We would go to great lengths to protect our loved ones.
******
I rubbed my fingers over the scars on the knuckles of my right hand. It was a reminder of a promise I made ten years ago
"So are they going through the divorce?" Damon asked.
"What do you think? they can't stay in the same house in peace. Five minutes and fighting begins. They have a month of couple counselling left, but that would do shit." I was clearly very frustrated right now.
"What about the rest of them," he pressed on. His persistent nature was both irritating and endearing. Without it we would have long broken up.
"Well dad and uncle Aaron hate each other. Uncle Aaron barely communicates with Aunt Rosa. Gramps and Gramms, they stopped visiting in order to avoid all this mess. I wish I could do that." My voice held disdain at our situation.
"Hey! you are not a runner. You are gonna face it and I will help you. Okay?" I could just nod at his sweet words. Without him I would be lost right now. After the night, I had drawn into myself, had angry outbursts and refused to talk to anyone. It was Damon, his persistent nature, that returned me to normal or as normal as I could be after what happened.
I wanted to help my family like he helped me. However, I could not do that if they did not listen. One can only help another person if that person was ready to accept the help. My family wasn't ready like I was. They still blamed themselves.
No matter, I will fix everything, I promised to myself. It won't have the same fate as the promise I made ten years ago.
Ten years ago
Alisha and I were sitting next to each other, playing with our pens. We could not bear to hear more about plants and how they gain their nutrition. We were hungry and bored out of our minds. Lunch could not come any sooner.
Before our teacher got into another lecture on how we were irresponsible brats, the bell rang signalling us that we were finally free. God had answered our prayers. Alisha and I we took our lunch and ran out of the class to the playground.
"Hey, let's go find my sister," I said to Alisha. I just liked to check up on her. We scoured the playground for her. When we finally found her, we were shocked at the sight in front of us. My sister who was always smiling, sat in a corner hugging her knees and balling her eyes out.
Worried I quickly ran up to her and engulfed her in a hug. I started to gently rub her back and softly sing her a song.
"Now if you feel that you can't go on
Because all of your hope is gone,
And your life is filled with much confusion
Until happiness is just an illusion,
And your world around is crumblin' down;
Darling, reach out (come on girl, reach on out for me)
Reach out (reach out for me.)
I'll be there, with a love that will shelter you.
I'll be there, with a love that will see you through.
I'll be there to always see you through.
When you feel lost and about to give up
'Cause your best just ain't good enough
And you feel the world has grown cold,
And you're drifting out all on your own,
And you need a hand to hold:
Darling, reach out (come on girl, reach out for me)
Reach out (reach out for me.)
I'll be there, to love and comfort you,
And I'll be there, to cherish and care for you.
I'll be there to love and comfort you.
I can tell the way you hang your head,
You're without love and now you're afraid
And through your tears you look around,
But there's no peace of mind to be found.
I know what you're thinkin',
You're alone now, no love of your own,
But darling, reach out (come on girl, reach out for me)
Reach out (reach out for me.)
Just look over your shoulder
I'll be there, to give you all the love you need,
And I'll be there, you can always depend on me. "
By the time I finished singing, Beth's cries had been reduced to occasional hiccups. I slowly took her out of my embrace, but still held her tight.
"Beth, why were you crying?" I softly asked her.
"Mi...Mike, Sharon a..a..and Samaira, they...they did not let me play with them and pu..pushed me to the ground. Then they started to laugh at me," she said between hiccups and then again broke into another round of tears.
"Sh, sh. It is okay Beth. Stop crying now." She stopped crying and looked up at me with her innocent eyes. "Now come with me, I will talk to them."
I held her hands and picked her up. Then Alisha and I followed her across the playground to where a group of kids were playing.
"Who over here are Mike, Sharon and Samaira?" as soon as I asked all movement ceased and a silence fell over. After few seconds two girls and a boy stepped out of the crowd.They strided towards me with such arrogance, one that I wanted to knock of their face.
"Why didn't you let Elizabeth play with you?" Alisha asked. She was smart enough to know that when I was angry, there would be no talking. She knew how protective I was of Beth.
"Cause she is ugly and uncool," that Mike kid said flippantly, his voice held no regret. Soon it would. I walked over to him and bent down to his height. I looked dead into his eyes.
"No one dares to make my sister cry,"I said in a menacing tone and with that I pushed him to the ground. He started crying like my sister was a couple of minutes ago. I turned to Beth and smiled at her.
"I told you Beth I will protect you and everyone in the family. I promise that I'll always protect us."
PRESENT
I got detention for a week, my parents were called and a lot of jazz happened, but if somebody asked me if I would change anything, I wouldn't. The only sad thing was I failed to keep my promise, I failed to protect my family.
However, I wouldn't fail this time, I couldn't. I was going to fix everything.
When someone asked me about that night, I refused to tell them. I even told some people that everything happened so fast that it seemed it was like a dream. The events were hazy in my mind. It was all lies I wove to protect myself.
The truth was I remembered everything. The colour of the LED lights, the music that had played, the number of people I saw in the crowd. I even remember the number of traffic signals I passed and the number of times the song changed. I remembered the feeling of fear and confusion being replaced by numbness and soon grief and pain. But most importantly I remembered the smell of alcohol. I could never in my entire life forget that guy. Maybe 5ft 8" tall with blonde hair and green eyes. His handsome face was marred by the evil I saw in him. He smelled of alcohol, no he reeked of it. I could never forget that smell, it is etched into my memory.
There was one thing I did not notice that day, it was fate waiting for our downfall with a gleeful smile. If I did I would have ran and warned everyone, but I didn't and fate? well it was successful in its evil game.
Twelve year old Evellyn
******
Hello readers,
Well how was the chapter? I know it was short and I apologize for it. So things have start to pace up. Do you think what Evellyn did to those kids was right? I don't.
Before I say goodbye, as usual I have a small reminder for you. Harvey Specter from Suits correctly has correctly said, "You always have a choice." There are many times when we feel helpless or we are struggling and in those times it is easy to go for the short cut. That road ends in only one ways, with regrets. Do not take short cuts, never do. Work your ass off, give your best and be proud of what you have done. With short cuts neither will you have something that you are proud of and you will definitely be left with regrets. Be honest, work hard and you will reap the fruits, trust me on it. Whatever you do, don't ever have regrets.
Well that was the update reminder for today.
Stay tuned to slowly know what exactly happened on that fateful night.
Thank you for reading. Please VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE. Add this book to your library or reading list to stay updated. :)
P.S. The song is Reach Out (I'll be there) by Four Tops
P.S.S. I am in the process of writing another story called 'The Pierced Heart.' I will post the summary in the next chapter (it is a lot different from The Sister Song)
Okay bye
Spread Love,
Thedreamer64