Page 18 of Make Her Bleed
I get out of the shower and throw on a pair of baggy sweatpants that won't irritate my abused lady bits. Settling on a long-sleeved T-shirt, I make my way to the kitchen.
I fix myself a cup of hot chocolate in the hopes of soothing my woes and settle on the couch, staring at the case of football awards for my dad, and a few celebratory photos of dad and Kai through the early years.
I see his face, and I want to smash it.
I called him Uncle Kai when I was younger, and now he's one of six guys who gang-raped me.
My phone rings with a call from my dad, and I hesitate to pick it up, but then I realize it's the end of the school day.
He wants to know where I am so he can pick me up.
Oh, Dad. I'm so sorry you couldn't protect me.
He won't know what Kai or the others did to me but I feel like I failed him by not being strong enough to get away from them.
"Hello?" I answer the phone, fighting the tears.
"Come on, Aria. Where are you?" he asks, almost as if he doesn't have a care in the world. He must've had a good day.
That's a plus.
"Um, I left school early," I admit, my voice breaking.
"Aria … Where are you?" His voice is so sympathetic. I wonder if he knows what they did to me. There’s no way though.
"I'm at home. I couldn't stay there any longer," I explain as silent tears fall down my face.
"I'm on my way. Stay where you are, and don't open the door for anyone, okay?"
I don't answer. I need to focus on calming down my emotions. If I cry the second my dad walks through the door, I fear I'll confess what his best friend and a bunch of the guys on the football team did to me in an empty classroom.
The words Kai said to me when he had me pinned down to the desk race through my mind in a constant loop, his words making me ten times more paranoid.
“This may come as a surprise to you but I've seen your father do way worse.”
What has my dad done?What could be worse than what Kai did to me? God, did my dad kill someone?
I hear the door open and fear grips me. Even if it's just my dad, I'm terrified.
I grab one of his gold trophies and wield it like a bat. Too bad he wasn’t a baseball player. A bat would be much more helpful.
"Jesus, Aria!" Dad exclaims as he rounds the corner, an astonished look on his face. "Kiddo, put the trophy down, okay? It's me." He tries to ease my paranoia, but I can't take the risk.
"What did you do?" I demand answers.
"Huh?"
"Kai said he saw you do something really,reallybad. What did you do?" I press, barely holding my emotions together.
"Aria—"
"Was it Mom? Is that why you won't talk about her? Is that why I've never even seen a picture of her?" I press more, my imagination going wild.
"God, Aria," he says with tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry. What did they do to you?"
I realize my sleeves have raised to my elbow, exposing the bruises Kai left on me, and he can see the red mark across my neck where Kai choked me.
But his expression isn't one of shock; he doesn’t look like he’s suddenly realizing someone hurt his daughter. No, it's the look of someone who knew the danger was coming and did nothing to stop it.
