Always You Will Have My Hand To Hold (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

Lia was used to her stepfather coming home drunk, clutching a half empty bottle of some sort of liquor and staggering toward her menacingly. Sometimes he would mumble incoherent things, like “She’s going to get me, it’s all her fault” or things that never made any sense to Lia. She never understood what he meant by that, but she always thought that he was paranoid. She would often guess that this was what came with being schizophrenic.

Whenever he came home like that –which happened to be every day and if she was lucky 5 days a week- Lia would grab Attie and find somewhere safe to sleep with her. That usually meant in a closet or somewhere her stepfather would forget to look. Lia had explored every bit of the house. Where she spent the nights hiding mostly depended on where she was at the time her stepfather walked in.

Since she had gotten a break over the past few nights, Lia thought that something had changed. Tonight wasn’t supposed to be any different, but somehow it was. Instead of drinking tonight her step father had done some kind of drugs, and instead of staggering in with his usual bottle he came in screaming abuse at his step daughter. That wasn’t that much different, what was different was the crazed look in his eyes.

Lia realizing the change quickly got to her feet and took Attie with her. She was sitting in the living room with Attie. Unfortunately, her stepfather anticipated the move and stepped on the other side, backhanding her using his full force. Lia didn’t expect the blow, so she went plummeting face first toward the floor. She shifted her body in the process, to protect Attie from the fall, but that meant Lia couldn’t protect herself. There was a loud thump as her head hit the floor, Lia saw black and did her best not to pass out. 

“Lia, Lia, please get up” Attie’s high pitch scream kept her alert, Lia couldn’t afford to blackout, her sister needed her. She forced down the sick feeling that she was getting and tried to move.

His face contorted into a mask of pure hatred and anger. Lia couldn’t understand the reason for his anger, and she didn’t want to wait to find out. Lia tried scrambling to her feet to make a break for it, but a foot connected with her abdomen making it impossible for her to breathe. Tears involuntarily escaped her eyes; she opened and closed her mouth trying to take in as much air as she could. Before she could fully recover from that blow, something hit her on the side of her head adding more to her pain. Lia swore she could see stars dancing behind her eyelids. She fought to keep conscious, but the last thing she heard was Attie screaming her name while being dragged away. 

Max had a plan for his daughter, he never liked Attie. Lia had always kept Attie away from him, but tonight was different. Now that he had her, he was going to finish this once and for all. Since Attie came, his life had gotten a lot harder, and Max didn’t want her around anymore. They thought he was crazy, they thought he needed medication, but he knew better. It was her fault, he blamed her for everything. In his eyes, Attie was a mistake and if he had a choice, she wouldn’t have been born. Everything that he had tried to suppress during those past years, especially after his wife was taken away from him came back to the front of his mind.

Rage clouded his judgment and he saw red. Max dragged the sobbing Attie to the kitchen and grabbed a can of liquid fire starter. He wasn’t sure how long he had before Lia was awake so he had to act fast. He let go of Attie for a few seconds so he could rummage through the cabinets for matches. Attie seeing a chance for an escape ran for it. She only made it to the living room where Lia was lying on the floor.

“Lia, Lia… wake up… Lia wake up” Attie shook her sister awake in between sobs.

Lia was glad for the break, but she felt something calling out to her. She didn’t want to wake up , she wasn’t ready to  wake up yet, but there was urgency in the small voice calling her and cradling her head. Wasn’t there something she was forgetting? She fought with every muscle in her body to open her eyes. Just as she was opening them, there was a piercing scream. Lia forced her eyes shut again.