Page 49 of Slaughtered Firefly
“Hi Summer. I am Ella. You met my son earlier outside. He’s the one that came to get me, I hope you don’t mind, but we really need to get you out of those wet clothes,” Ella passed me a towel, and I took it in shaky hands. I blinked at her as I wiped my face against the textured surface. She was so pretty; her black hair was curled in nice ringlets tied back out of her face with a simple bow that matched her eyes. Those eyes that stared at me with sadness.
“I don’t have a dress to replace yours, but I was able to find a shirt and skirt that looks like it will fit you,” She passed the clothes to me, and I took them. I knew I should say thank you. She was kind enough to give me a towel and fresh clothes, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, still overwhelmed with disappointment Momma wasn’t there. The red short sleeve and the black skirt were gripped in my hand so tight that my knuckles were white. I didn’t want to change in front of the nice lady. The lady would ask too many questions about the purple marks, and Daddy wouldn’t like that. I didn’t have the courage to voice my discomfort. As if sensing that I was uncomfortable, she spoke. “I’m going to go and check on everyone else, I’ll be back soon.”
The door closed behind her as she left, and I exhaled, trying to stop the shivering cold that coursed through my body. Stupid bullies. I wanted to cry. The beautiful dress Daddy bought for me was ruined by those big meanies, and now I couldn’t be pretty for Momma. Momma, are you hiding here? My eyes roamed over the area. It was a teaching room of sorts with a blackboard further in the back and some scattered chairs around the room. The spot where Ella put me down was a large reading chair. My eyes searched for any sign of Momma. Still unable to fully focus, I gave up my search as I pulled the wet, sticky dress over my head. I struggled with the weight as my arms were so tired, but I knew I would feel better once it was off. Arms out of the dress,I wrestled the fabric over my head. I didn’t hear the door open, but when I heard the voice, I froze.
“What do we have here?” The creepy voice asked, and I quickly pulled the wet dress against my skin. I was troubled by the presence of this man, and I did not dare to look at him, as I pulled the wet dress close to my skin. Dread and regret filled me as I shivered against the cold. I should’ve had Ella stay with me and made Daddy upset; now there was a stranger staring at me.
My face felt hot as the man took another step closer and I took a step back. I knew he was blocking the only way out, but maybe I could avoid him and run. It was wishful thinking, but it wouldn’t stop his eyes; they made me feel dirty. Another step closer, and as I continued stepping backwards, I was breathing fast again. The thudding I had associated when my heart racing was back as well.Please leave me alone.
“Oh you don’t have to back up, precious, I won’t hurt you,” the man told me, but it sounded wrong. I took another step back, feeling a rocking in my tummy, like when I was sick. There was a funny tickle in the back of my throat, and I felt like I was going to puke.
My eyes were wide, and I was already too aware that my tiny step did nothing to stop his large steps. I didn’t want to take my eyes off the man despite not knowing how much more space I had left before the wall. The door was further away, and I could hardly focus on staying upright. I was just so exhausted. My foot caught on something, misstep and I fell backwards. The dress I was using as a shield slipped out of my hands, and I screamed.
Eight years old
My nose drippedblood as I cradled it in my hand. My dress shirt was ruined, and my pants soiled from the dirt. That weird kid Scott untied me after the two bullies disappeared. I couldn’t wait to see what was coming to them. Dad was going to beat the shit out of me for not being better, I knew it, but it was worth getting into that fight; they could have killed her.
I stumbled up the steps to the classrooms. Reyna, our household maid, had taken me enough times to this church; I knew it like the back of my hand. She was just a teenager that Dad had ‘bought’ from her family. Something about young cleaning women kept the whole house youthful, some bullshit like that. He’d been vastly different since Mom passed when I was five. The abuse started last year, like he’d lost his marbles and I was the burden he never wanted. Reyna always snuck me out of the house when Dad got in horrible moods. She knew the priest here, and as soon as he saw my bruises, he handed her a set of keys. Religion and God were never something Iconnected with, but Reyna still took me every Sunday to this church, regardless. I leaned my head back and pinched my nose. As I blindly felt my way around the long hall, I knew I had some clothes somewhere in the classrooms.
A sound caught my attention, and I stopped and looked around, no longer caring about my nose as it poured onto my shirt. I started pushing open the classroom doors. It was probably those two bullies, but still they shouldn’t be up here. There was a thud from the door up ahead, and I rushed towards it. Inside there was Uncle Greg bent over something. As I stepped further inside, my insides boiled. The thing he was bent over was the little girl, Summer. I didn’t like the situation. Uncle Greg wasn’t supposed to be here.
“Uncle Greg, Dad told me to find you, they need your assistance down stairs,” I sternly announced, and he looked back at me with venomous eyes.
“Get out of here boy, can’t you see I am busy,” he scoffed at me and turned back to the girl, who was panicked. “Now, my pretty little rose, how about we continue what we started?”
