Beautifully Broken (3 page)

“I have to go,” Veronica said hugging her sisters good
bye. “Call the police soon, I’ll try to stay in touch but I am
not taking my cell phone. I don’t want them to use it to
track me. I’ll call once a month to make sure you are all
right. I’ll come back if you need me too.”

“Here, take my phone, so we can text you information even
if you don’t text us back. I’ll just say I lost it if the police
ask,” Amanda said placing her cell phone into Veronica’s
hand.

“I am so sorry I failed all of you.” Veronica said, crying.

 

“We all love you. Don’t worry about us, we will take care
of each other,” Natasha said hugging Veronica.

Veronica walked out the door, got into her car and drove.
She didn’t even look behind her; she knew if she did she
would never be able to leave her sisters.

Veronica drove north for hours until her eyes were so
heavy that she couldn’t see the road clearly. She pulled
into a small town just off the highway and found a motel. It
was cheap and the guy at the front desk didn’t even ask
her for ID. Veronica paid for her room and left the office
with the key in her hand. She grabbed her bags from the
car and walked into the motel room.

It was an old motel that didn’t look like it got a lot of
business, and it wasn’t taken care of very well. The lighting
in the room was dim, the walls were dark wood paneling
and the room had old red shag carpet. In the middle of the
room was a double bed with brown and orange bedding.
The room had a musty smell that made Veronica feel sick.
She ran to the bathroom and threw up over and over
again. Veronica sat there on the cold wet floor and cried. It
wasn’t just the smell of the room making her sick. She was
disgusted with herself. She hated this person she had
become. Veronica Burns was a killer and her life was over.

Veronica walked back out to the room and turned on the
radio. She picked her bag up off the ground and threw it
on the bed. She opened up her bag and pulled out a box of
hair die and had a flash back of her father came to her
mind.

“Look at yourself in the mirror. Your hair used to be
golden like the sun. It use to sparkle like your mother’s did
but now look, it’s just dull and brown.” Her father yelled at
her as he pulled her hair. It hurt so much she thought he
was going to pull it out of her head. He shoved her face up
against the bathroom mirror as he pulled out a box of
blonde hair dye and a bag of makeup. “Tonight is an
important event for me and I need all my girls to look
beautiful, fix yourself up.” Veronica’s dad let go of her
hair and turned her around to look at him as he touched
her face. “I love you sweetheart and I want you to look
your best. When you are done in here, Daddy bought you
a nice new dress to wear to the party tonight, it’s on your
bed.” He said in a soft comforting voice and then he kissed
her forehead.

Veronica had curly golden blond hair and big dark blue
eyes. The color of her eyes was so beautiful, like the color
of the ocean on a bright sunny day. Her complexion was a
warm cream color and her face was soft and smooth.
Veronica had very delicate features which made her big
eyes stand out. She was short and very petite, not like her
sisters who were all tall and curvy and looked like super
models.

Veronica looked down at the hair dye in her hand. It was a
dark brown/ red color with multi-tone and highlights for
beautiful shine.

“Well this will work; I don’t want to look like this girl
anymore. I want to be someone new,” Veronica spoke out
loud. She didn’t care if she was talking to herself; maybe
she was crazy; she did just kill her own father.

She walked into the bathroom and opened up the box of
hair dye and mixed the product together. She put the hair
dye on her hair and then put a plastic bag over her head
so the hair dye wouldn’t run all over her neck and face.
She filled the claw foot bath tub with hot water and
bubbles. Veronica got in to the tub and soaked her tired
sore muscles. Every inch of her body ached; her arms,
legs and back were throbbing. Veronica’s stomach hurt
the most. She had bruises all over her body, but her
stomach looked like she had been hit by a car. Veronica
shut her eyes and lay back in the bath tub. She thought
back to bathing her sisters and it made her cry.

It was Veronica’s job to get the girls ready on their
thirteenth birthday. She would give them a bath and do
their hair and tell them what they had to do to make daddy
happy. She always cried with her sisters and tried to
comfort them. She would tell them what to do to make it
easier. It always broke her heart, but it was Claudia that
she was thinking about at that moment.

