Coward

Mrs. Marcell was not at the house.  She did say she had to talk to someone, so neither of them seemed to think anything of it. But Scarlett still had other things on her mind.

"Johnny.."

"Yeah?"

Although it was unrelated to what just happened, she was still worrying about Mrs. Marcell. She didn't say anything bad, but the look in her face before Scarlett left had started to make her worried. She hasn't been acting normal recently, for the past week she had been constantly spacing out and trying to get her and Jonathan to leave.

"Is something wrong with your mom? This past week she's been looking really sad."

"I don't know," he says as he grabs a few band-aids from the medicine cabinet. "I've noticed that too. She hasn't been talking to your mom recently, in fact, she's been avoiding her. Maybe they've had a fight."

Her mother and Mrs. Marcell were good friends, and Scarlett had constantly wondered if she knew anything about her relationship with her parents. Scarlett knew she didn't exactly receive the same treatment as other kids, but she also knew she wasn't the best kid either. She figured everything they did was for a good reason, so she would grow up to be more careful and disciplined.

But maybe Mrs. Marcell wouldn't understand that. Maybe... Her mother had kept it a secret and she had figured it out.

But why? That wouldn't make any sense. She refused to believe that. It could always be a possibility, but it was most likely just an average fight. Who knows what happened between the two. She just hoped Mrs. Marcell would be happy again.

"Yeah. I don't know why I'm thinking about it so much." She replied.

Johnny said nothing, busy pouring some alcohol onto a cotton ball. Scarlett flinched the minute it touched her skin, but soon enough he removed it and the pain had gone away.

"Thanks, Johnny," she mumbled. She felt bad that he was the one that always had to clean up the messes she made.

He merely nodded in response.

Scarlett was beginning to think something was up with Johnny too.

After Scarlett was all bandaged up, the two walk in the kitchen to find Jonathan's younger brother focused on making a sandwich out of the strangest ingredients. Peanut butter, bananas, jelly, cream cheese, hot sauce, and corn flakes were all jammed between two slices of bread and waiting to be eaten. Despite Jonathan's rather bland eating habits, he didn't look very suprised or disguisted at his brother's concation.

"Hey," Jonathan said a bit too loud, causing Jude to jump at the noise. "Where's mom?"

"I dunno." He responded, his mouth still full.  "The car is still there, she probably just went for a walk."

So they went outside, finding that his mother's car was, in fact, still there. "It's okay." Scarlett said. "We can just wait till she comes back. She said she had to talk to someone, right?"

Jonathan doesn't respond to her, instead he scans around the area. Finally, he locks his gaze on Scarlett's house and says, "Come on. We're going to your house."

"Why?" Scarlett wondered out loud. He never went over there when her parents were around, simply because they said the house was too dirty. That, and they were probably too ashamed of her so much that they didn't like to be together with her in public.

But this time, they were home. And she'd get punished for it.

"Why not?" He responds.

"Because mommy and daddy will get mad at me."

"And why is that? My parents don't mind when you come over," He said, starting to get tense.

Where was he going with this? Why did he look so mad and suspicious of Scarlett? Did she do something wrong again? Maybe he was mad about the fight.

"Because your parents are too nice to me." She replies, truthfully.

He sighs, continuing to walk across the street. Scarlett still follows him, but she doesn't go inside the house. Instead, she stands on the porch, crossing her arms and refusing to move an inch.

"Scarlett. Move," He says, rather demanding.

"No." Scarlett didn't want Johnny to go inside, but she was also annoyed with his attitude.

"Listen, if your parents get mad at you, blame it all on me. Tell them I was looking for my mom."

"But-"

He walks inside, ignoring her. She didn't want to give in, but she wasn't just going to let Johnny go in without her. There, he found his mother, along with Scarlett's parents. And even stranger to Scarlett, Mrs. Marcell was yelling, looking like she was about to burst at any second.

Mrs. Marcell never yelled.

"Bastards! How could you do this to your child? And even worse, Jane, you've lied to me this whole time! We've been friends for what, 6 years now? I can't believe I was so ignorant! You des-"

"Mom." Jonathan interuppts.

She turns around abruptly at the sudden disturbance. The woman looked absolutely terrified of her son. "Johnny... I-I thought I told you to take Scarlett to the park? You aren't supposed to be here now."

"I was looking for you..."

What was going on? Why did Jonathan look so calm? He didn't look the slightest bit surprised at all this chaos.

"Mrs. Marcell, why are you yelling? My parents didn't do anything wrong."

