Strings Attached

~Chapter 4~

"Language, Danny!" she tells me off in a sharp, lilting voice. "I do not need to hear such words from you in the morning." Yeah. Like I care! "Don't call me that! And I told you not to step into my room. Get out!" As you can discern, I'm not in a very good mood today. Hangover does that to you. My whole body is aching, especially my head. Right where that ape hit me. And I, for one, am totally not a morning person on a Saturday.

"Get up now." Really?! "Shut up. You're not my mother. So you don't get to order me around." "Your father is waiting for you at the breakfast table," she informs me, getting cross. That's new! "So what?" I snap. "So this. Get up or he'll be very angry!" "No thanks for your concern, woman, but I'm fine here. Besides, he can't make me do what he says by hitting me, anymore." And right when I say that, I can't help but remember the dream I saw last night. It was... painful, to say the least. I visited and lived that hell once again, after so many years.

I grimace when I think about it.

"You had yet another nightmare, didn't you?" Molly asks me, her voice quiet. I am surprised to know that she's still here. How did she know? "How did you--," I begin, but she cuts me off. "How bad was it?" "Well, not as bad as they come. But still, quite severe." And then I realize, I am not supposed to talk to her or let her in in any way. "But, whatever. Just get out of my room," I tell her sharply as my patience wears thin. "Or I'll throw you out." "You need to move on, Danny. All this bitterness won't lead to anything." She starts again. Sh**! This woman won't listen.

As I try to shove her out the door, Molly notices the yellowish blue bruise on my forehead, and a gasp escapes her mouth. "How did this happen?" she asks me, alarm and concern filled in her voice. And I can't help having a sense of déjà vu pass through me. This was like a routine until one day, I decided that I was old enough to hit my father back. He hasn't raised a hand at me ever since.

Molly brushes her hand lightly through my bruise and I wince. "When--," and then realization crosses through her slow brain. "You had another fight last night?" she asks me, eyeing me angrily from behind her glasses. "Oh God! How much did you drink now?" "It's none of your business. Just go!" I retort back and proceed to shove her out once again. "But, your father? He's waiting for you!"

"Really? Tell him there's no use. Where's his precious bi*** of a wife to give him company?" "She hasn't... come back yet." Great! "She's out since yesterday evening." "What about that ba****d, Richie rich?" I feel as if I'm poisoning my tongue, saying that cursed name in the beginning of such a lovely day. "He's watching the telly. He wouldn't join him, you know." "I don't care," I reply exasperatedly. "I'm gonna sleep, and will only wake up in the afternoon like a civilized guy. Tell him that, yeah?"

"And don't even try to disturb me in my sleep." Saying that, I slam the door in her face. I know I was harsh upon her, but it doesn't matter. She knows me. Also, she shouldn't have woken me up so early in the morning. What did he think? He'll call me, and I'll run up to him scared?! I'm not ten anymore, for god's sake. He can't rule over me.

"Danny, he'll be extremely angry. And I don't want to see you get hurt," I hear her muffled voice from the other side of the door. "What the heck, woman? Leave me alone!" "Please. He'll throw things at me." Something clenches inside me at that. "Call me when he does," I respond a little softly this time. "Now, I'm gonna sleep. And I swear, Molly, if I hear you one more time, I'll drag you downstairs myself," I inform her through gritted teeth. These people will never let me live. "At least, let me clean your bruise," the devil tries again.