"She's your new mother..."
Why do I feel like my whole world has stopped? Like everything is just frozen and that one sentence is on repeat in my mind?
Does that mean dad has finally moved on? Will he stop beating me? Who am I kidding, having a girlfriend won't change anything. Besides, I have a feeling Amy is just like him, poor little Jenny seemed as scared as I was.
"So that means, Liam, you will treat her with the same respect you treat me," You mean fear? "You will also do as she says, when she says. Do you understand?"
"Yes father." I said, then Amy said the same thing to Jenny, she said the same thing as me. "Yes mother." Before they both walked out of the front door, giving each other flirty looks. Once they were gone, Jenny sat closer to me, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing her eyes shut.
I moved around, getting off of the couch and crouching down in front of her. She looked up at me, no fear in her eyes, just sadness. "Jenny, sweetie. I need you to tell me the truth okay?" Jenny nodded her head, so I continued. "Does your mommy hurt you?" She didn't move, but I could see the tears in her eyes and her trembling like.
"Does she hit you?" Jenny slowly nodded her head, avoiding my eyes as she looked down at her hands. I carefully lifted her chin up, a tear fell down her cheek as she looked at me. "It's alright sweetie, I'm gonna protect you as much as I can okay? I don't care if I get hit, I want you to be save okay?" Jenny nodded her head again, she leant forward, resting her head on my chest as she lazily hugged me.
I'd just met this girl and yet I already feel like I've known her for years, like she's my actual sister and I feel like I have to protect her. Maybe it's the fact that she's a child? Maybe because I don't want her to feel the same pain I did... I don't know, I just know that I will protect her with my life if it means she won't get hit.
~~
It was three in the morning, dad and Amy had come back around eleven and got straight to it in bed. Luckily dad's bedroom was downstairs, not upstairs like mine. The only thing was, Jenny was sleeping in my room.
Dad hadn't exactly thought about space when he said that Amy and Jenny would be moving in, so Jenny was kind of just shoved into my room. At least now I can protect her more... right?
Jenny moved around slightly, bringing me from my thoughts as I looked down at her. She snuggled closer into my chest, her hands balling up my shirt as her lip started to tremble. I moved my arm so that it was around her, gently rubbing her arm in a soothing way.
Her hands slowly let go of my shirt, her lip stopped trembling and she relaxed. I let a small smile crawl onto my face, something about protecting a child made me feel like I had a purpose, something I've never really had.
But now, I've got Jenny, I've got to protect her. I've got to make sure she doesn't feel the same pain I have felt, because god knows how bad it was. Jenny had something in common with me, we both feared our birth parents, and not respectful fear like it is a lot of the time... no, we fear them. We fear every single day, not ever knowing what might happen, we anticipate for the worst then get literal hell in return.
I looked at the clock, 6:24. I should get ready, I slowly climbed out of bed, placing Jenny down as I walked over to my drawer. I pulled out some clothes before walking into the upstairs bathroom and having a shower.
I was quick, the shower was cold since dad never paid the hot water bill but hey, I'm used to it. Once I was done, I got out, got changed and went back into my room. Jenny was still asleep, I checked the time again. 6:47. I walked over to the bed, sitting beside Jenny as I tried to wake her up. "Jenny, sweetie. You have to wake up, you've got to get ready for school." Jenny eyes opened, as though she had never been asleep.
She nodded her head as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Your bag is by my drawers, you get dressed and I'll wait in the hallway for you, Okay?" Jenny nodded her head. I gave her a small smile before grabbing my school bag and walking out into the hallway, shutting the door behind me.
After a few minutes, Jenny walked out with her school bag on her back. I gave her a smile before making my way downstairs, she followed behind me. I quickly made some breakfast for dad and Amy, I grabbed my wallet and keys before taking Jenny's hand and walking out of the door.
We walked to the supermarket, I bought a coffee for myself, a sandwich for Jenny for breakfast and I brought her some lunch. She gave me a grateful smile as I put the stuff in her bag.
We made our way to her school, it was close to mine which was good. Once we got there, I crouched down in front of her. "I'll pick you up after school okay? Try and have a good day, if anything happens get Mrs Dickson to call me okay? She was my teacher when I came here so she has my number."
