Story of My Life: Ch. 3

Chapter 3
Uncle Tim

By the time Twiggy and I reached my house, the digital clock in my car read 8:45 and it was dark out. The streetlamp turned off and the lights from my house illuminated the long driveway. You could see a shadow walking back and forth behind the blinds and the light from a TV. I sat in the car staring at the pacing figure and watched as another shadow joined it. The pacing shadow stopped and slapped the newcomer to the ground. I gulped and my hands began to shake.
“Want me to come with you?”
“No,” I turned to Twiggy, my face visibly pale in the dim light, “It’ll just cause more problems. I’ll be out in twenty minutes.” I got out of the car, grabbed my bag full of new clothes, and started walking towards my hell. My feet crunched over the rocks that lined the front yard as I crossed the grass and walked up to the front door. I hesitated before I opened the door and peered inside to see my aunt on the floor cowering beneath my uncle’s raised hand. He whipped his head around when he heard the door creak open and began to advance towards my small frame that was silhouetted in the doorway.
“And where tha hell have you been?” he slurred as he yanked me into the house and threw me onto the floor. The door slammed shut and he towered over me as I lay on the floor staring at him, my wide eyes filled with terror.
“I went shopping with Chase,” I whispered.
He scowled as I mentioned Chase, “I told you to stay the hell away from that asshole! What’re you doing sneaking around,” he hiccupped and began to sway back and forth, “with that son of a bitch?”
“I told you I was going…” I squeaked out before he grabbed the front of my shirt, lifted me up into a sitting position and slapped me across the face. I fell hard to the floor and nursed my throbbing face. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes as he kicked me in the side and I skidded a few feet away towards my aunt.
“You better watch what you say girl,” he began to sway more and more and I was having a harder time understanding what he was saying, “if you speak back to me again, you’ll get more than a little slap across the face.”
I nodded and watched as he advanced towards my aunt and me. I huddled up against her as she protected me with her bruised arms and we stared up at my uncle as he slowly walked towards us. Suddenly, his eyes began to close and he fell unconscious to the ground with a loud thud. I sighed and turned to my aunt who had tearstains on her cheeks and bruises forming on her face.
“Are you okay Aunt May?” I asked as I stood up and held my side.
“I’m okay, nothing different from every other night. How’s your side?” she asked, worry written all over her face as she stood up and examined my bruised side.
“I’ll live,” I laughed a little only to instantly regret it. Pain shot up and down my body and I cringed as it radiated throughout my entire abdomen. I glanced down and was relieved that my aunt hadn’t seen me cringe. Aunt May had enough on her plate as it was; worrying about me was just one more thing on her mind. I was going to be sore and have a pretty nasty bruise but I would be fine with a little rest, one large icepack and some Advil.
“I’m going to sleep over at Twiggy’s house tonight and we’re going to see a movie tomorrow if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure sweetheart, just be sure to be back before 11,” Aunt May said to me as she looked at me with tears in her eyes.

Aunt May was like a mother to me. She was my mom’s sister and they were so much alike it’s scary. Since my mom died, she’s set my curfew, made me eat healthy, worried when I stayed out late, and probably would give her life to protect me. She didn’t have any children of her own so when I went to live with her, her mothering instincts kicked in immediately. She and my uncle are my godparents and their life wasn’t always filled with alcohol and nightly beatings. My uncle, Tim, was an insurance broker and my aunt, May, was a stay at home wife. They had a good life and loved each other with all their hearts. They went to parties, had fun with their friends, went to movies, and enjoyed their time together. Their lives changed when my uncle got a promotion. He became the CEO of the insurance company he worked for. Everyone in my family was so proud of him. He had finally fulfilled his dream and was on top of the world. However, the problem with living on top of the world is that the only way you can go is down. My uncle fell hard as he began to find errors in the finances of the company and they soon began to lose money, lots of money. The company almost went bankrupt and my uncle was stuck with the blame. He began to drink heavily and had a hard time keeping the company running after that. The drinking only got worse and he began to beat his wife, and me once I moved in with them. My aunt got a job at the bookstore across from the café I work at. We visit each other on our breaks and enjoy our time together without having to worry about my uncle.

