Page 8 of His Weekend Wife

CHAPTER TWO

“Bang!” A young girl was awakened in the middle of the night by the banging of a door. The loud voice of her father yelling brought her to a sitting position in her bed, clutching her cartoon sheet tightly to her pounding chest. Six-years-old and already Ash had witnessed her parents’ arguing enough to realize when things were getting out of hand. The slamming of doors and the throwing of objects always told her she needed to be on alert.

She stayed very still, listening, holding her breath as the yelling grew louder and the name-calling started. Most of the words she didn’t understand and sometimes she would cover her ears, but this argument seemed different. It escalated faster than the others. Dragging the sheet over her head, she attempted to block out the screaming match going on in the next room, but it was no use.

Earlier that day, her father had come home early and told Ash’s mother that he had lost his job. Mother had called him a “drunken bastard” and Ash had been scared that they would fight.

She’d been right.

Sleeping in the bed next to her was her little sister, Abby, who had just turned four. Her birthday balloons were still floating in the corner of the room. She wasn’t awake. Sometimes she could sleep through the arguing, and sometimes she would crawl into Ash’s bed.

Her mother’s enraged voice made fear drip down Ash’s spine.

Pushing back her covers, she tiptoed across the short space to her sister’s bed and shook her shoulder. “Abby,” she whispered.

Outside of the door came a loud crashing sound followed by a thud, then her mother’s screams. Ash jumped. The last time she heard this much noise she’d seen her father hugging her mother too tight. Ash had screamed for her father to let her red-faced mommy go, and he had.

She didn’t want to see her daddy hurting her mommy again.

Shaking her sister’s shoulder, this time harder, Abby moaned and fluttered her eyes open. “What, Ash?”

“Wake up. We are going to play hide and seek.” It was the game Ash played at times like this.

Her sister obeyed and climbed from the bed, pushing her nightgown down her thin legs. “Where we hidin’?”

“We’ll find a place.” Ash grabbed her sister’s hand and together they walked to the closed door of the bedroom.

Ash pressed her ear to the wood and listened, not hearing anything but silence

“That hurts,” Abby complained as she tried pulling her hand free from Ash’s grip. She hadn’t realized that she was squeezing it and she lightened her hold.

“Shh! We have to be quiet.” She reached for the doorknob, her hand shaking as she pulled the door open a crack. She felt Abby snuggle closer. Her bottom lip was puckered. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fweezin’.”

“Okay. You stay here,” Ash commanded. She went to Abby’s bed, grabbed the furry pink blanket and started to step away, but she had a second thought. She grabbed her sister’s stuffed panda too. “Here, Abby. Hold this. It’ll keep you safe.” Ash pushed the patched-up bear into her sister’s arms who clutched it tightly against her chest. Ash covered her sister’s shoulders with the blanket.

Back at the door, Ash peeked out into the shadowed hallway, seeing that the coast was clear. She brought her finger to her tight lips, reminding Abby not to make a sound.

Ash in front and Abby following closely, they quietly made their way down the hall, their bare feet supporting the process. The yelling started again from the living room and the two girls took off into a run, straight through the back door and into the cool December air. Ash coughed. The cold temperature hurt her lungs. Abby shivered. “Keep the blanket tight.”

Abby nodded and a glop of snot appeared at her right nostril. She swiped the back of her hand across the gooey wetness, smearing it onto her rosy cheek. She’d just gotten over a cold.

Light snowflakes were falling. Ash stuck out her tongue and caught a flake.

“Can we play?” Abby’s eyes lit up.

“No. We’re barefoot. Come on,” Ash whispered to her sister, practically dragging her into the darkness.

Abby stopped, burying her heels into the grass. “Don’t want to.”

“If you stay out here you’re gonna freeze. We’ll be warm soon.”

With an uncertain nod, Abby continued behind Ash.

Dogs barked. The neighbors’ TV played too loud. Down the street, a car’s tires squealed. They stopped in the middle of the yard, and Ash looked over her shoulder at the windows into the house. She could see her mother and father’s silhouettes. He was holding her too tight again. The snow fell faster and her toes were cold in the grass. Where would be the best place to play hide and seek?

“There.” She pointed. Again, dragging her sister close, they reached the ladder to the treehouse and she pushed Abby toward the first rung. “Go. I’m behind you.”

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