Chapter 43.5
" Rebel With A Cause "
Rochelle Quinn's POV:
- Warning: Abuse mentioned -
I remember when I was 8 years old, my foster mother at the time was in an abusive relationship that she tried to shield Rowan and I from. Her husband was an alcoholic with a volatile temper, but she loved him too much to leave him.
Images of her flash into my mind from time to time. Images of busted lips and broken ribs. Blooded noses and black eyes.
The woman with soft eyes looks over me, her lip cut open and her cheek bruised, and she tucks me into the small bed across from Rowans and she moves her face closer to mine, lining up my ear with her lips.
"Every monster in this universe has a sob story, be careful who you help."
And them words stuck with me, as did the image. Little did I know that just 4 years later, that image would be me. A 12 year old girl with a busted lip and bruised body trying to comfort someone who became a victim to a monster with a sob story.
The problem with this world is that too many people stand around and do nothing to stop evil. Abuser's are given too many chances and people are too willing to read stories about victims being saved than save a victim themselves.
The problem in this world isn't just the oppressors.
It's the bystanders too.
The people who sit around and do fuck all while people suffer.
Just because something isn't directly affecting them doesn't mean it isn't their fucking issue.
It's everyone's issue until it stops.
The girl with bubblegum pink hair and blue eyes is one of the bystanders.
The girl with bubblegum pink hair and blue eyes is one of the people that stand around and do nothing.
The girl with bubblegum pink hair and blue eyes stood by and watched as I was beaten by a coward.
The girl with bubblegum pink hair and blue eyes stood by and watched as Ivan was beaten by a coward, as Alec was, as Sky was, Bodhi, Reagan, Lana.
The girl then stood up in court and defended an abuser.
The girl stood up in court and made me out to be a liar; She defended a man who had committed such atrocities that he should've been made to suffer the same pain that we had.
The girl had murdered her foster mother, another abuser, in cold blood.
The girl had apparently tortured her foster mother in the same barbaric and brutal way I had tortured her foster father.
To the police, she and I were the same.
To the police, we were both the monsters with a sob story.
-
"Oh hell to the motherfucking no." I turned back around and started punching the wall, not even wincing as the stinging pain shot up my arm. "You motherfuckers! Get me the hell out of here! I didn't fucking agree to this you stupid dick. FUCK!"
"Rochelle, I.."
"Shut up." I held my head in my hands and slid my body down the wall, clutching my knees to my chest. "I'm going to stab that fucker."
I jumped back up and started punching the wall relentlessly, not even pausing as the blood on my fist started oozing down my arm.
" You."
Punch.
"Stupid."
Punch.
"Fucking."
Punch.
"Pig."
Punch.
"Let."
Punch.
"Me."
Punch.
"The."
Punch.
" Fuck."
Punch.
" Out. Of. Here."
Punch. Punch. Punch.
"No!" I flew back around to face her, my hand burning from the cuts etched onto my skin. "I mean stop, please."
"Fuck off, Raine." I almost growled the words at her. "Shut the fuck up before I ruin your pretty little face. Bulldog and Bitch aren't here to stop me now."
She frowned as she gazed into my rage-filled eyes. "Karma finally caught up to me."
"Somehow I doubt that very, very much."
"Why not?"
"You're still breathing."
"It didn't go that far, Rochelle." She flinched as though she was expecting me to hit her. "Rocky, I guess I finally started to feel the same way you felt. Experiencing what happened to you has helped me understand."
The words sounded unnatural coming from her mouth, I just wanted to hit her.
Payback for what you did to us, bitch.
"You'll never understand what happened to us, Raine. It's insulting that you even believe that you have."
You need to go home. Don't react. He wants you to react.
"I know everything that happened to you. I know everything that happened in that house, even the things with Ivan." She took a step towards me, reaching out her hand hesitantly.
Fuck going home, that bitch is going to die.
"Get away from me." I snapped, taking a menacing step forward. My fist ached with the need to hit her, to make her feel the pain that she caused, to make her suffer like we did.
"Rock-"
"Get away from me before I smash your skull to pieces." She seemed to hear the threat in my voice and she started to back away, holding her hands up in surrender.
"I understand, Rocky. You have every right to hate me af-"
I cut her off.
"Hate doesn't even begin to describe what I feel towards you, Raine. You were the perfect princess. They adored you, never laid a hand on you. I'm 18 years old and I still struggle to sleep alone in case my foster parent becomes too angry and needs a punching bag to help with their anger. I still wake up drenched in sweat after recalling another night of 'fun'. I still have nightmares about memories that have nothing to do with me aside from the fact I was there!"
"Roch-"
"You don't get to tell me you understand or that 'karma' caught up to you. Trust me, Raine, if you had gone through the same things as I did, if you had witnessed the same shit that I have, you wouldn't be breathing. You'd be lay dead on a tree somewhere with a noose around your neck."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She looked heartbroken at my words, and frankly I didn't care.
"Is this where I say sorry? Is this how the story goes? You say sorry and suddenly all is forgiven? No, Raine, you will never be able to take back what you caused. I'm not lying when I say that if my brothers didn't need me, I would willingly stop your heart from beating right now and do the time without any regrets."
And then she smiled at me- sad and desolate. "You were always the fearless one, Rochelle Quinn, always the rebel with a cause. Despite it all, I always respected you for that. You hold your strength the way most men hold a gun, without fear or hesitation."
"Your wise words won't change anything, Raine. You might as well give up now."
"You don't believe me?"
"I'll never believe you."
"Can't you see I'm trying here, Rock?" Her eyes pleaded with me to work with her, but I ignored it.
Rock. As if we're friends.
I didn't owe her shit.
I scoffed, shaking my hand as it began to sting. "Try a little fucking harder and maybe I'll be a little bit more sympathetic."
She doesn't reply then, so I move away from her and sit down in the corner of the cell.
In a matter of 6 hours, my entire life had changed.
They were both dead.
Dawson had managed to irritate me more than a parasite ever could.
I had reunited with Jake McCall. The overly happy and enthusiastic cop who had been with Dawson when I was arrested for killing Bulldog. The same person who had stole cookies and sneaked them into my cell. The same person who had gotten Alec and Bodhi out of so much shit when we were kids.
And Raine.
Taking a deep breath, my voice comes out quieter than before. "You knew what he did, don't you?" Her head shot up, her gaze meeting mine. "You knew how he punished me when you made up that bullshit lie?"
She bit her lip, but didn't reply.
"You know he used Ivan to hurt me? He destroyed Ivan to hurt me?"
I push my body up, quickly slipping a hair pin into my pocket. Moving over to the table, I gripped the metal chair and picked it up.
"You're going to pay for what you did to us."
**********
Hi Everyone!
The Cast and Characters chapter has been updated with some information regarding the characters in this book.
Thank you all for reading this chapter!
All my love,
Alaska xx