Red Hands

Chapter One: Their Story

Caution: This chapter may be triggering due to the subject of abuse.

• 1970 •
"Fuck you Sandy! You are nothing but a whore! Why did I even marry you, you bitch! Have fun with the bartender." Daniel yelled at his drunken wife.

Amy sat down on the wooden chair at her desk. She attempted to cancel out the yelling by reading but it was useless, the fighting was too much for her to handle. It seemed like her parents fighting was a daily thing now. Tears rolled down her cheeks onto the pages, staining them.

She felt guilty, she knew that this fight was because of her. She caught her mom and a local bartender sleeping together while her dad was away on a business trip in New York. She couldn't keep it a secret even though her mom told her to.

She made her way towards the window and watched the raindrops race down the glass. Her father made his way to the car and pulled out of the driveway, fading into the distance as he drove off. Her mother could be heard screaming and crying downstairs. Soon, the crying stopped and Amy tried to rest. She hoped to wake up and everything would be okay afterwards.

Sandy stumbled up the stairs and down the hall towards Amy's room. She busted through the door, her face filled with fury. Her daughter never saw her look so terrifying. She ripped off the pink, floral blankets on the bed.

"You ungrateful, disappointment! This is all your fault. Why did you have to rip this family apart!? If you just kept your damn mouth shut, your father wouldn't have left me." Amy was shocked. She couldn't believe these bullets coming from her mother's mouth.

"Mama, I'm sorry. I- I didn't know!" She pleaded.

"Bullshit! Ever since you were born you have been nothing but a burden to me! I should've had a son." She gripped her daughter's wrist tightly and started to drag her out of the room, down the stairs.

"You're scaring me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please mama, let go! You're hurting me!" Amy's brown, bambi eyes were filled with terror.

"How about the hurt you've caused me? Ten years I put up with you."

She pushed Amy down and grabbed a beer bottle on the glass coffee table and took a big swig of it. Pinning her down, Sandy began to hit her child. Amy begged for her mother to stop but she kept going.

"I'm sorry... Mama... I'm sorry..." Amy repeated until she went into unconsciousness.

Sandy moved her child's dark brown hair away from her face. She looked down and when she saw what she had done, she immediately regretted her decision. Panicking, she quickly got up and ran to the rotary phone where she dialed her younger brother James.

- James' Perspective -

James was watching the Boston Red Sox game when the phone call arrived. He sat down his Coca-Cola on the end table and made his way over to the phone, eyes still fixated on the score. He brushed his long black hair out of his face and picked up the phone.

"Hel-"

"James... I messed up. She's unconscious. I didn't mean to hurt her that bad, I was just so furious.", Sobbed Sandy.

"Sandy, what did you do? Who did you hurt? What's happening? Is Amy okay?"

"Daniel left me and I hurt her James. I hurt Amy really bad. I was going to call the cops but I don't want to get into trouble. I don't know what to do."