Holding On For Something

Taking Your Beatings

Abuse again in this chapter, you have been warned.

When Kayden woke up the next morning, he didn't feel right. He would usually wake up thinking of Olivia or happily reliving the comfort of seeing her. Instead, he felt like he needed to hit something. He could already feel a fight brewing between his step-dad and mom. Kayden got dressed as fast as he could and shot downstairs. Gavin was over the stove, cooking his stoner omelette which was pizza, M&M's, and Cheetos in an omelette. Kayden thought it was disgusting but Gavin couldn't get enough of them. "Where's mom?", Kayden asked, bunching his fists up. "She didn't feel too good this morning", Gavin said, "She's still in bed", not even looking up from the frying pan that held the disgusting mixture. Kayden knew this meant Gavin had beat his mom again, so bad she was out cold. "Oh", Kayden said, acting casual. He edged closer to the man, his eyes still fixated on the frying pan. He had one shot at this. Kayden grabbed Gavin's neck and slammed his head on the frying pan onto the open flame. Gavin was dazed and unaware his hair was on fire. "How do you like it, bastard", Kayden said, grabbed the frying pan that was still hot underneath and hit it as hard as he could against Gavin's head. Kayden got out of the house before Gavin or his mom arose from unconsciousness and started running to school. It was seven fifty-nine, he would have an hour of waiting. 

When Olivia and Kayden were sitting next to each other on the school brick wall during lunch, she could sense something was off. "Hey", she said, her tone gentle and caring, "Are you okay?". Kayden didn't want to lie, so he decided to just tell Olivia the truth. "My mom has a new boyfriend, Gavin", he began, "He beats her and I was just sick of him. I hate him. So today, when he was cooking I slammed his head against the hob that was on and smashed his head with the frying pan". Olivia was slightly unsettled by the violence but knew this Gavin was a bad man. "He has a gun so I'm terrified he's going to shoot me in my sleep", Kayden said, laughing it off like it was a joke, but it was a hollow laugh. "Shit", Olivia said, "You can stay with me and my parents if you want to. They'll understand your situation". Kayden knew he couldn't go back to his house and risk getting shot by Gavin or one of his stupid friends. "Thank you", is all he could say, holding Olivia tightly and smiling. He hoped Gavin didn't have the brains to follow him.