Page 32 of Till Death Do Us Part

"I'm not hungry," Emma mumbled, barely audible.

"You're not hungry? You're always hungry! Don't be ridiculous. Eat your breakfast!"

Her mother's voice rose with each word until she was practically shouting. Emma picked up her fork and twirled it around the spaghetti, but her stomach was churning so much that she couldn't bring herself to take a bite.

Her mother leaned over her shoulder and pinched the back of her arm hard. "I said eat your breakfast, you ungrateful little brat!"

Emma let out a whimper of pain. "It hurts. Please, stop!"

"It's your own fault. Learn to behave, little girl, or else. Now, eat!"

Emma's tears started to fall into her bowl. She didn't want to eat, and she knew her mother would hit her again if she refused, but she couldn't get the spaghetti down. She pushed the plate away and burst into a full fit of sobbing.

"You need to eat something before you go to school," her mother said sharply. "Now, stop crying and eat!"

"I can't," Emma mumbled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"What did you say to me?"

"I said I can't eat it!"

"What do you mean you can't eat it? You're just being a spoiled brat and giving me a hard time!"

"I can't…."

"Just eat it!"

Her mother's voice echoed through her head, screaming at her to eat. She gritted her teeth and tried to hold back the tears, but they kept coming. As she cried, Emma thought about her favorite stuffed bunny rabbit and how, when she told her mother it was missing, she'd yelled at her for lying and hadn't believed her.

Emma felt like her whole world was crashing down around her, but she knew she had to do as her mother said. So, she brushed the tears out of her eyes and started to eat; the food seemed to be growing in her mouth and blocking her throat.

Meanwhile, her mother was pacing back and forth, ranting about how Emma was always wasting time and never doing anything useful. "You're lazy and stupid, just like your father," she spat out, her eyes flashing with anger.

Emma's eyes welled up with tears again as her mother's harsh words echoed through the house. She had always known her mother could be controlling, but lately, it seemed like she was getting worse. Emma tried to speak up, but her mother's angry voice drowned out her words.

Emma's face was pale, her eyes wide and fearful as she tried to explain herself. But with every word she spoke, her mother seemed to grow angrier. Her voice rose steadily until it filled the room like a thunderclap, drowning out Emma's quivering attempts at a rebuttal. Tears spilled down her cheeks as her mother's hand, cold and unforgiving, shot out, and her sharp nails dug into her arm. Pain bloomed across Emma’s skin as her mother dug her nails into her flesh. The pain cut through Emma like a blade; she knew there would be a bruise. She knew there would be questions asked in school about this bruise. And she knew she would once again have to lie and say it was her cat or her younger sister who had done it—by accident, of course. It was always an accident. No one meant to harm her. Of course not. Whatever she did, she had to protect her secret; she had to keep the family together.

The pain from the nails digging into her skin shocked Emma, and tears began to stream down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them away, but her mother just sneered at her.

"Crying won't solve anything," she said coldly. "You need to toughen up if you want to survive in this world."

Emma bit back a cry of pain, but tears continued to stream down her face as she stumbled back.

Emma felt like she was suffocating under her mother's words. She felt like she literally couldn't breathe. She wanted to run away and never come back. She had thought about it but knew she couldn't leave her sisters behind. Her sisters were too young to understand and too little to defend themselves.

Emma felt a wave of numbness wash over her as she watched her mother turn away from her and focus her attention on her younger sister, Lily, who had just spilled a glass of milk on the table. Lily gasped and looked at her mother, eyes wide with fear. Their mother's expression hardened with a mix of anger and disappointment, and her voice rose with each word that came out of her mouth. Her mother's voice was hard and sharp, the words aimed like knives. Emma saw her reach out and grab Lily by the arm with such force that it made Emma wince. Her breathing quickened as rage surged through her veins, and she clenched her fists in anger, fighting the urge to intervene.

Their mother yelled and grabbed Lily by the arm, shaking her violently before yanking her hair. Emma felt rage boiling in her chest as she moved to intervene before it was too late. Emma knew she had to do something to protect her sister. She wiped her tears away and took a deep breath, summoning all the courage she had left. Her sister was crying helplessly, and Emma ran to help her. She pushed their mother hard—so hard she flew across the floor and landed on her knees.

Emma then grabbed her sister in her arms and carried her to the bathroom, where she locked the door. Panting and agitated, she held her sister in her arms while their mother pounded her fists on the door from the outside, screaming at them to open up. Now!

PartIV

Chapter26

John frantically stuffed clothes into his bag, shoving it closed before slinging it over his shoulder. He knew he had to leave, had known it for weeks, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. His heart was pounding as he made his way to the door, ready to make his escape, but just as his hand touched the doorknob, he heard it: the sound of a car engine roaring up his driveway, loud enough to make him jump.

He turned, reaching instinctively for the gun he kept hidden between the couch cushions before he realized it was a police car. And not just any police car—the one he'd been dreading. The one that meant his time was up.

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