The Straw That Broke The Camel's Back

I was woken up by the sound of glass smashing against the wall. Angry words slithered up the stairs. While I couldn't understand what was being said, the anger behind them was undeniable. I sighed.

Father was home. And angry by the sound of it. 'When isn't he angry?' A snide voice in the darkest recesses of my mind whispered.

I shoved off the heavy fort I'd made around me and crawled out of my room. Mother had made me promise that I'd leave whenever father was in a bad mood, but I wanted to hear what was going on.

I tiptoed down our silver rug. It was thick and soft and I liked to walk through it with my bare feet because I liked to feel it's silky strands tickling me, and also to give mother less work. Father insisted that she wash the rug herself, along with every other chore she already did, beacuse it made sense to have your wife washing a rug when it would cost next to nothing to have a professional do the job for you. My dad was weird like that. He wouldn't buy a car for me because it was a waste of money but he had no problem taking mum out once a week to insanely expensive restaurants because 'a man of his status had to be seen at such places'.

"You stupid cunt! Do you know how much these cost? You just ruined them." The sound of weapons being thrown accompanied dad's angry ramblings.

"I'm sorry. Frank, I didn't mean to." A small, terrified stuttered.

"You never mean to do anything do you? Brainless fool, that's what you are. These are limited editions and you destroyed them with your carelessness." There was a loud thwack and mum gave a sharp cry. I ditched my ninja creeping skills and rushed into the kitchen.

My mother was crumpled on the floor amidst broken plates, glasses, pots, knives and everything father could get his hands on.

"Mum." I screamed as I ran to her. She was curled in herself, her blue blouse stained with blood.

"You." Father growled as he clamped his hands into my hair, pulling me away from mother forcefully.

I gave a sharp cry but it didn't register on his radar that I was hurting, he only pulled harder.

"This is all your fault. She started making silly mistakes ever since you came along." He shoved me into the counter before reaching into the ceramic bowl there and producing two small square gold objects. Cufflinks. They were pretty, engraved with a symbol I didn't see clearly, they also stank like hell. "It was a gift for my captain and you stupid bitches just destroyed it."

"What are you talking about?" I screeched, tears leaking from my eyes.

"She just stained my cufflinks with your bag. Now it stinks and I can't present it to the captain when he comes over for dinner tonight. If I lose my promotion because of you and your whore of a mother, I will make your lives a living hell." If I could speak beyond my tears, I would tell him that everyday with him had been nothing but hell.

My dad was an officer and he was aiming for the position of the captain once his boss retired. I didn't understand how that would be our fault if he didn't get the job but my father would beat mother up if the sun didn't rise fast enough.

"We didn't do anything.." I groaned painfully, trying to plead our case. At this point, my hair was peeling from my scalp.

"Really? So you didn't bring a bag filled with filth into this house? It stinks in here. I can't host Mr Jones and his wife, now can I?"

"It's not her fault Frank. Some girls poured dirty water on her because of a boy."

"Oh, I see." Father drawled in a smarmy voice, his hand pulling my hair harder. I trashed beneath him, trying to get his hands off my head. "You stupid whore, just like your mother. You went to school to fight over a boy? You are as useless as your mother." He pushed my face into the granite counter, hard.

"Let her go." Mother said firmly. Father let go of me in shock. I also stared at mother. I'd never heard her sound so assertive before. A slow, malevolent smile spread over dad's face. He clamped mother by her ear and dragged her to him.

"Getting bolder now eh?" He whispered in a dangerous tone.

"N...no..no. it's just. She's just a child. She didn't do anything." Mother's babbling ended on a painful whimper as he twisted her ear harder.

"Listen to me carefully Louise, I own you and your daughter. Your lives belong to me. I could kill the both of you in a second and no one, I repeat no one will question me. Do you understand?" He shook her vigorously. "Do you?" She nodded frantically and cried some more. "You have greatly upset me and as punishment for your  transgression, your access to the tv has been revoked and neither one of you will step out of this house for a week."

"What about school?" I piped up from my corner. Not that I wanted to go to school after I was thoroughly humiliated, but still.

He scowled at me angrily. "For that, I am replacing the cufflinks with your college fund." Mother and I gasped in shock.

"You...you can't do that! My father left her that money to go to school. You already spent most of it, now you want to take the rest?" Mother rasped angrily.

"You dare to question me?" Father growled, spittle flying from his mouth.

"You can't take that money. It's Kiera's." Mother replied, her tone unwavering.

I saw him raise his hand, but I never saw it move. Mother was standing in one second, the next, she was flying into the brick wall. I stared in bemusement at the crumpled mess that was a human being half a second ago. She wasn't even moving...at all. I didn't realize I was moving until I was beside her cold body. None of my frantic shaking roused any reaction from her.

"You killed her!" I bellowed, swiping angry tears away from my face.

"Shut your mouth. What difference does it make if she's dead?"

"I hate you! I hate you so much." I yelled at him, hitting him in the chest. He pushed me away like I was nothing but an irritating fly. I was thwacked over the head for good measure and the world went dark.

I floated between dizziness and consciousness. Here there was no pain, no feeling, everything felt...muted. I was in a lethargic state where I could see the stainless steel of our sink but not much else. I didn't know how long I existed in this state but I heard some voices, their tone urgent and demanding I pay attention to their meaning.

"You went too far Frank." A voice said disapprovingly.

"Stop lecturing me and tell me how to fix this."

"Your wife and daughter can't disappear without traces at once. Eyebrows will be raised and then you won't get the promotion on account of personal issues."

"Shit. Shit. Motherf*king shit." A voice that sounded like my father's yelled continuously, muttering several other curse words I didn't know existed.

"We don't have time for this. Let's get them to Dr Boyle's. If she passes away in the hospital, less suspicion will be cast on you. Accidents happen all the time." The voice answered wryly. Some more discussion took place but my head felt too heavy for my shoulders let alone enough to listen to dad and the other man.

Someone carried me. Their arms felt nice, kinda rough, but nice. No one but my mum touched me with gentleness. I was dropped on something soft, it wasn't as coarse as the other man's arms. Soon, I felt myself moving. That wasn't right, it was the something I was placed in that was moving. Probably a car. It was probably a few minutes, or an hour before the car stopped and I was being carried again.