Glimpse

She looked at my skin with an expression of horror as I looked down in shame.

"Lee?" She asked me. I looked up at her and my heart broke more than it already was. Her eyes were glassy with tears. At this point, Hayden was interested and curious about what was going on. He stood up and looked at what got Kate's attention.

When he looked at the huge bruises on my rib cage, his eyes filled with rage.

He looked up straight into my eyes. "Lee, who did this?"

I continued to look down. I could hear Kate softly sobbing by the sofa. I felt a hand on my chin and I flinched.

"Hey" Hayden said softly as he lifted my chin to look at him. My tears were already streaming down my cheeks. He pulled me in for a hug. "You know Kate and I will always be there for you, right?" I nodded as I softly sobbed in his embrace. " I want you to go and wash your face, calm down and when you are ready, come out here. We will be waiting for you and we will do this your way. Just talk to us okay?" I nodded again.

He let go and went to sit with Kate to calm her down. As I was heading to the bathroom, I could hear him telling Kate to calm down or they would scare me away.

I went into the bathroom and locked the door. I sat on the floor and began sobbing.

After mom left my room, she continued to curse me out as I lay drained on the floor. I felt as though she was right about me been a mistake and ruining everything.

My father had left me without looking back, when I seemed to gain some happiness grandpa died and my mom didn't seem to care about me since dad left. Maybe I was better off dead than going through all this.

I had thought about taking my life so many times but, anytime that thought crossed my mind I would hear my grandpa's voice telling me I am great and still have a life ahead.

And one time, I actually made the attempt, it was Kate and Hayden who found me. They took me to the hospital and lied to my mom that they needed me for something. Since mom never cared about what I did or with who, she just agreed.

They took care of me until I was released from the hospital and natured me back to life. Kate scolded me like a child and acted more like my mother should have been acting, more than I can say for my own mother. Hayden was so mad and hurt, it was the first time I saw him cry since we hit puberty. I really owe these two my life because I could have been dead by now.

The urge to pee snapped me back to reality. I got up from the floor and did my business. I looked at the reflection in the mirror as I washed my hands. All I could see was a weak girl, big puffy eyes looking back at me. I lifted my shirt and looked at all the bruises. I quickly washed my face and left the bathroom.

I found Hayden and Kate waiting for me, with the TV turned off. The moment Kate saw me, she got up and rushed towards me. She gave me a hug and kept whispering how sorry she was.

After what seemed like a long hug, we sat down and she took my hands in hers.

"You know you can tell us anything. You are my best friend and sister and I'm sure Hayden can say the same thing" I looked at Hayden who nodded in agreement to the last statement. " Talk to us. What happened?"

I took a deep breath.

I was laying on the floor after mom's ranting when she came back. She told me to pack my things then decided to just throw them out. When she had come back into the room she took advantage of the fact that I was laying on the floor and began to kick me. I order to try and protect myself, I coiled up to a fetal position. I kept screaming for her to stop which encouraged her to hit me more. Once she was done, she picked up the little I had and threw them out while I was trying to gain some balance.

She got back into the house and began to push me out. Screaming and telling me how much she hated me. I was a wh**e and deserved to die. I couldn't even walk properly because my ribs and back had already started throbbing. I didn't really comprehend what was really happening cause it was all to fast. Once out, she continued to push me out and instead of helping me the people around seemed to be watching. The only neighbor who would helped was away visiting family.

She is one sweet woman I called granny.

When we reached the gate to the compound, mom gave me one last push. Which I'm sure she gave and used all her strength. Because it sent me stumbling with my bag and I had to use the fence to stop the fall. I felt sharp pain in my abdominal area, I could hear mom still making a scene. I pushed myself away from the fence,I looked down and saw that there was a metal that was protruding. I was covered in a reddish color and when I looked at my stomach I saw a red stain.

I heard something hit the fence and took a quick glimpse, only to see my mother throwing random things at me. I picked up my things as fast as I could and left without looking back.

When I reached the corner of the street, I stopped to see how bad the wound was. I saw it wasn't too deep and looked around where I saw a small store. I went in and asked if I could use the bathroom. The cashier was kind enough to show me where the bathroom was.

I locked the door behind me and quickly went to the sink. I washed my face and tried to clean myself as best as I could. I opened my tiny bag to look for anything I could use for the wound. I found an old shirt that belonged to mom and I don't think she realized that she had put it among my things. I washed the cut as best as I could then covered it with the shirt.

I bought a bottle of water and decided to go to one place I never thought I would never go to.

I could see the sorrow in their eyes and I knew that this was enough. If they knew anymore, they would never want me around.