CHAPTER 26 - IT'S FINALLY OVER

As I walked toward the front door, I could hear her screaming inside.

At first, I could not make out the actual words but just before I opened the door I heard her say, "How fucking long, tell me, you owe me that much?"

I took in a deep breath and held it to steady myself. When I turned the knob, I could feel my hands shaking.  As soon as the door opened completely they both turned to look at me. While I did not regard my fathers stare, hers burned into me.

She was silent for a moment and then she began, "You knew about this didn't you?" she shouted at me venomously.

"I don't know what you are talking about mom," I replied, looking her straight in the eye. I had never been able to do that before but this was different, I willed myself not to look away. She took a step toward me and I took a step back.

"Don't you play games with me you little shit," she spat at me. I squared my shoulders to steady myself, I did all I could to look brave from the outside but I was trembling inside.

"Mom, why are you here?" I questioned.

She stared at me with pure hatred in her eyes, "Don't you question me, I will beat you till your nose bleeds." I knew in my heart that she meant that but I had to be brave, I had to make my stand.

She took another step toward me and I blurted out as sternly as I could, "Why don't you just leave mom, dad asked you not to come back here."

Even as the words left my mouth, I knew I had pushed her too far. She took one final step toward me, throwing her hand back as he lunged forward. I pulled my hand back and just before her arm swung toward me, I landed my hit.

My fist landed squarely on her jaw, dazing her momentarily. It was immediately obvious that I had never hit anyone before because I felt like I had broken my hand. I should have had Jake show me how to throw a punch.

Once she regained her composure she grabbed me by my shirt and threw me to the ground. My head hit the ground first, and it hit hard. The pain immediately spread through the back of my head and I winced.

She was coming towards me, trying to overtake me when I finally found my last ounce of courage. I threw my arms up, stiff-arming her in the chest and shoving her to the side and off of me.

"Looks like its time to teach you a lesson," she shouted so intensely that her spit showered me.

The fear was starting to overtake me and I returned to what I knew, I became a useless coward once again. The only thing I seemed to be able to control was my voice.

Throwing my arms in front of my face, I screamed back at her, "Get off of me." She looked at me with wild eyes, daring me to say another word in defiance of her. I screamed once more, "Get off!"

"Oh, you think you are tough, you little bitch," she screamed, an inch from my face and I could feel her hot, nasty breath.

I turned my head to avoid it and because her being that close to my face was making my entire body cringe. It was then that I felt something crash into the side of my head. I had no idea what it was but it was hard and when it made an impact, it shattered.

The blood instantly began to trickle down the side of my face. I could feel the warm liquid, slowly dripping. My dad was still in the room, just sitting on the sofa and I looked up at him with desperate eyes.

"Please, help me," I begged him but his only response was to get up and leave the room. I watched as he turned his back and walked away, fully aware that she might just kill me this time.

The next shot brought me back to reality, she punched me in the face, her fist perfectly hugging the indention of my eye socket.

That one really hurt and I screamed out at her, "Stop it, leave me alone!"

She just looked at me with crazy, demon eyes, "Oh, we are just getting started sweetheart, you want to bow up at me, this is what you get, remember that!" I arched my body, desperate to get her off of me but it did not budge her.

Feeling defeated and scared out of my mind, I begin to sob uncontrollably, "Please, get off of me." She smiled a sadistic smile and punched me again, this time in my jaw.

"Stop!" I screamed as loud as my lungs would permit me.

She looked down at me and spat right in my face, "Don't tell me what to do!"

Her armed pulled back for another hit and I closed my eyes, bracing myself as much as possible. I waited but the hit never came and I felt her weight suddenly lift off of me. When I opened my eyes, there was an officer standing over me, snatching my mom as hard as he could but she was putting up a fight.

Regaining my courage, now that he was present, I shouted at her, "I hate you and I never want to see you again as long as I live."

She pulled free of him, rearing her foot back, she kicked me with all her might. He tackled her to the ground but not before that foot found the side of my head. The impact was so forceful that it made me instantly dizzy and then everything went foggy, and then just black.

I woke up momentarily to a paramedic waving smelling salts under my nose. Looking at him, I could hear my mom shouting in the background but she was a good distance away, not in the house anymore, I went out again.

The next time I woke up I was in the hospital. My head was pounding so hard, it felt like every headache I had ever had all rolled into one. The pain was extreme and my body responded violently. I began to throw up, over and over again, finally passing back out.

I was in and out for a couple of hours and remember being sent through an X-ray machine. When I finally woke up, Jake was by my side. He was sitting in a chair he had pulled up next to my bed, with his hand grasping mine and his head resting on my stomach.

When he felt me move, he looked up at me, "You're awake, how do you feel?"

"Like a Mac truck just hit me," I honestly replied.