"Okay." Jenny gave me a hug before making her way into the school, a small boy walked over to her and gave her a hug. She hugged him back and they both ran off, I stood there with a small smile before I finally decided to head to my school.
I kept sipping at my coffee as I walked, my mind racing with a thousand thoughts. I kept thinking about dad and Amy, do they know they are both child assualters? Is that even a word? Off track! How much has Jenny gone through? Who was that boy with her? Is he like Noah? Does he know about Jenny's mom? I still have to do the baby project... fuck.
I looked up and noticed I was at school, I let out a sigh as I made my way to the cafeteria. Noah, Mark and Ella were sitting there, Noah and Mark were talking while Ella was on her phone.
Once I sat down, Noah and Mark turned to face me, Ella glances at me, a scowl crossing over her face as she went back to her phone. "Are you okay? You look more tired than usual." Mark pointed out, I gave him a small smile. "I haven't slept at all, but I'm fine, I'm not tired." I said as I took a large sip of my coffee, giving them one of my stupidly innocent looks.
"You need to sleep more if we are going to be doing the baby project, I won't be doing the work all by myself." Ella said in a harsh manner, causing me to glare at her. "That's the thing darling, I can't do the baby project, dad won't let me. So you will get to find another partner to look after some stupid robot."
"You can't just back out! You have to help me look after said robot!"
"I already have to fucking babysit twenty four-seven so no! I can't help look after a fucking robot, I have other responsibilities so either we talk to Mrs Borris and find you a new partner or you look after the damn thing by yourself." I spat out, before Ella could say anything, the bell went.
I stood up quickly, rushing to my first class in the hop to avoid Ella. I was sadly unlucky as she was in this class too. I made my way to the back of the classroom, staring out of the window as I found my mind drifting.
All I could think about was Jenny, how long had Amy been hurting her? Long enough. I told myself, but I wouldn't be letting that happen any longer. Jenny was my responsibility, she was mine to look after, and that's exactly what I'd do.
"A penny for your thoughts?" Mark asked from beside me, I let out a sigh as I ran my hand through my hair. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do we need school? Why do we need to learn Algebra or Geometry or shit like that? I mean I already have a job as a top chef so why the fuck don't I just drop out and live off of what I make?" I ranted, I don't honestly know why I'm like this today.
"What did you mean when you said you were babysitting twenty four seven? I know you don't mean Jason..." Mark trailed off, I just shook my head. "I'll tell you and Noah later."
~~
I stood at the gates, waiting for Jenny to come out. When I saw her, I couldn't help but smile. She was walking with that boy, they were talking about god knows what but it was nice seeing Jenny smile.
Jenny made her way over to me, the boy still following her. They gave each other a tight hug, smiling at each other before going their separate ways. "Hey Jenny, How was school?" I asked as she walked beside me, she shrugged her shoulders. "Good I guess." I nodded my head as we kept walking, I saw a few people glance at us, a few mothers 'awe'ing while I saw a few guys look at me like I was an utter creep. Gee thanks.
"Jenny, sweetie. We are going to one of my friends house okay? I promise you they're nice okay?" Jenny nodded her head, following me as I made my way towards Noah's house.
Once I got there, I knocked on the door. A few seconds passed before Noah opened the door, Mark standing behind him. "Hey Liam, who's that?" Noah asked as I pushed past him, walking inside.
I took a seat on the couch in his room, sitting Jenny on my lap as I waited for Mark and Noah. They both walked in, sitting opposite me as they waited for an answer. "Guys, this is Jenny. My new sister."
"Sister? Did you adopt her?"
"Dad has a girlfriend." I said darkly, I saw Noah's eyes widen slightly. "Girlfriend? You mean he fooled someone enough to love an asshole like him?"
"He didn't need to fool anyone," I started, Jenny snuggled closer into me, hiding her face in my shirt. "She's just like him..." I trailed off, the pair off them immediately catching on. "I just want you guys to look after her while I go to work, I just want to know she'll be safe with you guys." I said, looking down at Jenny as she held onto me.
"We can look after her, she'll be safe with us, we promise!"
"If she gets hurt in any way at all. I won't hesitate to castrate you and feed you to the street dogs." I warned them, they both nodded their heads, knowing I wasn't joking. I stood up, moving Jenny off of my lap. I placed a small kiss on her forehead before leaving for work.
I can't believe I'm trusting those morons to look after her...