Page 10 of Falling Too Late

“Oh, I won’t go through the alley. There are some creeps that way.”

I nodded, and we walked over the tracks till we got to the tree line. She’s hesitating again so I spoke up. “I’ll wait here till you get inside.”

“Thank you.”?She looked relieved.

“Can I meet you here in the morning and walk with you to school?”I hedged the question before she could walk off, feeling a little nervous.

“I’d like that.”A small smile played on her lips before it disappeared. She brought her thumb up and chewed on her nail, something I had seen her do a lot over the last few weeks. “I have to go.”

I watched as she cut through the yard and rounded the corner between two of the apartments. I waited a while longer before Idid the same, heading inside.There were four buildings that lined up around the cul-de-sac. I found myself wishing I would have asked which one she lived in.

CHAPTER 6

WREN

Alexand I had been walking to and from school everyday since the canal incident. We talked about a lot of nothing. The best thing about walking with him was that he brought breakfast bars and shared them with me.

It took a lot of self-control to not inhale the bars in one bite. My stomach constantly felt like it was eating itself. I had been doing my best to stash things under my bed and save them for as long as possible.

Quietly, I turned the knob to my battered bedroom door and pushed it open, carrying my shoes and stepping out as quietly as possible.?

Kevin slept over last night, and I was trying to get out of the house this morning without him waking. It was something I knew I was going to regret tonight, but I didn’t want to deal with him this morning.??

I didn’t want to think about him sliding out of me and pooling into my underwear as I walked to school with Alex.?

I didn’t want to feel the ache at the back of my head from when he pulled my hair while he hammered into me.??

I didn’t want his voice to be the thing that I heard this morning. Not this morning.?

Today was the last day of school, then it was Christmasvacation. Being the end of December, I was at their mercy for two whole weeks for winter break. My stomach dropped at what I knew would happen.?

I wasn’t scared. I had resigned myself into acceptance and decided to just enjoy what little freedom I had left. I was tired of fighting. Tired of plotting my way out of the hell I was put in. I just wanted to keep doing my homework and pass. When I graduated and turned eighteen, I was leaving this place and never looking back.

Kevin’s interests had changed in the last few weeks. He started questioning me and asking why I wasn’t getting home at my usual time. I hadn’t been waiting for him like normal.

Why are you taking so long to get home??

What are you out doing??

Are you whoring yourself out to other men?

I used to only dawdle a little on the way home, easily telling them that the teacher held me after class for a bit to talk about the homework I’d turned in. I hated the suspense of what would happen when I got home. The buildup of what mood they were in, if they were fighting, if he was going to take pleasure in hurting me. If I just headed straight home, he would get it over with and then he and my mom would either go down to his apartment or he would just go to her room, and they would smoke weed and pass out together.He never spent any extra time with me besides that.

Now, he would be waiting for me at the front door.

I’d been taking longer to get home, not wanting to leave the little slice of peace I had gotten with Alex. Alex was warm and only a little rough around the edges; he chased away that growing anxiety that would build up while I walked home. He was caring and didn’t make me feel like used garbage.He didn’t touch me, except the one time we fell.

Tonight, when I got home, Kevin would be here, and he was going to lock us in my room. He had become clingy. He didn’t immediately leave after he was finished. He would stay,try to have a conversation. He even bought me a new shirt last week. He wanted to talk about his day at work, telling me about his coworkers and other odds and ends. I didn’t know how to respond to him, but I acted like I cared the best that I could. If I ignored him, I’d end up with more bruises.

Mr. Lloyd didn’t come around much anymore since Kevin had been staying the night at our place more and more. I would see him every so often, walking to and from school when he was talking to someone else that lived in the buildings. He didn’t say anything to me, didn’t try to talk to me.

A sick part of me would rather deal with Lloyd than Kevin. If I had a choice between them, it would be Lloyd.

I made it out the front door, walking barefoot on the cold ground until I got down the stairs. Once I was down, I slid my shoes on and bolted for the tracks, not stopping until I got on the other side of the tree line.

“Hey there.” Alex was on the other side of the fence, leaned up against it, looking over his shoulder at me.

“Hey,” I panted, trying to catch my breath. The exhaustion had already hit me from that short run.

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