“Why is today so special?” Claudia asked looking up at
Veronica with her big green, excited eyes. Claudia was
different from the other girls; she was a street kid, so living
in a nice house with sisters and a dad that loved her, was
something unfamiliar to her.

“Well it’s important because you are now a woman. You
are thirteen and you have to look beautiful for your
party.” Veronica spoke with tears in her eyes as she
washed her sister’s long stunning red hair.

“I am so excited for my party, it’s so nice to have sisters
and a pretty house,” Claudia said smiling as Veronica
helped her out of the bathtub. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Yes of course you can ask me anything,” Veronica said,
curious to what her sister was going to ask.

“If today is so special, how come you are so sad?” Claudia
asked drying herself off with the towel. Veronica cried she
hated doing this; she hated stealing away her little sister’s
innocence. She hated being the one to prepare them for
the broken emptiness that she felt. But Veronica didn’t
even get a chance to respond.

“Are you sad because you know what daddy is going to
do to me after my party is over?” Claudia asked her voice
was cold and her eyes were big and harsh.

“Yes,” Veronica cried “But how did you know?” she
looked at her sister surprised.

“I’m not dumb. I know what goes on behind closed doors
in this house. I was only ten when my crack head mom’s
loser boyfriend started raping me. By the time I was
eleven I was working on the streets. After work was over I
didn’t get to go home and eat nice food or sleep in a nice
bed. I slept on the floor with a sheet and I ate week old
pizza. My life sucked before coming here. So making
daddy happy, that’s what you all call it right? That will be
no big deal for me as long as I get a nice place to live and
all of you as my sisters. I am ok with this life. It’s better
than my old one,” Claudia said with no emotions. Veronica
cried for her sister she was already damaged so bad that
their life seemed good to her.
“I am so sorry you have to go through this, we are all here
for you,” Veronica told Claudia.

“I know you all are and that’s why I am happy, it makes it
all better knowing that I will always have you as my
sister,” Claudia said looking into her sister’s eyes.

Veronica broke free from her past and started crying,
tears pouring down her face. She could barely breathe she
was so ashamed by her actions; leaving her sisters to fend
for themselves. She felt so selfish.

Chapter 3

Veronica got out of the bath tub and dried herself off. She
put on track pants and a t-shirt. She washed the dye out of
her hair, wrapped a towel around her head and walked
back into the room to sit on the bed. She looked into her
bag and she pulled out her dad’s wallet and found $327 in
it. She pulled out the stuff she had stolen out of the safe,
and when she counted all the money she had in total
$5527.

That should last me a little while.
Veronica thought to
herself.

Veronica kicked her bag off the bed and she laid there on
top of the blankets. She dozed on and off all night, she
never turned off the radio or even the lights. She was too
frightened to actually try and sleep. In the morning
Veronica grabbed the blow dryer, hair straightener and
the makeup bag and she went into the bathroom. She
pulled the towel off her head and she looked at the dark
curls of hair. The color looked almost burgundy not
brown. The hint of red made her think of the blood that had
dripped off her fingers just a few hours before. Veronica
shook her head and took a deep breath. She walked back
into the room and found a pair of scissors. She went into
the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

“Good,” she said with a sad crooked smile on her face.

