Unbreakable (5 page)

“Well, what do you have to say for yourself?”
She shouts at me her eyes scowling.

“I’m sorry that I crunched my crunchy cereal
to loud,” I say it very snotty, fed up with her constant berating
of me.

No sooner are the words out of my mouth when
I feel sharp pain from her hand cross my cheek. “Don’t you dare
talk to me that way you ungrateful bitch!” She screams her temper
flaring, and with one swipe she sends my cereal bowl flying. I
watch it crash on the floor, milk spraying everywhere. “Now get out
of my sight,” she growls, her voice low and cruel as she points
toward the door.

I stand up and run out of the kitchen up to
my room. I’m so mad I want to scream. The side of my face aches
from the blow and I run to the bathroom to see the swelling and the
bruise starting already. This one’s going to be a black eye. Not my
first one either. In fact I’ve lost count.

After about two hours Miss. Finnegan enters
my room with an ice pack and a sandwich.

“Oh dear, that’s a bad one,” Miss Finnegan
says rushing over to put the ice pack on my cheek. I wince at the
instant pain from the little pressure she is applying, but the
coolness feels very good against my hot skin.

“Why oh why do you provoke her like that?”
Miss Finnegan says brushing some hair out of my eyes.

“I’m fine. I just want to get some sleep,” I
tell her and lay back in the bed. Miss Finnegan lays the sandwich
on the bedside table and leans down she kisses my forehead.

“Okay dear, you get some rest. I guess there
is a bright side. She’s leaving again in the morning,” she says
with a smile, then turns and walks out of my room. It’s a cloudy
day and I can hear thunder rumbling in the distance. I close my
eyes, and before I know it I’m asleep.

I awake around six a.m. to Jane yelling at
Mckayla again. Telling her to hurry it up and if they miss their
flight there was going to be hell to pay. Even though I’m happy she
is leaving, I’m nervous about seeing Luke. After the other night,
and him leaving me on the side of the road, my imagination has run
wild. Does he still have feelings for me or did he realize I was
just a foolish girl? What was he thinking?

I step into the bathroom and look into the
mirror. The sight I see in the mirror horrifies me. The whole right
side of my face is swollen and bruised black. I don’t want Luke to
see me like this, but I have to talk to him.

I hurry in the shower and dress fast. I try
to cover up the bruise with makeup but it’s no use, so I take care
to sweep my hair to cover my black eye. I hadn’t heard any
screaming for a while so it’s a good sign that Jane is gone
again.

Walking to the front windows I see Luke’s
truck is in the driveway. My heart starts racing and my mouth goes
dry. Why would just seeing his truck do this to me?

Miss Finnegan is nowhere to be found when I
walk through the kitchen and step out onto the back patio. I feel
my palms getting sweaty.

I notice Jeffery on the old riding mower near
the back of the property, but I don’t see Luke. I start to walk
around to the front of the house when I notice him. He’s trimming
the hedgerow that lines the front of the house. He has his shirt
off and his sweat glistens on his tanned skin. His muscles ripple
as he moves with grace, sweeping the electric trimmer along the top
of the tall hedges. I lose my breath for a second when I see him.
He doesn’t notice me at first and I stand there staring at him. All
of a sudden I want to run away.

When he finally notices me, the look on his
face is angry. He sets down the trimmers and walks my way putting
his shirt back on. “Jesus Christ Lilly, your eye,” he says taking
my face in his hands. His thumb brushes my bruise lightly. The pain
of his light touch on my blackened skin makes me twinge.

“I’m sorry,” Luke says dropping his hands to
his sides.

“It’s fine. I’m so glad you’re here, I wanted
to talk to you.” I try to look in his eyes, but he turns his head.
“What’s going on? I need to know what is going on here,” I tell him
searching for a reaction from him. There is so much pain in his
eyes as he turns his back toward me.

“Lilly,” Luke says then stops for a second.
“I’m leaving tomorrow for Shreveport. I am going to a tech school
there,” he says to me. I think I see a tear escape his eye before
he turns and starts to walk away.

