Burning It Down, All the Way to Bat Country

4 hours later, and I still couldn’t move from the spot on the floor where they had left me after beating me to within an inch of my life. Bruised and bleeding, I hefted myself off the floor and to the bathroom where I could clean myself off. “This has got to stop” I thought to myself as I gently wiped blood from my face and neck with a wet washcloth. My face was a mass of bruises and I’m pretty sure they cracked a rib or two. I have three years left until I turn 18, could I really survive for that long, or would they kill me before I ever had a chance to be free? I finished the painful process of cleaning myself and the living room, then crept down the stairs into my bed to go to sleep.

I woke up late. How the fuck did I wake up late? This is bad, this is so beyond bad, this is catastrophic. I have twenty minutes to make breakfast for three people, all of whom insist on eating different things, before they go to work and school and leave me with a bit of peace. I got up and ran to the kitchen, starting on breakfast for my jailers, oops, I mean family. I had a huge stroke of luck, and just as I was getting everything on plates and to the table, they all came downstairs ready to eat. I quickly put their food in front of them and retreated to the kitchen. As I was cleaning the counters up, my mother walked in.
“Trinity, you need to clean the entire house today, we have people coming over tonight. The grass also needs to be mowed, and the hedges need trimming. Our guests will start arriving at 6 pm, so this all needs to be done by 5, and we’ll need you to make dinner for everyone, about 50 people will be here. If it isn’t done when I get home at five o’ clock, You will be locked in your room for a week, got it?”
“Yes Mother” I meekly replied, keeping my head down so she couldn’t see me roll my eyes.
“And be sure to wear your uniform tonight, you’ll be serving as well, I left the menu selection on the dining room table, use that for grocery shopping. We’re all leaving now, remember, have it finished by five, and I want dinner on the table at 6:30.”
“Yes mother” I replied again, and she turned and left the room. Moments later I heard the front door open and close, and a few minutes after that, the cars left the driveway. I sighed in relief after hearing their cars leave, finally, a moment of peace. I looked up at the clock, “Fuck!” I shouted, seeing as it was 9 am and I still had to clean, mow, trim, and shop before five. How am I gonna pull this one off?

Wow, I am awesome. I managed to get everything done by 4:30. How do you ask? Well, it turns out Matt is awesome. He saw me struggling with the mower and came over to see if he could help. I accepted his kind offer since my parents weren’t home, and none of the other neighbors were either. I was taking all the trash from the party out when two of the four bags I carried were grabbed from my hands. I looked to the side and saw Matt walking next to me with an innocent smile on his face.
“Hi Matt, I can do that myself ya know”
“I know, but I saw you walking and I wanted to help, considering the bags are almost as big as you are shortie.”
“Hey!” I replied, smacking his arm, “I am not that short!”
“Uh, sorry hun, but yeah, you are” He answered with a grin.
“Oh shut it” I pouted as I walked, he just laughed and helped me put the bags in the garbage can.
“So, I guess I’ll see you around?” He asked, I nodded and started walking back up my driveway.
“Trinity, wait!” He called out, and I stopped and turned around. He walked up and pressed a piece of paper into my palm.
“It’s my cell number, I want you to call me if you ever need anything.” He noticed my questioning look and sighed.
“I know that they’re hurting you, but until you ask for help, I can’t do anything about it. So when your ready, give me a call, I’ll get you out of there.” With that, he turned and walked back to his house. I stood there in stunned silence before a door slamming shut knocked me out of my stupor. I shook my head and walked back up the driveway and into the house. Silently walking down to my basement, I climbed into bed with one thought.

“How did he figure it out?”