"What the fuck do you think you're doing!"
It wasn't a question, the man was so angry. His face red with rage, you could easily hear his booming voice from outside but somehow no-one ever seemed to check if things were ok. Everyone knew he was a drunk. The tall sturdy man would yell and curse, stumbling over his words and the pavement the odd occasion he wasn't sitting in front of the tv drinking.
The two girls had moved as quickly as they could when they heard the door open but obviously not quick enough. How much had he seen?
"Get off my daughter" he screamed, but they were already separated on opposites sides of the bed. He had reached his daughter now, she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She found it and him disgusting. He was always drinking, always. She didn't know why he drank, maybe some life event started it or maybe he got joy out of it. She wasnt going to ask him, they weren't exactly on speaking terms, only yelling and it's not like her mother was around to ask, always working three jobs, mostly to fuel his drinking habit. Alcohol wasn't cheap after all.
He towered over her. She knew what was coming, her whole body went tense. They didn't know he was home, he must've gone out for more alcohol and just returned. It was so stupid, they shouldn't have come here. She moved her hands to her head but they did little to protect her as he struck her so hard that she fell back on to the bed, face burning. The other girl silent, she was frozen until he looked at her.
"Minnie, just go" Violet yelled her face was full of concern, but for the other girl, not for herself, she had been through it before.
The redheaded girl didn't need to be told twice, grabbing her top, she raced out of there. The man didn't give her a second glance though, he was focused on his daughter. She pushed herself off the bed as the yelling continued, every obscene word the man could think of was thrown at the blonde, now cowering in the corner, knees pulled to her chest, face burning with pain, her tears ran out years ago. It wasn't the first time, it wasn't even the worst but usually he kept his marks where she could cover them. Her face burning in pain, she'd have a mark for sure, she tried to ignore his stream of profanities and curses, he had added new ones now that he had seen her with another girl. She distracted herself by concentrating on the burning sensation. The minute he stops, I'll find some ice to help the swelling. She had done this before.
Eventually the man tired or maybe he just ran out of insults. He slammed the bedroom door as he left. She scrambled to her feet, listening at the door to hear where he had gone. She heard the distinctive sounds of him dropping onto the couch followed by noise from the tv, some kind of sport was playing. She opened the door silently and headed to the kitchen for the ice, creeping past as best she could.
She sat on her bed, holding the ice to her cheek, phone in her other hand. She opened it to Minerva's conversation.
V: you ok?
M: yeah talk tomorrow.
That's was all she got. Her head hurting, not from the mark but rather out of concern for Minnie. She must have been pretty scared she thought.
-----
Louis grinned at her walking down the halls of the school the next day, "Vi!" He yelled cheerfully to his best friend, his grin slipping when she looked up, a pained expression in her eyes as she knew he would notice the marks from last night, the ice could only do so much after all. He ran up, replacing the smile that slipped so momentarily. He didn't need to ask why, any reason was good enough for her father, not that he deserved the title and she wouldn't tell him anyway, not here at school. The few times she did tell him, it was usually over something so small or petty. He didn't know how often it happened, or how bad it was.