“What?” I’m stunned. My heart rate speeds up
as I start to realize he is going to be gone and I’m not going to
see him anymore. “Why? What did I do? I don’t understand. I thought
you had feelings for me?” I scream. “Why are you leaving me?”
Desperation starts to rise as everything sinks in. He’s leaving and
my world feels like it’s closing in around me.

“Lilly, you did nothing,” Luke whispers his
back still to me. “If you only knew what I was feeling,” he
whispers softly then starts to walk away from me.

“Luke, please don’t leave me!” I yell, warm
tears streaming down my face as I drop to my knees. All I want is
to feel safe in his arms like last night. I’m stuck here and
helpless. The first time I felt any hope and now it’s gone. He’s
going to leave, forget all about me, and there is nothing I can
do.

“Come here,” Luke says now with his hands on
my shoulders trying to help me up. He wraps his arms around me and
I am in his embrace. I feel so safe again, safer than I have ever
felt in my whole life. He can’t leave me here with her.

“I have to. If I stay it will be bad for you,
my dad, and me,” Luke whispers onto the top of my head.

“Promise me, Lilly, if you ever feel that you
can’t do it anymore that you go straight to Dad,” Luke says it with
so much conviction that I feel like I have no choice but to nod in
agreement.

Luke’s fingers run through my hair, his
thumbs by my ears. He lifts my head up to face him and gently
places his soft lips on my bruised cheek giving it a feather light
kiss. “A kiss to make it better,” he whispers as his lips leave my
cheek. My whole body is on fire when I feel him start moving away
from me.

“No!” I yell, my voice muffled as I bury my
face into his hard chest.

But he works his way out of my arms and
starts to walk away from me. His pace quickens and all I can do is
stand there and sob. I hear the roar of his truck and watch as he
speeds down the lane. His truck disappears as it races through the
live oaks and is then gone from sight.

Sobbing uncontrollably, I stand there for
what seems like forever. I feel a hand on my shoulder. Startled I
jump, and turn to see Jeffrey standing next to me.

“It will be alright dear, I’m sorry but it’s
for the best,” Jeffrey says trying to console me, but the tears
won’t stop streaming down my face.

“Why is it for the best?” I scream. “I’ll
never see him again,” I sob into my hands, my black eye burning
from the tears as they make their way out of my swollen eye.
Jeffrey wraps his arms around my shoulders and turns me back toward
the house leading me slowly.

“I knew if he came back he would stir up your
feelings again,” Jeffrey mumbles watching the ground as we walk.
“He just had to see you, and now he’s made it even worse for you.
I’m sorry, Lilly, it was selfish of him, and he knows that now.” He
continues till we reach the back of the house.

“But why does he have to leave?” Still
sobbing, I turn to face him wanting some real answers.

“Lilly, he will kill Jane. I don’t know how
many more bruises he could take seeing on you.” Jeffrey grabs my
shoulder firmly raising his voice looking straight into my eyes.
“Do you understand he has to be far away? None of us can live with
what he would do to her. I can’t let my son do what I know he will
do in only a matter of time.” I see the fear in Jeffrey’s eyes as
he tries to make me see this is the only way.

“I have promised him your safety,” Jeffrey
continues, “I will be here watching after you. Miss Finnegan and I
have both promised him.” His face solemn, I can see Luke in his
kind, good eyes. I realize this is just as hard on him, making his
son move across state so he doesn’t do something that would change
his life forever.

“Okay,” I sob not being able to think of
anything to say right now.

“You will be free of her soon. All you have
to do is make it through a couple of years,” he says trying to make
it sound like no big deal. Two years and I’ll be free.

Once I turn eighteen, Jane is going to have
my name legally changed so that I will no longer have the Sumnor
name to embarrass her with. She could kick me out and not get in
trouble for it either. I have no doubt in my mind if she could have
found a way to get rid of me legally, without making herself look
bad, she would have done it a long time ago.

Chapter 5

LUKE

“Fuck, fuck, fuuuuuuuck!” I punch the
steering wheel over and over as I drive farther and farther away
from Lilly. I slam on the brakes and the truck screeches to a halt.
Getting out I try to find something, anything I can to throw. I
scream at the top of my lungs, my fists clenched as I fight the
urge to go back.

