“Help!” I scream. It hurts my throat but I scream and scream until I can’t any more.
He has me. He has me somewhere. I have to think.
Screech won’t have put me in a place someone could hear me, he’s clever and mean. I collapse back on the mattress, maybe pass out for a while. When I’m conscious again, the door is cracked open.
I'm so thirsty.
“Screech,” I say in a normal voice. “Can I have some water…please?”
Silence, then a chuckle.
“Much better, Frenzy. I like it when you behave yourself.”
The door widens. I shield my eyes for a moment, then as they adjust I see my half brother in the doorway. He grins then moves away.
“Screech, please.”
“What do you think, Dad? Shall I get her a drink?”
What?
My father is wheeled into view.
He sits slumped in a wheelchair, dull eyed.
“Dad is thirsty too, Frenzy. Now you can decide who gets to drink. You? Or dear old dad?”
What sick and twisted game was this?
Screech picks up a beaker with a plastic straw, like a hospital patient would have. He hovers it under my fathers lips.
Dad moves his head slightly and makea a grunting noise.
“Poor Pops is very thirsty, so what shall we do?”
“Give him the drink,” I mumble.
“Good girl. Maybe you’ll get some later.”
“Bathroom?” I say.
He points. “Bucket! Just like camping, how fun is this? I’ve got to go work on my next press release;Frenzy Towers tells all about Clara’s cancer calamity…how do you think that sounds?”
I don't give him the pleasure of a response.
He laughs anyway then disappears from my view, leaving dad parked facing my direction.
“Are you OK, Dad? How long has he been tormenting you?”
My father makes a noise in his throat, but I can’t understand him. “I have to pee, Dad.
My father closes his eyes. To give me privacy? It doesn’t matter, I just have to go. Also I’m desperate to take off my wet shorts. The whole ordeal is humiliating in the extreme.
I pee, then use the pillowcase to wipe myself down. I wrap the sheet around me like a sarong, then go sit as close to the open door as I can.
“Can you talk at all?” I ask him.
A gurgle and a groan are his response.
