Wait, Aliens Are Hot?

Chapter Nine

She was beyond angry, but I begged her to not tell anyone.

The alcohol had me feeling drowsy, and I became exhausted from crying so much. I gave into the darkness, falling asleep with a headache.

***

I sat crouched in the corner of my bedroom, shaking violently as my father pounded against the door, screaming at me.

"Open the goddamn door you whore!"

I stood up and attempted to undo the lock on my window. I almost had the window up when my father burst through the door.

I had thrown away his alcohol that day, dumping the strong liquid onto the rocks in our side yard. I was so scared he was going to get sick after hearing about the effects of alcohol on the body in my health class that day.

I turned around and took in his murderous expression, his brown eyes were almost black, filled with hatred.

"I'm sorry daddy, I'm sorry!" I cried out to him, sobbing.

He ignored my apologies and stepped towards me, gripping a fistful of my dark hair in one hand as he slammed my head against the wall, his other arm fisting at his side.

I cried out, feeling a wetness cover the back of my head. Blood.

"Don't you ever fucking touch anything of mine again."

"I won't daddy, I'm sorry!" I screamed.

He only seemed to get angrier, as he gripped my throat with his strong hand, choking me.

I clawed at him, trying to get a breath.

It was like a flip switched in his brain. His brown eyes became dead instead of angry, and he dropped me. I slid down the wall to the floor and coughed violently, catching my breath.

He left me without another glance.

***

I woke up with a terrorized scream.

"Natalie, Natalie." Rogers voice called out to me. He shook me a little and my eyes opened.

I looked around in panic, my eyes landing on a set of soft brown eyes, so opposite the eyes of my father.

I let out a cry and pulled him to me, crying into his neck.

He sat down next to me over the covers, pulling me close to him.

I cried and cried, wondering when I would run out of tears.

He didn't say a word, only stroking my naked back with his fingertips, soothing me.

It was like he understood me. He understood what I needed.

Anyone else that caught me in this state always tried to soothe me with words, asking if I was okay over and over again.

'It's going to be okay, Natalie' they would all say to me.

But I knew better.

Roger didn't say any of that. Like he had been through it and knew it never helped. It made me curious, wondering if he had dealt with the same situation. My crying died down as I thought about him.

He continued with his caress, tickling my skin. I closed my eyes, allowing some relaxation to dawn over me.

For a few more moments we stayed like that. We stayed as two people, giving and taking comfort from a stranger.

But my body suddenly had other needs.

"Could you get me a cup of water?" I asked Roger throatily.

"Yeah," He sat up and I untangled my arms from his neck. He left the room.

I followed, stopping to put my leggings and t-shirt that I had stripped off back on.

I tread lightly into the kitchen and he handed me a tall glass of water. I chugged the liquid and placed the glass back on the table.

"More?" he asked.

I nodded.

He refilled it and handed me more water. I drank it just as fast and sat down on a stool next to the island.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"It's no problem," he sat next to me.

We sat in silence for a few moments. I knew he was curious as to what had happened before, but he wouldn't bother me about it.

I had trouble forming the words to my clarification.

"It was my dad," I explained. He didn't say anything.

I took in a deep breath and looked to my side to see him staring at me.

"What did he do."

I laughed humorlessly, looking up at the ceiling. "He slammed my head against a wall and choked me." I laughed again, "I was only thirteen."

I glanced back at him and we held each other's gazes. He held no surprise in his features.

I knew then that he had undergone something similar to me.

But he still had guarded eyes, he wasn't ready to open up to me yet. I understood that. I lived that. So I took his hand in mine. He looked at our hands together, surprised at my sudden move.

He took his hand back and gave me an insincere smile, leaving me to go to the porch. He lit a cigarette and sat in his chair.

As the sliding door closed, I drew a connection to his eyes.

They both shut me out.