“I’ll be home before then. We’re going to see a movie tomorrow and then probably just hang out at his house for a while before I come home,” I said as I helped turn my uncle on his side so he wouldn’t die. He might be an ass but he’s still family.
“What movie are you going to see?”
“WallE. It looks so adorable!” a grin spread across my face as we walked upstairs to my room and pack a few of the necessities for my sleepover.
“Alright, just remember to drive safe and don’t get into trouble.”
“Aw, way to ruin the fun! We were going to go street racing and cause some fights!” false disappointment dripped from my voice as I finished packing my stuff and walked downstairs.
My aunt stopped me before I walked out the open front door, “Tell Chase I say thank you so much and that I love him.”
I saluted with a grin on my face, “Will do. Love ya!” I gave her a peck on the cheek then ran out the door with her calling her love to me. I heard a motor roar to life and light flooded the driveway as Twiggy turned on the car and opened the passenger side door for me. I threw my clothes in the back seat and collapsed into the seat holding my side and groaning. I had been holding back the tears until now so my aunt wouldn’t worry but I let them flow down my cheeks freely as I sat in the car and squeezed my eyes shut. The pain was throbbing throughout the entire right side of my body and my face felt like it was on fire. Twiggy put a comforting arm around me and began to drive the ten minutes to his house. I silently cried the entire way there and when we finally pulled into his driveway. He shut off the car and turned to me with pain in his eyes. He pulled me into a careful hug and we sat in the car like that for five minutes before I pulled myself together enough to go into his house and face his parents again. His parents, mostly his mom, fussed over me whenever they saw me with a new bruise or cut and I didn’t want to deal with that right now. Thankfully, the redness on my cheek had mostly gone away and only the sting and a cut remained so I would be able to hide that. However, if they gave me a hug I was screwed. I wouldn’t be able to hold in the scream that has threatened to escape for the past 20 minutes. I opened the door and slowly crawled out of the car. Twiggy grabbed my bag and we silently walked to his front door. There weren’t many lights on so his dad would have just fallen asleep by now but his mom would be up and waiting for us. I took a deep breath and nodded to Twiggy as he opened the front door and let us in. We kicked off our shoes and padded our way past the front stairs and into the living room where his mom was watching TV. His house wasn’t exactly a mansion but it was pretty big. The house had a finished basement complete with surround sound, big screen TV, and a pool table. The main floor had the kitchen, living room, dining room, and an office. The top floor had a playroom, four bedrooms, a workout room, and another office. I tried to hide my eyes with my hat so his mom wouldn’t see that I had been crying and come to give me a comforting hug.
“Hi you two, how was shopping?” her voice cut through the silence as we rounded the corner and faced Mrs. Laurence.
“It was good. We both found some new clothes and I have a new profile picture for online.”
“Do I want to see this one?” His last picture was his friends and him in their boxers pretending to be macho men.
“It’s not bad. I’m in a skirt, frilly shirt, and stiletto heels.”
“I’ll pass then.”
“Your loss! Anyways, we’re going to take over the basement tonight and see WallE tomorrow.”
“Okay, have fun you two. Don’t get into trouble.”
Twiggy and I nodded and started to head towards the basement door. We had almost made it before Mrs. Laurence called us back over. She was standing up and had a concerned look on her face.
“CJ, what happened to your face?” I froze. She had figured it out and I couldn’t lie to her.
“My uncle slapped me…I’m fine though! It doesn’t hurt much, just a bit of stinging.” Ok, I couldn’t completely lie to her. I didn’t want to worry her so I lied a bit. My face still felt like it was on fire.
She stepped forward and removed my hat to reveal the red handprint that had found a home on my face. She frowned and gently placed her hand on it, tracing the scratch that ran across my cheek. He had left a scratch because of a ring he wears all the time. This was the first time he’d scratched me and it hurt like hell.
“I’ll grab the Neosporin. Chase, grab some ice to put on her face.” she turned to me, “Sweetie, did he hit you anywhere else?”
I shook my head until Twiggy called over from the kitchen, “I think he kicked her in her side as well.” I shot a glare at his back, “she was holding onto it earlier.”
“Oh lord. Okay, make sure to grab a big icepack. CJ, you need to call the police on him. They’ll be able to help you.”
“I can’t,” I shook my head, “he’ll get out and then blame my aunt. It’ll just make her life even worse.” I stared at the floor, tears threatening to escape, “Besides, I’m graduating in a year, I can leave then and never go back.”
She held onto my hands in silence for a minute, the only noise was Twiggy getting the ice from the freezer and his footsteps as he returned to us.
“Just remember, you’ll always have a home here if you need it,” she smiled at me with tears in her eyes. I smiled back and hugged her; the tears finally exploded from my eyes and I broke down in her arms. We went downstairs and I curled up on the couch with my head on her lap and feet on Twiggy’s lap. We sat and watched TV for an hour before Mrs. Laurence said she had to go to bed. We bid her goodnight and I curled up next to Twiggy who wrapped an arm around me. We sat like that until I fell asleep and he laid me down on the cushions, draped a blanket over my battered body, and turned off the lights for the night.