His face was of full of strain, so full of worry. "I thought I was gonna to lose you, I have never been so scared in my entire life." I caressed his face and he nuzzled into my hands, he seemed desperate for my touch.

"I'm sorry," I said softly.

He looked at me puzzled, "For what?"

"For not listening to you, you were right," I admitted.

"All that matters right now is that you are here with me."

He sat with me until they released me, refusing to leave my side. When I inquired how he knew I was at the hospital he told me what happened. As soon as he left from dropping me off, he called the police and then waited around the corner in case I needed him.

He said he knew my father would be too much of a coward to do it so he did it for him. While he was waiting there, he saw the ambulance whisk by him and said it almost killed him. He followed them to the hospital and then told them he was my brother so he could stay with me. Jake Stephenson, my Knight in shining armor!

When I finally looked in a mirror, my heart stopped. I looked so absolutely frightening, one of my eyeballs was completely red as if blood had been painted all over the white part. I had stitches exposed on the side of my forehead and every color in the rainbow illuminated the skin around my ear.

Jake was such a gentleman and never mentioned my appearance, although,I wondered what he really thought. When they finally released me, Jake wanted to take me to his house but I insisted he take me home.

"I am not leaving you there again Sky," he insisted.

"Jake, she is in jail where she is gonna stay for a long time, it's just me and my dad and I refuse to leave him alone."

"What has he ever done for you Sky, that SOB just sits there and watches you get your ass kicked, why do you even care?"

"Because he is my father, and like I told you in the beginning, he and I are in this together."

We argued all the way to my house and I hated that. He had always been so good to me and I hated worrying him. I just wished that he could realize there was nothing to worry about, she was in jail, everything would be fine.

I gave him a sweet kiss before I got out of the truck and thanked him again, for everything. When I walked inside my dad was sitting silently on the sofa. He looked at me but not really, it was like he was looking through me rather than at me.

I did not see any emotion when he first saw my appearance, he just sat, stone cold. At first, I did not notice the luggage sitting beside him. After a few awkward moments of silence, he finally spoke.

"Look Sky, you have graduated now, the lights will be cut off in a few days and you don't need me anymore," he started. I looked at him curiously, was he really saying what I thought he was?

"What are you trying to say, dad?"

Maintaining his cold exterior, he said, "I am leaving Sky." Even though the luggage was right in front of my face and I should have known, I audibly gasped from shock.

"What exactly do you suggest that I do dad?"

"You'll figure it out, your resourceful, I am sure between your friends, you will find somewhere to crash."  With that, he stood up and grabbed his things, headed for the door.

"Really dad, you're just gonna walk out on me?"

"What does it matter anyway Sky, you hardly ever here," he replied. My heart was sinking, wondering how this could not be happening.

"It matters because this is our home, and you are my father, at least you are supposed to be," I replied. He never even looked back as I spat out that last insult, just headed for his truck.

I shouted out the door, "What's her name dad?"

"Jessica," he shouted back as he got in his truck and drove away.

I stood there for a moment, dazed and confused and then reality came crashing down on me.

Dad just left.

Mom is in jail.

I have no home.

I have nothing and no one.

I attempted to sit because my knees felt weak but I missed the sofa and slid into the floor. There was no use to bother getting up so I just sat there, sobbing uncontrollably. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, dialing Jake's number.

"Sky, baby, are you ok?" he questioned with a frantic voice.

"He left," was all I could get out.

"Who?"

"My dad, he is gone," I explained.

"Sit tight baby, I will be there in ten minutes," he replied and I could hear him hurriedly rushing around in the background. I hung the phone up and continued to cry, it felt like I was crying out the pain of the last eighteen years all at once.

It wasn't long before I felt big, strong arms around me. He scooped me up like a child and sat me in his lap. I wrapped my arms around him and he pulled me close. He never said a word, he didn't have to, he just let me cry on his shoulder while he held me.

When I had cried out every tear in my body he finally spoke, "Let's go."

I looked at him curiously, "Go where?"

"To get your things, you are coming home with me," he replied.

He helped me pack the few things that I actually owned, only clothes really and we headed for his apartment. I was eerily quiet the whole way there, grasping the bible Mrs. Christy had given me for comfort. It was then that I saw the corner of her card sticking out and re-read it.

You, my dear, are a beautiful soul.

With all the world has thrown at you, your smile still lights up a room.

This book has gotten me through many trials and I trust it will do the same for you.

Go set the world on fire, you were born for greatness!

Somehow, someway, those were the exact words I needed at that moment. Those words saved me that day. They helped me remember that I was not defined by my parents, I had a different purpose.

I smiled to myself when I thought, "What would I do without my Guardian Angel and my Knight in Shining Armor?"

******

A/N

So, what did you think of this chapter? If you liked it, please remember to vote. I also want to say a big thank you to dystopial and Cxaxtt for all of their support, it means more than you guys know.