Page 13 of Fight for Me

“I hit him with a lamp,” I admit and ignore her horrified gasp. “We don’t have much time, he can wake up at any moment,” I whisper urgently, trying to lift my mother from the floor.

She shakes her head and draws me toward her, something close to regret written on her face as she says urgently. “I’m so sorry, Jenny. Back when your father served in the military, we used to live at the base. There was this... Your father and I had a crisis, and Robert was a nice man... We had an affair,” Mom whispers and looks away in shame.

“What? When was this?” I ask, completely shocked by my mother’s confession. I crouch in front of her, forgetting about the impending danger.

“Before you were even born. I made a mistake and I regret it ever since. I tried to do everything in my power to make it up to David after that. He never suspected a thing. How did he find out? Why now? It’s been eighteen years.” Mom’s eyes fill with fresh tears and her lower lip starts to wobble.

Putting away the shock of finding out my mother’s secret, I ask, “Okay, what happened before he started screaming? What set him off?”

“I don’t know, honey. He was sulking and drinking, but then he got a call. After he hung up, he threw the glass he was holding and started screaming that you’re not his.” She shakes her head in puzzlement.

“So, I’m not his?” I ask hesitantly, not knowing what I want the answer to be.

“Oh, no honey, don’t worry. You are David’s, I have no doubt.” She takes my hand and turns even more serious. “But Jenny, you see how your father is. He will never believe me, now that he knows what happened back then. Or even if he only suspects.”

“That’s why we have to get the fuck away. He will kill us.” I try to lift her by the hand again as I stand up.

I’m met with resistance and I look down at my mom in bewilderment. “Mom, we have to go. Help me out here.”

She shakes her head and murmurs. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“What?” My mouth drops in disbelief.

She nods to herself as if she already made up her mind, and then peers at me with a determined expression. “I love your father. He suffered a lot in life and I know we can come back to the way things were, Jenny.”

I blink at her and retreat. “You’re delusional. He won’t change, Mom. He’ll finally kill us.”

“I made vows, Jennifer. For better and for worse. This is worse, but it will get better soon. I made some mistakes and he made some mistakes. I know we can make this all right. You just have to disappear for a while. Let him calm down and rethink everything. You’re always triggering him, dear. He will calm down, and we will soon be back to the way things were.”

I stare at my mother’s crazed face, my eyes stinging from the unreleased tears. He’s finally done it. He broke her. Or maybe she was always like this.

“It will be all right, Jenny. You’ll be fine. You are strong like your father.” She smiles softly, her eyes already dropping as she passes out. Beaten, amidst the broken glass, slouched by a blood-splashed wall.

I swallow down a scream and get into action, knowing that if I want to survive, I can’t wait for my mother to get real. It’s her choice. I’m making mine for the first time. If I don't, I will only be getting out of here in a coffin, and that isn’t happening. Not today.

I switch on my survival mode and start thinking about strategy. Okay. I need clothes, money and somewhere to hide. Holding my breath as I reenter my room, and keeping an eye on my father’s slumped form the whole time, I move to my closet to fish out my pre-prepared escape bag. I toss it out of the window and move to my father’s lifeless body to take his keys out of his back pocket. Maneuvering my hand with a surgeon’s precision, with the adrenalin spurring me on, I exhale in relief when my palm closes over the sharp metal. I snatch the keys and quickly retreat in the direction of my father’s small office.

I’ve been here only a few times, as my mom and I were never allowed to get inside, but I know where my father keeps his stash. Just because he was throwing fists daily, doesn’t mean I wasn’t curious about what’s so valuable in here. When I was younger and smaller, I spied on his ass constantly.

I open the door with the key and slip inside silently, walking straight to his desk. After I open the last drawer, I move the gun my father keeps in here away, and reach into the not-so-secret department. I take one wad of cash and leave the rest. There’s gotta be at least fifty thousand stored in here, but I only take what I need.

I straighten from the desk and something on the side catches my eye. After pausing to make sure the house is still silent, I move to one of the folders at the top of the stacks.

It says Brody, D. on the top and I quickly open it to scan it briefly. Why was my father looking so closely into Brody?

Well, it doesn’t matter because I don’t think the sheriff found here what he’s been looking for. There’s nothing useful in here. But I do copy his address into my phone quickly before snapping the folder shut.

I see another one, this time the label says Lepinsky, M. and I frown. Why would the sheriff have Marcus’s file at his house?

I’m just about to reach for it when I hear pained moaning from the other room, and I know my time is up. I leave the office and drop the keys by my mother’s still sleeping form. Then I grab my shoes, which I left by the front door earlier, and sneak outside barefoot. Walking around the house, I slip the shoes on and go to collect my bag from under my window. I don't even look inside to see if my father has gotten up yet. I start running, and I never look back.

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