I cover my mouth with my hand so I don’t make a sound. Dad grabs her hands and pulls at her fingers until she lets go. Mom screams, and it makes my stomach twist. He snatches the phone away from her while she curls into herself, holding her hands against her chest.
Tears are running down her face. She slowly lifts one of her hands and looks at it. Her finger doesn’t look right. It’s bent in a way it’s not supposed to be, and the skin is turning a dark purple color.
Dad just stares at her. Then he sighs like she’s the one who did something wrong.
“None of this had to happen, Melinda,” he says. “You could’ve just given me your fucking phone.”
He walks away like nothing happened and I watch him grab a glass from the cabinet and pour himself some whiskey. He takes a big drink while he looks through Mom’s phone. Then he sets it on the counter and slams the bottle down on top of it.
The sound makes me jump.
The phone breaks, then the bottle. Whiskey spills everywhere, dripping down the counter and onto the floor. Dad stares at the mess, his face getting angry again.
“You fucking whore,” he says. “All of this is your fault.”
Mom is crying quietly on the couch, holding her hurt hand against her chest.
“Please, just be quiet, Jeff,” she whispers. “I’m sorry.”
Dad walks back over to her. Mom sinks farther into the couch, her eyes wide with fear. She looks so small underneath him. He looks down at her like he hates her. Then he spits in her face.
I feel my whole body freeze.
“You disgust me, Melinda,” he says. “You better clean this mess up before I get back.”
He grabs his jacket from the back of his recliner and walks toward the door. For one second, I think maybe he’s going to stop. Maybe he’ll say sorry, look at Mom and realize he hurt her.
But he doesn’t.
The door slams shut behind him, shaking the whole house. And I stay frozen in the hallway, too scared to move.
Miles grabs my shoulders, and I flinch hard, my breath catching in my throat. What the hell is he going to do to me? My entire body is shaking, and I feel like I can barely breathe.
“Maddie, baby, what’s wrong?”
His voice is laced with confusion, but all I can focus on is the raw fear that’s bubbling inside me. I hold my phone tight to my chest, staring at him. Tears begin to rim my eyes, and I can’t stop them from spilling down my cheeks.
“Why the hell did you do that? Why were you so aggressive towards me? What have I ever done to deserve that?”
I’m practically yelling at him now, my voice shaky but angry as hell. Miles stands and I immediately back away from him,terrified but so fucking furious. He looks at me like I just stabbed him in the chest.
“Baby, I would never hurt you. You have to know that. I love you.”
I shake my head, the weight of the words sinking in but only making the stinging feeling worse.
I quickly get up from my chair, my body desperate to put space between us. I walk backwards towards the door, wanting to escape upstairs to our bedroom when my phone dings again in my hand. I look down at it, my heart racing as I see the message is from an unknown number. Dread creeps in as I unlock my phone and open the message.
Unknown: You can't keep hiding from me like a pathetic little child.
Ding.
It goes off again.
Unknown: I’m going to find you, Madelyn, and when I do, you'll never leave me again.
A cold numbness spreads through my veins, my blood turning to ice. I don’t know what to do anymore. I want to run from Miles, to escape him, but he’s the only one who can protect me. And right now, he scares me more than anything.
“I can’t do this anymore,” I whisper, the words barely audible over the pounding in my chest. My hands tremble as frustration bubbles over. Without thinking, I hurl my phone across the room, the crash ringing out in the silence.
