corner and try not to let out a cry for help. My mother looks at him straight in the eye and tells him something that causes him to run out of the room. She doesn't even touch her cheek or cry once he's gone. It's like she's immune to the slaps and dreadful names.

She looks over at me and gives me a small smile before he comes back in and takes her by the arm. He jerks her out of the room and closes the door behind them, locking it in the process.

I sit and wait, hoping he really left. I slowly crawl out of my corner when I hear the sound of the front door opening and closing. I stand up and walk over to the tiny and only window in the room and look out at the street where his car is parked. I watch as he basically drags my mother to the car and forces her inside the car. He jogs to the driver's seat and gets in, speeding away almost immediately after he closes the door.

All I can think about is my mother and how I'm free for the time being while she's trapped with that man who I despise but am frightened by every single time I look at him in the face. I am almost twelve, and I already have to fear for my life.

I always thought my mom was protecting me from him, but I soon found out it wasn't just him. She was protecting me from the things they were both doing, which included the things she was being forced to do that she hoped I would never have to be forced to do.

~•••••~

"Hello? Hello?" a voice calls, startling me from my painful memory.

I open my eyes and sit up. I stand up from my seat and walk over to my balcony railing and see the sunglasses guy standing below me, looking up at my balcony with a puzzled expression.

"What do you want?" I yell down harshly.

"I heard someone crying on my way home, and it sounded like it was coming from here. Are you alright?" he asks.

I glare at him. "Leave me alone. I don't need you."

He ignores my harsh tone. "Why can't you try to be polite?"

I ignore him and sit back down in my chair, hoping he will just go away and leave me alone. I hear rustling for a few minutes, but I soon hear nothing, so I settle into my chair happily.

All of a sudden, I hear leaves rustling again. I think it's a squirrel but it seems too large to be a squirrel. I slowly lean forward and listen. More rustling comes. I slowly stand up and find myself staring at the sunglasses guy's head.

He is climbing up the tree, and he soon jumps onto my balcony and stands across from me.

"What the heck do you think you're doing, idiot?" I demand.