029 !! THURSDAYS
Ten minutes later and she's wounding up the path covered in mush and wild bushes right up to the shack she's forced to call her house.
She's thought about it sometimes, you know.
Even earlier today when she'd been lost in her thoughts about Rafe, she had thought about the fact that she has nothing whereas he's the eldest of the most privileged family on the island.
She didn't want to think about, honest to God, but there are times when her mind goes to far-off places, deep and dark, tormenting places.
And she doesn't want to compare her living situation with his — because despite everything she hasn't been disowned — but it's inevitable.
She's thinking about it even now as she walks up to retrieve her bicycle from the side of the house.
Unlocking it, Georgie grabs the handlebars and pulls on them walking the bike away from the house.
It is only when she's passing the porch that she notices it.
The broken windscreen, the chair with one of its leg off, the other chairs harshly toppled down to the ground as if a harsh force of nature flew through the space.
But Georgie knows better.
So, she leaves the bike stranded in the middle of the path and ascends the steps leading up to the porch, shaking out her hands in nervousness and glances around, at once noticing the cigarettes strewn all over the porch table.
Swallowing, she opens the door and carefully steps in eyeing the area with an anxious skepticism.
"Dad?", her voice comes out loud and strangled in the dead quiet house.
No response greets her — which she is thankful for — and then . . . .
"JJ?", she asks hoping for a reply.
But when nothing comes, she sighs shutting the door and descending the steps to go grab her bicycle and leave.
Only, Luke Maybank stands next to it, inspecting the handlebars with a strange curiosity.
She stops dead in her tracks, her eyes quietly assessing his expression which seems to be a mix of curiosity and fascination while he inspects the bike.
"Dad?".
He looks up at the sound of her voice, his gaze roaming all over her, eyes narrowed in that usual intimidating squint.
"You don't have work today?".
Georgie self-consciously pulls down the hem of her shorts in an attempt to cover her from his rather not so demurred gaze and shakes her head.
"No. I have Thursdays free".
He momentarily glances away nodding, and then returns his gaze back to hers.
"You have Thursdays free", he mumbles, brows furrowing in concentration.
She is terrified.
It's weird having him talk to her and it's a whole 'nother thing having him try and make small talk without immediately bolting away.
It is so out of character that she knows something is wrong.
Something happened before she showed up and now she's regretting setting foot on these grounds in the first place.
"Mind telling me where your brother got 25k from?".
Her mouth goes dry.
"What?".
His brow arches.
"25 thousand dollars, Georgie. What the hell have you two been doing?".
"I . . . .", she frowns, shaking her head, "I don't know what you're talking about".
A pitiless chuckle leaves his mouth as he takes a step forward, Georgie involuntarily taking a step backward.
"You don't know? Or you won't tell?".
"I don't know, dad. I swear I have no idea what you're talking about".
She breathes in deep — in and out that's it, keep going. You're doing great.
Don't let him get to you. Be calm.
"Huh", Luke nods scratching the back of his head with a scowl.
He looks up, straight at her and walks forward, she struggles to step back as quick as he's approaching and almost stumbles on her feet.
Stopping right in front of her, he shakes his head.
"It's funny how your useless brother used to be the only one lyin' to me. Now you do it too".
"Dad, I told you—".
A loud sound, clack.
Pain quickly spreading through the right side of her face, her cheek stinging with the impact of his hand colliding with her skin.
Her first instinct is to back away, as far away from him as possible.
But just as she rears back, he pulls her by her hair eliciting a loud scream.
Grabbing fistful of her hair, he pulls her back a loud sob escaping past her lips as sinks her nails into his arm attempting to push him off her.
"Where the fuck did you get the money from!".
"I don't know!", she cries, jabbing her elbow into his ribs.
His hold on her gets loose and she takes the opportunity to step on his feet, kicking his knees with the worn down soles of her beloved sneakers.
She sprints towards her bike, hearing him take in gasping breathes as he pulls himself upright and marches right on to her.
The shaking of her hands prevents her from swiftly guiding the bike away, the sharp pain in her scalp flowing right down to her legs.
She gasps just as he catches hold of her hair again and pulls her back with a tightened force keeping her from riding the bicycle out.
"Stop!", she screams out grabbing onto his forearms and digging her nails in, a yell making its way out of his mouth.
"Tell me where you got the money, you bitch!".
An urgent sob breaks past her throat, her nails scratching at the skin of his arm.
She hits back at what she presumes is his face and in an instant, he pulls back yelling in pain as he grabs his face.
She wastes no time in pedalling at a rapid speed, riding the bicycle away from him and his painful yells.
Her head hurts, so does her cheek and her arm as she desperately clutches onto the handlebars and pedals out.
Tears spill down her cheeks, streaking their way down to her chin, some slowly slipping over her tired lips their salty taste pushing its way to her tongue.
Her heart aches, so does one of her nails which ended up bruised due to bending forcefully, and her breaths come out in puffs.
Everything hurts because the adrenaline is not enough to numb the pain, it is only enough to help her escape.
The pain, on the other hand, is a happy intruder sucking out all her energy and forcing her to bite down on her lip to contain her loud sobs.
***
heartbreak heartbreak but this is sadly the reality </3