She started cutting her long curls, when she was done; her
hair fell just above her breasts. Veronica cleaned up all
the hair and tossed it in the garbage. She plugged in the
blow dryer and bushed out her beautiful curls, drying her
hair straight. She opened the makeup bag and pulled out a
shine serum and ran it through her hair. Veronica
unplugged the hair dryer and plugged in the straightener.
As it heated up she went to her bag and pulled out some
clothes. Veronica put on a pair of jeans and a blue turtle
neck and she threw on a black shrug over top. She had to
hide all her bruises and scars. Veronica bent down and
put her socks on her cold feet, and the pain from her
stomach made her scream in agony. She carefully slipped
her white running shoes on and went back into the
bathroom. The pain in her stomach was so bad and the
cramping was unbearable. She used the toilet and it
looked like she was urinating blood. Veronica knew she
wasn’t on her period and she knew what the blood was
from and she cried out in pain. She cleaned herself up and
put a pad. She knew she should go to a doctor but she
couldn’t.
The straightener was hot. Veronica started to straighten
her hair in small sections. She took the scissors again and
cut herself side bangs. She wanted to look like someone
else; partly because she wasn’t ready to be caught, and
another part of her really hated looking in the mirror. She
wanted to see someone new. She wanted to be someone
different. When Veronica was done with her hair she
looked at her face. She was a mess, her eyes were black
and puffy, and she was covered in bruises. Veronica
pulled out the makeup bag and with cover-up she hid the
marks on her face and neck. Veronica did her makeup
different than she had ever done before. She had a soft
golden shimmer on her eyes and black eyeliner and she
used mascara that made her eyes really stand out.
Veronica used a dark shiny purple lip gloss and put a
little bit of blush on her checks. When she was all done
Veronica looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She
didn’t look like Veronica anymore. She was pleased with
her new look, Veronica Burns no longer existed.

“Hello Calisaya, yeah that sounds good. From now on I
am Calisaya or Cali for short even better,” she smiled at
herself. “Ya I like that, Cali.”

Cali packed up her things and checked out of the motel.
She got into her car and drove. She had no plan, no idea
of where she was going or what she was going to do. Cali
drove for days she slept in her car and only stopped for
gas and food, and only when necessary. She came to a
small town called Pity; Cali was hungry and needed to
take a break from driving. She came to a little diner that
was attached to a little motel. She went in and had a cup of
coffee and ordered some breakfast. Cali was sitting in a
booth all by herself looking out the window. It was a bright
sunny day and she was free and alone. Cali felt relief to be
free from her father but she was so scared to be alone and
she missed her sisters.

Cali saw some guy out the window checking out her car.
She walked outside and looked at the guy. He couldn’t
have been much older than her. The guy was tall and good
looking. He had blonde hair and light blue eyes. His eyes
reminded her of her mother’s eyes; sky blue. She walked
over to him. He was wearing khaki pants and a white polo
shirt. He had a cocky attitude about him, like he came from
money and thought he was so good.

“Hey is this your car?” he asked checking her out as she
walked up to him.

“Yes, I got it when I turned eighteen for being a good girl.
Because it matched the color of my eyes,” Cali said she
didn’t know why she told him all that, it just came out of
her mouth.

“It’s a sweet ride, I’m thinking about getting a car like this,”
the guy said, shaking his head like he was cool.

“What are you driving now?” Cali asked curious. He
pointed to silver Nissan. It was older than her car and not
nearly as nice.
“Are you from around here?” Cali asked him curiously.

“No I am just passing through, my name is Joe,” he said
shaking her hand.

“Well I’ll tell you what Joe if you really like my car, I’ll
trade you my car for your car and like $500 bucks,” Cali
said smiling.

“Seriously? Are you crazy?” Joe asked her with a shocked
look on his face.

 

“Yes I am crazy,” Cali said smiling “So are you in or out?”

 

“Yes you have yourself a deal,” Joe said excited.

They traded paperwork and keys and he went to the bank
machine and gave her the money. They shook hands and
he drove off in her car. Another piece of Veronica was
gone. She watched as he drove away. She loved that car,
but a bright blue Porsche attracts a lot of attention. She
needed to be discreet, almost invisible.

Cali went back into the diner. As she was walking in she
noticed a Help Wanted sign in the window. She went back
to her booth and she ate her breakfast. The diner wasn’t
very busy but there was an old man sitting in the far
corner of the restaurant. He looked at Cali and made her
feel uncomfortable, he was watching her every move. He
looked like a skinny, creepy version of Santa Claus. The
old man had little beady eyes and a pointy nose with a
long white beard. Cali looked away from him and
continued to eat her breakfast.

The man got up and walked to the door staring at Cali like
he could read her mind and knew all her secrets.