"Didn't do anything wrong? Oh my god, they've brainwashed you. You poor girl." She pauses for a moment, then rushes over to Scarlett and rolls up her sleeve.

"This-" She points to the scars embedded on her arm. "This is not normal! And neither is wearing a fucking sweater two sizes to big in July! Parents should not burn, cut, or hit their children! No matter the circumstances! And God, look at her face and her legs! Have you taken a good look at how bony and pale they are? Christ, I wouldn't be surprised if you two fucking starve her!"

Scarlett was a bit shook at how loud she was being, and how angry she was looking all of a sudden. "But, I deserve it." She states as if it's totally obvious. "I've been a bad girl. Just yesterday, I wrinkled the couch covers."

That just about did it for Mrs. Marcell. She was frozen in shock, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. She stared at Scarlett, then back at her parents. Her father looked like he wanted to kill her, her mother looked bored and disinterested, and Jonathan seemed conflicted, like he didn't know if he should be angry, sad, or shocked.

"Wrinkled the couch covers..." Mrs. Marcell muttered. " Wrinkled the couch covers... She deserves to get beaten and starved over wrinkling the fucking couch covers. Honey, please, I need you to realize that your parents are terrible people. You do not deserve any of the treatment that you get, and your parents deserve to go to jail."

Go to jail? What was happening right now? Were her parents really that bad? Should she believe her?

Before anyone else can take action, her father grabs Scarlett and says, "Don't listen to her. Go upstairs and pack a bag. You too, Jane. Be back down here in 5 minutes. We're leaving."

"But daddy-"

"Shut the fuck up and do as I say, bitch!"

Scarlett resists the urge to cry and obeys him, rushing up the stairs and stuffing a bag full of her things. When she gets back downstairs, she notices Jonathan looking much angrier than her dad.

"Listen here, you cunt-"

"Jonathan!" His mother yells, shocked that he knew such a word.

" -you are a fucking coward if you think running away from here will solve all your problems. You don't deserve any of the money you've gotten, and neither does your wife, because all you are is a fucking trust fund baby that does nothing but sit on your lazy ass and get paid. Do you think I believed Scarlett when she said you were on a business trip? Or when she said you didn't have enough money to give her food? No, and if something doesn't go your way, all you people do is fucking whine and beat up your child because she is powerless against you."

Everyone, even Scarlett's mother, looked at Jonathan in shock. He knew how to keep his mouth shut, and on the rare occasion that he went on a rampage, he always had a good reason.

Did Jonathan know about this the whole time? Had he kept it hidden from her?

If these two were getting so worked up over what she felt was normal, something had to be wrong. But who could she trust? Her own parents, or Jonathan and his mother?

She wasn't prepared for this. She was already shook up from the incident with the kids, and now she had to deal with this?

She wanted to stick up for her parents, but she couldn't. As soon as she heard Mrs. Marcell, her view on things had changed. Something in the back of her head told her that this whole scene was wrong. Perhaps she was naive for believing her parents lies this whole time, but what else was she to do? If no one explicitly stated that this was bad, was she really going to listen to a stupid voice in her head that told her to rebel against the people who raised and gave birth to her? And no less, at 10 years old.

Scarlett's father had enough. He picks Scarlett up and throws her over her shoulder, heading over to their car with her mother behind them. Scarlett desperately tries to break free of her father's grip, but she was too weak. "Daddy! Stop it!" She screams. "Why are we leaving?!"

"Because this fucking whore and her bitchy son can't mind their own business!"

He throws Scarlett in the backseat, squirming and trying her hardest to escape. But the minute her mother and father step in the car, they lock the doors. She couldn't get out, all she could do was sit in the car and wait for them to leave.

"Jonathan!" She yells.

"I'm sorry, Scarlett." He responds, seeming to accept the fact that he couldn't do anything either.

"Why are you sorry? We'll see each other again!"

Scarlett wasn't going to beleive that this was the last time they'd see each other. Her father wasn't going to just drive off, leaving this house here without even selling it! He was a coward, but for him to go to such extreme lengths to avoid this would be crazy.

Before Jonathan can respond to Scarlett, her father drives off.

She didn't care if her father hurt her every once in a while, she didn't care if she went without food for one day. She was already used to it. She could fend for herself. All she wanted to do was go back. If she could meet them again she would gladly deal with it.

So she waited. She waited until they got to wherever they were going and for the minute her father would decide it had been long enough and they would step back inside the house.