Page 1 of Stonewall

CHAPTER ONE

PROLOGUE

AGNES, WHEREthe hell are you?You fucking lazy ass bitch,” my Dad yelled as he stomped through the front door, drunk and stumbling.

“Quick, Lenny, go out the back door before he sees you. Go next door,” Mom urgently whispered, her green eyes huge with fear as she shoved me toward the door. I wanted to argue that it was cold and snowy, but I knew better. I was only nine, but I knew what my dad was going to do to my mom and me if I came into his line of vision. She was trying her best to protect me.

I scrambled out the door as it slammed shut behind me just as my dad stormed the kitchen, and I heard my mom cry out in pain. I knew he would hit her and a lot worse over the next few hours. When he was drunk, he became a monster.

But Mom wouldn’t leave, not even after my sister Grace, who was five years older than me, refused to be abused by dad and went to live with a friend. Dad had done things to Grace, and she couldn’t take it anymore. Grace wanted me to go with her, but I wouldn’t leave Mom; she needed me.

I shivered at the cold as I walked barefoot through the snow over to my friend Mary’s house. Over the last year since they moved in next door, I have spent a lot of time at her house. Her mom Marilyn told me to come over anytime and even showed me where a key was hidden in case they weren’t home or in bed. I didn’t feel right using that key, so even though it was late at night and cold, I opened the screen door to the back porch and curled up on the porch swing, trying to get warm by burrowing into the cushions.

Suddenly, the porch light shined, blinding me for a few seconds, and the back door opened, and Marilyn walked out in her robe and slippers. “I thought I heard someone out here. I’m glad you’re here, Lenny, I was about to make some hot chocolate, and now I’ll have company. So come inside and join me,” she said, giving me that warm smile she always wore.

I uncurled from the swing and followed Marilyn inside, taking a seat at the kitchen table as she put a kettle on the stove to heat and then disappeared into the living room, returning with a blanket that she wrapped around me, then patting my head she said, “It’s a little chilly in here so this should keep you warm.”

I snuggled into the blanket, working it around my cold feet as I watched her make two cups of hot chocolate. It was a lucky day when Mary approached me as I sat outside in the rain a year ago. Mary walked up to me in her pink raincoat and shiny pink rain boots and invited me inside her house for cookies, we were the same age, and I never knew families could be like this until I met her that day.

We have been friends ever since.

“Here you go, Lenny, careful; it’s hot,” Marilyn said, putting a big mug in front of me and then sitting down with her cup of hot chocolate. “Why didn’t you use the key?” she asked.

I took a sip of my hot chocolate and shrugged. “Dad will leave in a few hours. I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Lenny, you are not a bother. I showed you the key so you could use it. Lenny...I know your parents fight, and I’m guessing your mom sends you out of the house. Am I right?” she asked softly. I lowered my eyes in shame. “None of that, Lenny,” Marilyn spoke, hooking her fingers under my chin to look at me. “There is nothing to be embarrassed about; I’m only asking because I know your mom worries about you and would feel better knowing you were somewhere warm and safe. So promise me next time you will use the key.”

“I promise. I wish mom would leave, he hurts her, but she won’t go,” I fretted, worried about my mom.

Marilyn looked sad and uncertain before saying, “Lenny, sometimes adults make mistakes and don’t always make the right decisions and choices, but the only thing you can do is be there for them when they need you. And learn from their mistakes, so you don’t repeat them.”

“Like how?” I wanted to know.

“Well, do you like how your dad treats you and your mom?” Marilyn questioned. Her soft voice was always so soothing to a kid who was so used to hearing yelling.

“No!” I answered fiercely.

“Okay, then, learn from his mistakes and never treat people the way he does. Then, when you grow up, be kind to people, treat women with respect, never hurt them, and help those that need it,” she told me, taking my hand and squeezing it.

“I never want to be like my dad,” I insisted, my little voice hard.

“That’s good, Lenny. Just remember that. Now, finish your hot chocolate so we can get you tucked in on the couch. Mary will be happy to see you in the morning and play.”

I quickly drank my hot chocolate, and Marilyn ushered me into their living room, which was so different from mine with its comfortable furniture and pretty decorations. I watched as she put a pillow on the couch and another blanket. “Climb on up, Lenny, and get comfortable. I will turn the TV on for you; it might help you fall asleep with some noise.”

I lay down on the couch, let Marilyn tuck the covers around me, and hand me the TV remote before leaning down and kissing my cheek. “See you in the morning, Lenny,” she said and then went up the stairs.

I thought more about what Marilyn said, Dad could be good when he wasn’t drunk, and he wasn’t around that much since he was at the biker clubhouse most of the time. But it was always the same when he was drunk and came home. I shuddered at the memories of all those times.

No, I wouldn’t be like my dad, I promised myself as I drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER TWO

I LOOKED DOWNat the address again,making sure I was at the right place, and I was. So this is where Brooke works?

Holy shit, this place is a dive.

Talk about your roadside dumps. I looked at the run-down building with the “Red’s Tavern” sign on the roof. The building was painted black with dark windows with bars bolted to them, which I could understand, being right outside Philly and in a high-crime area. I pulled further into the graveled parking lot and parked.

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