(9) Evil
I love the Pier and especially the carnival atmosphere. The first time there was spent celebrating my 16th birthday with Noah. He made it so special and the memories will always be in my heart to cherish until my last breath. I hope it meant as much to him as it did to me and judging from the look in his eyes, I can tell he's thinking about the same thing.
The walk was mostly silent but Noah and I have an great relationship that doesn't always have to be expressed with words. Small gestures were easilly interpreted. It was comfortable being with him.
"Thank you for taking me to the Pier again." I linked my arms with his and we walk towards my favorite burger place. I ordered the House Special Burger which had a little of everything mixed in...well, minus the mustard. I guess I should explain my hatred for the yellow sauce.
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My second summer with the Morrison children started off the same, or so I thought. They all came back home for the summer during their break from school. There were very few interactions with my brother Chad because he would leave after a week because of other commitments and activities. My parents told me he was always a busy child and they had to keep him involved in everything when he was younger. So I guess he got used to it and always stayed busy which made a relationship with him impossible.
Thinking about my little buddy Jason, I was excited to see him the most. Out of everyone, I missed him dearly when he left. He was never one to judge me, maybe because of his innocence. We tried to spend time together when I wasn't busy hiding from Mags. He had many favorite activities that usually required me to play with him and I certainly didn't mind at all because it took my mind off my sister and her evil ways.
I knew the Morrison's were loaded the first day I arrived at the property. They didn't have to say anything because it was obvious from the size of the house and expensive furnishings all around and inside the property. Roger told me he was an investment banker for several big companies in the area and Marge was a lawyer for a big firm. They both worked all the time and were rarely home at the same time in the evenings. When they were home, a concerted effort was made to interact with everyone with work issues immediately forgotten. The effort for family time was greatly appreciated.
One lazy sunny afternoon, Jason and I were playing out by the pool. Yes! A huge Olympic sized pool. Maybe that was exaggerating a bit but it was truly huge. Choosing one of the pool chairs to lay down, I watched Jason do his crazy jumps into the pool. A couple times, he had my heart racing from fear that he might hit his head on something but gratefully it never happened. I pretended to be a judge and would score him on his jumps and he absolutely loved the attention he was getting from me. On days like this, I felt so carefree.
Of course what would an afternoon be if Mags wasn't involved with my life somehow? She walks over and chooses to sit in the chair right next to me. It was too late to disappear when she was already here. The easier solution would've been for her to choose a different spot but that was too easy and she couldn't torture me then.
I tried my hardest to never get in her way or ever get noticed by her. Jason was oblivious to everything that was happening to me...at least that's what I thought. I memorized Mag's daily routine; knowing when she got up, showered, ate, went to the bathroom...everything! I felt like a stalker but not in the way a stalkers wants to harm someone. I learned all her habits because it was necessary for me to survive the few months when she was home in order to avoid daily hell.
I didn't want to look over at her so ignoring her was a better option. I kept up my excitement for Jason when he jumped in the pool and made his big splashes by clapping loudly and holding up all ten of my finger. "Perfect 10!" I shouted his way.
"Whatever." Mags said in a bored voice. "You really think he loves you, huh? He doesn't see the trash that you are! I'm surprised no one took you out of your misery yet."
I can feel her evil eyes on me even though they're hidden behind those big black designer sunglasses of hers. I try to push myself further away from her as possible without saying anything to her and kept focusing on Jason.
"So tell me Ellie. You've been with us for over a year now. What are your plans with my family?" I gave her a questioning look out of curiosity forgetting that I was supposed to ignore her and having no idea what she was getting at. "You know my parents are almost finished with your adoption paperwork. I overheard them talking about it the other day. That means legally, you'll be my sister and will be entitled to have everything that we have."
Oh..., I get it now. She's feels threatened by me. She doesn't want to share her family's wealth with me but what she'll never understand is that I don't care about any of that. All I've ever wanted was to have a family that loved me and no amount of money could buy something like that.
"Mags, I don't want anything from your family. I swear!" I hear her snort loudly and know she doesn't believe me.
"Ellie, it doesn't matter if you want it or not, once everything becomes legal, you are entitled to it if something were to ever happen to my parents." She turns in her seat so she's looking straight at me. I can't move because I'm so frightened of her.
