BrookLyn's Journey (11 page)

S
he
fi
gured since she was in the bathroom she might as well pack a few toiletry items. When she fi
nished
, she was feeling so free
that she decided to throw some
clothes into a bag too. S
he
checked
to see if
her
mother
was lurking nearby. She looked l
eft
,
then right
,
down the hallway.
S
afe.
She
eased
the door shut then
steepled her fingers
in front of her and tapped
them
together, thinking.
I have no idea
what to pack
and
I don’t have many options
,
either.
As BrookLyn
peered through her sparse closet
, she
wonder
ed
if Gabriella w
ould
let
her
sleep in the little outfit
from
the
night
before
.

Just in case she did manage to sneak out,
BrookLyn
tossed
the toiletry bag inside
her
blue sports bag
with the clothes she had chosen
,
and
set it
in the back of
her
closet
.
H
er mother had
already fulfill
ed
her weekly quota
of space invading
,
and she must be getting ready to leave too, so BrookLyn’s
closet
should
be safe from prying eyes
.

She
often wondered
what
her mother
thought she would find on her
snooping missions. It
was
more like she was just
gathering information
to
ensur
e
her own
safe
ty by channeling
her father’s
anger toward
BrookLyn
.

My father.
BrookLyn
’s excitement faltered as she
remembered
she
’d be facing his wrath soon.

Chapter
Four

BrookLyn
spent
most of the day
on her bed,
looking at
her
ceiling.
She
didn’t want to go into the living room near
her
mother.
She checked the time. Her
father was almost finished with work
, although she
wasn’t sure what he did because he never
talked about it.
His life outside of this house was something neither he nor
her
mother ever spoke about.

Her
thoughts wandered to Gabby and what
they
were going to do
.
Will it be as much fun as last night
?
In her parents’ absence,
Ms. Cora
would still
check on BrookLyn, as
they
would ins
ist she do
, but she was much more trusting and she really did go to bed quite early.
BrookLyn
had
not tried to get away with anything in the past
,
with prison wardens
instead of
parents
, although
she didn’t really have any need to
.
B
ut
now
that
she did
have incentive
...
would she try?

She
got up off of the bed and started
her
homework just in case
she
didn’t get a chance to do it on Sunday.
Though, there wasn’t much point, she
was
too
distracted.
BrookLyn
wasn’t able to think about anything
besides Gabby.
It was as if
the girl
had taken over
her
mind.
Her
writing turned into a faint scribble.

“What are you smiling about? Is your homework that much fun?”
Her father was
standing in
her
doorway
and she snapped to attention
.
H
is furrowed eyebrows reflect
ed
his anger and disgust. It was always the same look
.
It was time for
her
to have to deal with him
,
just
as
her
mother
had
promised.
She
would receive
her
punishment for not being able to get into
their
house
, even though
he
had
prevented
her
from
doing so
by changing the lock that
,
like
their
phone number
,
had never been changed before.

“I was thinking about something
.
”
BrookLyn
la
id
her
pen on
her
notebook
and
brac
ed
her
self
.

“Must be thinking about that boy that kept you out last night.”
H
e had his belt grasped tightly at his side
, an
eager
look on his face, and his
eyes were the darkest shade of gray.

“There was no boy. I banged on the door, rang the bell
,
and I called. No one answered. I tried to get in
,
but you changed the locks.”
BrookLyn
tried not to whimper.
She
didn’t want the belt but there was no way out.
There never was.

“Are you talking back to me?”

“No,
sir.
I’d never talk back to you
.
”
No
matter what
she
said,
she
was
about to
get what they called an old
-
school butt whipping. The kind of whipping that brings you to the brink of death
—
or at least
wishing for death.
She
got those
at least
once a month
,
for one reason or another
.
A
s
her
father glar
ed
,
BrookLyn
saw that
he was definitely a man with plan.

“Sounds like you’re talking back to me
.
”
H
e mov
ed
further into
her
room.

BrookLyn
didn’t say
another word.
They were always right. In this house, when you stood up for yourself,
it was
being disrespectful. They were crazy and
she
wondered why God gave
her
to them.
It
won’t
be much longer though. They’
ll
have to beat on each other once I
’m
gone.
Once she left for college she didn’t even plan to
come
home for the holidays
, and if
she
ever ha
d
kids, they
would
never know their grandparents.

BrookLyn
stood up
. He was
look
ing
at
her
with a surprised look on his face.
What
i
s he waiting for?
She
wanted this painful moment
to be
over.
She
turned
her
back to him and bent over
.
“Here father, go ahead and beat me. Then I can finish my homework.”

She was sure that he must be looking
at
her
like
she
was crazy
—m
aybe
she
was.
If she
were
crazy
,
they had
certainly
driven her there.
She
was tired of getting beat for things that
she
didn’t do.
BrookLyn
gritted
her
teeth
together,
chewing over
the hate
she
felt for him
—
for both of them
,
because
she
knew
her mother
w
ould be
somewhere listening.

“So, you think you’re smart
,
talking back to me like those stupid American kids?”

They
were from the islands
, but not
BrookLyn
.
She
was an American kid born in a hospital in New York. They
conveniently
forg
ot
that regularly.

BrookLyn
amazed
her
self
with the
words
that came
out of her mouth
next
.
“I just want this over with
.
”
She
’d
told
her
self to shut up before the words came out
,
but didn’t listen
.
She
stood
back
up and
looked over
her
shoulder
,
staring into his hateful eyes
.

H
is arm moved in a fast windmill motion
then the
buckle of his belt crash
ed
onto
her
back
,
slamming her forward and
showing
her
small frame no mercy.
She
stood strong
,
although it hurt like hell. He hit
her
again. Then he grabbed
her
hair, bent
her
over
,
and swung his belt so many times that
BrookLyn
almost blacked out
.
He
thrash
ed
her repeatedly,
until
the
sweat beads rolled down his face
, dripping onto her back.

They were both
breathless.
Him from exertion, and her from having her soul beat
down
, yet again.
She
was in so much pain that
she
crumpled
,
defeated
,
on
to
her
bed
,
whimpering into the pillow.

He caught his breath
and wiped his shirtsleeve across his sweaty forehead.
“You are punished until I tell you different.”

She kept her mouth shut
this time
.
H
e would’ve
just
hit
her
more.

He
r father
tucked his shirt back in, put his belt back on and walked away.