I couldn’t let this happen; this little girl didn’t deserve to be associated with the lowlifes in my family. She should have a normal life, and being assaulted at her mom’s funeral was far from normal. My uncle grabbed her leg, and she screamed. I was too small to do anything helpful, but I could stall him. My hand wrapped around his biceps as I stepped closer to them. As I pulled on his arm, he backhanded me across the face. Pain ricocheted from my already bleeding nose through my whole face as I stumbled backward into a desk. It was just my luck that my head hit on the way down, and I prayed for the first time in my life that someone, anyone, would hear the commotion.
The back of my head was throbbing as much as my nose, and in between watery eyes, I saw him continue to pull the girl as she screamed. I had to do something, anything, to help. Dizzyand disoriented, I crawled back towards my uncle and the girl as laughter rang from his lips. “What boy? Did your dad not teach you to stop while you were ahead?”
I smiled, or at least what I thought was a smile, before spitting out some blood. “That’s what he asked your mother after you were born.”
Okay, so maybe the ‘your-mom’ joke was a bit overkill, by the way his fist connected again with my face. I thought I heard a scream over the ringing in my ears, but it must have been my imagination, and I fell backwards again. Blood ran freely from my nose, my eye hurt and started swelling, I was breathing hard against the pain, and it was a struggle to sit up to stop my uncle. Did I fail to save her from him?
“Gregory?” A woman’s voice questioned. It was angelic, like my prayer was answered. I heard my uncle quickly turn around to answer, or what I assume was to answer, the woman. I could hardly keep my eyes open; the muffled voices were hard to hear against the ringing in my ears. I felt something cold against my face and felt the little girl’s hand as she grasped mine.
Forcing my eyes open, I saw her smile at me despite her tears as she mouthed a ‘thank you’ before I could no longer fight the pain of my injuries and passed out.
Seven years old
Mom squeezedmy hand tightly as we walked to our seats in the middle of the row of pews. She looked tired, like she had aged many years since this morning when we woke up. I had no idea why Dad wasn’t sitting with us, and every time I tried to ask, Mom shook her head and said, not right now. The casket loomed ahead of us. It was a brown casket with a pattern on the side and gold trim. I wasn’t sure what the designs were from this far away, and I wanted to get closer to see.
Someone stood up and cleared their throat, thanking us for being there, and said a few other things. I couldn’t have cared about what they said; I was still looking for the other kids in the crowd. The pretty girl with red hair was with her family a few rows up. I twisted in my seat and glimpsed the two knuckle-headed bullies in the back row, both looking down at the choir dresses I had given them. A slight laugh left me at the thought of them wearing dresses since they ruined the blonde girl’s dress. I craned my neck to peer over all the adults and managed tosee the other boy. His face was all swollen with purple and blue marks. He was sitting a few rows ahead. Mom grabbed my wrist and whispered, “Sit still and stop squirming around.” It was Mom’s warning voice, and I huffed but sat still as the boring priest started his speech. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here. There was a moment of silence, and Mom bowed her head. I took the opportunity to stand up and look for the missing little girl, who was nowhere in sight.
The priest raised his head, and I quickly sat back down as Dad and several other men dropped a black feather on top of the casket, followed by the woman’s husband, who put a bullet on top of the feathers. Summer stood up last, walking over to the casket with tear-filled eyes, a single red flower gripped in her hand, and her dad lifted her to place it on the casket next to the other tokens. The lifted casket shone against the sun that peaked through as the men marched towards the doors.
29
MAKE A CHOICE
Present day–July 31st
Dazed and depressed, I sat in the lonely hospital bathroom. I hated this place. I didn’t want to be here anymore; I just wanted to fucking leave, but that wouldn’t happen right now. I couldn’t just up and walk away, not while the idiotic thoughts of Summer’s bright ideas presented themselves in Mia’s mind.
I was most definitely crazy. I didn’t need a psych evaluation to tell me what I already knew. I’d been living two lives for too long, and now they were entwined.
There was Summer Lena Macer, daughter of Theodore Macer, the notorious mafia king ‘Midas.’ That was the life of a rent-a-whore, a pretty broken cunt. Then there was Mia Williams, the pretty little girl who excelled at any task given, who never got in trouble and always lived a good life. I lived as both for so long. There was always just an edge of the other sticking through the walls in my mind. I knew why I had gotten caught; it was a decision that made all the difference for both Mia and Summer. I was tired of being both women; it was time to end it. The reason for sending that text to one broody cop, the tip that got me caught.
The lady doctor came in about an hour after Dustin left and removed the catheter. The relief of peeing on my own was golden, and the warmth of the shower water as it pounded against my achy skin was orgasmic. I sat in the shower pulling the help cord like I was ringing a large church bell. After the fifth time, no one cared to check on me. It was a fucking joke. God didn’t care if I lived or died, and neither did these idiot nurses. So I continued to pull. It was a stimulation, something to do while my mind worked into overdrive to get out of the situation.