I can’t believe I am leaving her, leaving her
to that horrible abusive woman. No one will do anything and Elliott
has told my father that there is nothing anyone can do. Any attempt
will only lead to bad things for me, my dad, and most importantly
Lilly. I could just snap the witch’s neck in her sleep. I don’t
care what happens to me. At least she will be safe, and she
wouldn’t have to put up with the horrible abuse. The constant
pleading from my mother and my sister to not do anything stupid is
the only thing keeping me from killing Jane Sumnor.

“She is handling things fine, Son.” My dad
keeps telling me. “She is strong and unbreakable. We will make sure
there is never too much she can’t handle. She already ignores the
hurtful words. She’s really good at it actually.” My father pleaded
with me not to return. That it would only make things worse for
her, and he was right. The sight of her crying uncontrollably as I
drove away will haunt me forever.

But I had to see her. I had to know if what I
had been feeling was for real. I’ve tried hard to forget about her
and I just can’t. Going out with girls to try and get my mind off
of her was disastrous. The things I would do with them made me feel
horrible, like I was cheating on her. There I was making out with
some girl, and all along all I could think of was Lilly. Was she
being yelled at, was she being hit? Getting drunk was the only
thing that would make me forget, but the next morning it would be
even worse.

The moment I saw her in the window, the love
I felt for her only deepened tenfold. Those eyes that smile and her
laugh that’s so innocent, beautiful. She’s just a girl of 16, but
has the body of a woman. Oh my god her body is amazing. It’s even
harder now. I felt something a few years ago when she was 14, but
nothing like I feel now. Jane would have me thrown in jail if she
ever caught us together and if I stay here there is no way in hell
I’d be able to stay away from her.

What kind of a man leaves his love to this
abuse? What kind of man doesn’t do anything to protect the one
thing in life that means everything to him?

“Letting her go now is the best thing you can
do. Soon, Son, very soon she will be free.” My father keeps saying.
So I have to trust, I have to trust in what they are telling me. I
have to trust that she is unbreakable, strong, that she will fight
through. I have to trust with every fiber of my being that my Lilly
flower will be ok.

Chapter 6

Present time

It was less than two years actually. Those
years were filled with many more bruises, a broken arm, and a
concussion at the hands of Jane. It all ended suddenly the night of
the fatal car crash a week before my 18th birthday. Although I did
mourn the loss of my absentee father, no tears were shed for Jane.
Good riddance is what I said to myself at her funeral, and I did
not feel any guilt about my thoughts.

Six months have passed since the night my
life changed forever. I have done a lot of growing up. Becoming one
of the wealthiest women in the country came with a lot of
responsibility. I’ve had help from my lawyer Elliot, Emma’s father,
and Emma herself, I've seemed to be handling things pretty
well.

Miss Finnegan and Jeffrey still work for me
of course. They both have been given huge raises. They are my
family more than they are my employee’s.

Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought
of Luke, having not seen him since he left this yard two and a half
years ago. Jeffrey never talks of him and I am left only to my
imagination. I’ve often wondered if he has found himself a gorgeous
super model girlfriend and never given me a second thought. He did
not come after the accident, so I am sure his feelings for me were
nothing more than a school boy’s crush.

In the past few months Emma has set me up on
two blind dates. Even though the men were good looking, polite, and
fun to be around, there was no chemistry. Remembering the way I
felt when Luke was near me is something I will never forget, and I
am not sure if I can ever settle for anything less.

But Luke is coming to work for me now.
Jeffrey tells me that he is done with school and jobs are hard to
find. I offered him a job as a full time handyman. He also
mentioned he was looking for a cheap place to stay, not wanting to
move back home, so I turned what was once old slave housing 100
years ago into a little guest cottage. He can stay for free until
he finds a place I insisted to Jeffrey. It’s the least I can do for
his family. He’s been so kind to me over the years.

I sit at the island in my kitchen drinking
some sweet tea and flipping through a magazine as I wait for Emma.
She and I are going to New Orleans for the afternoon for some
shopping. I had the decorator put on a fresh coat of paint in the
kitchen to give it a brighter feel, but there is still work to be
done with light fixtures and some other odds and ends. The family
room that is just off the kitchen, which once was a stuffy dark
room, is now warm and inviting with a very large flat screen
television hanging on the wall and large overstuffed comfy
furniture.