"I am going to make damn sure that you will not be a part of our family. I don't care what I have to do. I'll stall the paperwork somehow. Or maybe..." She gave me another evil glare while tapping her perfectly manicured finger to her chin.
Oh, no! I'm truly scared now. I feel daggers shoot from her eyes. Maybe she will just drag me back to the woods and finish me off there. I can tell she has that much hate for me and can probably do it too. She's grinning so wide it's unnatural.
"Ellie, I think I have a great solution. I can't believe I didn't even think about this before." She's chuckling and it makes my skin crawl. "After we leave home and head back to school, I'm going to leave you some money under my pillow and you are going to make it look like you ran away." She said it with a straight face and I knew she wasn't asking.
I looked at her shocked, not believing what she's telling me...to run away? She doesn't know that it'll break her parents' heart and hurt Jason deeply if I left without a word.
I shook my head looking towards Jason for strength. She was upset by this and grabs my hair suddenly from the back, pulling it hard and I whimpered a bit from the pain shooting throughout my scalp. She's now standing in front of me and my head is positioned to look up at her.
"Ellie, I wasn't asking you. You are going to leave 'MY' house. Do you understand?" I had no choice but to nod my head yes. "When I get back next summer for break, you will not be here. Understand!?"
I looked over at the pool and can see that Jason is watching all of this from the corner of his eye and fear was evident. More than anything, I just wanted to hide from her and cry in private. How can I make Mags stop because she's scaring Jason whether she knows or even cares. I could care less what she does to me if there was a way to protect him from watching this scene.
I finally speak and held my hands up trying to push her away from me. "Kay, you win. I will leave." She lets go of my hair and wiped her hands on the side of her shorts. I feel as if I've endured a beating because the earlier adrenaline was long gone, causing me to slump back into my chair...defeated. She gets up without another look at me and walks off towards the house. I hate her so much with every fiber of my being! How can someone who looks so sweet and innocent on the outside contain so much evilness on the inside?
I had to leave now because the tears were barely hidden. I know Jason saw most of what was going on but I don't think he heard us. He's climbing up the ladder from the pool walking over to me before I could make my escape.
"Ellie, what's wrong. Did my sister say something mean to you?" I gave him a weak smile and he sat down next to me on my chair. His wet body next to mine was making my skin a little cold. I shivered, not from his nearness but from the earlier interaction with Mags.
"No buddy, she just needed to ask me something. That's all." I gave him a 'stop asking me' look so he wouldn't ask me anything further.
But he shook his head at me. "I don't believe you. I think my sister is making you do something, huh?" I just stare at him with wonder in my eyes. How can such a young little man know so much?
"Why would you even think that Jason?" He just shrugs his skinny shoulders.
"I know that my sister makes you cry. I don't know why but I can see that you're scared of her. You can't let her scare you. She's just a big meanie." He looks at me with such seriousness in his eyes. I don't know what to say at this point and only the urge to hold onto him while trying to hold my tears away.
"Jason, I love you. Please remember that, kay? I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. You have to believe me. I have no choice right now." I pull away from him slightly so I can look at him and try harder to make him understand with my eyes.
He looks at me like I'm crazy or something. "Why would you hurt me? You're the best Ellie. Please tell me that you'll never leave me...Promise!" He held up his little pinky to me and I hooked my pinky finger to his without hesitation and told him what he needed to hear. "I promise to never leave you." I tell myself that I'm doing this for him and my parents, protecting them. He doesn't need to ever know how mean or evil his sister is.
Jason wasn't ready to come in yet and wanted to sit by the pool a while longer. I told him he could but not to go back into the pool without someone here to watch. He nodded his little head and I got up to go get changed.
I ran up to my room and grabbed my clothes from the closet not really being able to see because the stream of tears blinded me. Once in my bathroom, a shower sounded like heaven, letting the water run longer because I love the hot spray of it all over my tense muscles. It was very relaxing and the tears did eventually stop. After that encounter with Mags, I needed to find a way to calm down my emotions and rattled nerves.
I grabbed my favorite bottle of apple scented shampoo and started on my hair. There was a sour odor in the bathroom immediately. WTH! I opened my eyes and my hands were bright yellow. I brought my hands near my nose and I knew what it was. Mustard!! I couldn't bring myself to cry anymore. My sister Mags was a petty, self-centered brat! My mind was made up, I had to...No, I needed to get out of here for my own safety. Mags won't stop until I was gone. I'm sure of that fact now.
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