Daniel

Chapter One

Daniel was a quiet boy growing up, never really shared personal information in class. He often lied a lot too, but it wasn't quite his fault; he had to. His friends or teachers at school would often ask what the multiple bruises all over his body were from or why he would always act out in class. He had to lie, if he didn't...more bruises would appear or worse. He would always tell them that he fell down the stairs or that he fell off his bike. Every time someone would ask, he would just come up with another excuse.

Even though Daniel hoped that the abuse wouldn't continue after elementary school, he was wrong. Again, people would ask why he had bruises everywhere or why he was so defiant at school. Yet, people never asked him if he felt safe if he needed help, or even if he was okay. Nobody suspected a thing until the last day of 8th grade. Daniel could tell that the kid who came up to him was hesitant at first, but then he asked him the one question Daniel was oh so desperate to hear. The shy kid who had never even talked to Daniel until this day asked if he needed help and if he felt safe at home. At the same time, Daniel is trying to hold back his tears, biting his lip so much that it starts to bleed. The kid keeps talking, saying how he had been through what Daniel had been through, but his Dad was arrested and he and his mom finally felt free, at peace, and untroubled. All Daniel said was that he didn't understand what he was talking about and walked away.

Again, Daniel was hoping that the abuse would eventually stop as he grew older and stronger. But, even when he was a freshman in high school, his father still abused him. The worst part was that Daniel was so petrified of his father that he never stopped him when he abused his mother. To this day, Daniel remembers one of the worst times his father beat him and his mom. It was so painful that he buried it deep down and never talked about it to anyone. It started with his father yelling across the living room while sitting on "his chair" drinking his 5th beer of the night.

"Get over here and bring me a cold one woman," he squealed

Rose grabbed the beer on the counter and handed it to him, by now she didn't really expect a thank you, so she just walked away silently. She suddenly halted at her steps when she heard her husband hollering at her again.

"Rose you ought to get your ass back here, take this warm beer, and get me a cold one; god you're so stupid," He howled.

But before she could even get to him, he threw it right at her face. After the metal encased beer rammed into her face, almost feeling as though it was a rock, she picked it up and walked to the kitchen like nothing even happened. She then brought her husband his ice cold beer and as stiff as a rock, walked away and into her room. As she shut the door ever so slightly you could still hear her whimpering from the living room.

"Do I need to come in there and shut you up myself?"

Unfortunately, Rose didn't hear him over her thunderous crying and continued on. She suddenly stopped when she heard the door open.

"God woman, can you just stop crying already and get over it, it was your fault anyway. You're the one that started this whole mess by giving me a warm beer. If you weren't so stupid I wouldn't have thrown it at you."

He then slapped her, threw her to the ground, and continued kicking her stomach for a couple minutes until he got tired. She just sat there, clenching her stomach, curled up in a ball, but still not even shedding a tear, in fear of being beaten again. So, after watching her on the floor for hours, Gerald left her and continued to watch the football game in the living room while drinking his 7th beer of the night.

Daniel eventually snuck in to check how his mom was. Luckily for him, his dad was passed out on "his chair". That was one of the top times where he was extremely scared; if he got caught his father would literally beat his ass. But once he got in the room, he shut the door so fast and locked it just in case.