Living is a nightmare, suicide's reality

Chapter 6

When the bell went, signalling the end of school, i reluctantly put my things in my bag. I walked slowly over to the main entrance. Every moment seemed an effort to me. My legs wouldn't move properly. My throat was dry and my stomach fluttered. Frank came out laughing with Gerard. One look from me and his smile dropped. He knew i wouldn't walk home without him so he waved goodbye to Gerard. Lisa stood watching us both. Frank noticed her and went to hug her. He kissed her gently and my heart dropped. Dad would find out. And Frank would pay.
'Hey Anna,' he said cheerfully. It was forced, even he could tell that. He grabbed hold of my hand and i didn't let go. I felt safe with Frank. Well, as safe as i ever would be. On the way home, we walked silently. Frank started sweating when we got the to the beginning of our street. I began to feel vaguely sick. The feeling got stronger as we entered the house. It smelt of freshly baked pie. I wondered what was going on. We heard dad whistling to himself merrily. We exchanged a worried glance. I slowly entered the kitchen, afraid of what i would find. But all i saw was dad peeling potatoes over the sink. He spun to face me.
'Hey Anna. Have a nice day, honey?' He smiled at me. God did he know how much that frightened me?
'Yeah, thanks dad i had a nice day,' i said, hoping i sound cheerful. I obviously did, as dad beamed at me.
'Where's my little Frank, eh?'
'He's.. uh... doing homework,' i lied. He was probably hiding.
'Oh well get him down here, dinners nearly ready,' He turned and continued to peel potatoes. When i got upstairs, Frank was leaning out of the bedroom window, a cigarette in his mouth.
'Frank!' i practically shouted. He jumped and the cigarette fell out of his mouth into the garden below.
'Anna, you scared me! I thought you were dad,' he admitted more quietly. I shook my head.
'You shouldn't be doing that. Not when anyone can walk in,' by anyone i meant dad. He knew that.
'I'm sorry, it's just it helps my nerves,' sighed deeply. 'What you doing up here anyway?'
'Dad wants you,' i examined his face as he said that. He looked scared, but there was another emotion in there. Defiance? It better not be. Last time he was defiant he ended up with 4 broken ribs. He walked past me without saying a word. I followed him into the kitchen where dad was setting the table. When he saw Frank he gasped.
'Frank! What happened to your face?' he looked worried. A look of confusion crossed Frank's face. Then sadness. Then anger.
Oh God Frank don't, i pleaded silently.
'Guess.' Frank whispered.
'You're getting bullied? Oh Frank, ill have to have a word with your headteacher. I'll go round first thing in the morning son.'
Frank's face grew darker. 'It wasn't at school dad,' he spat the word dad out like it was something nasty. In our case it was.
'Well where was it? You can't go round like that. I need to know what happened,' he said, a concerned look on his face.
'You wanna know what happened?' Dad nodded. 'You want me to show you what happened?' He glared at dad then suddenly charged at him, pushing him up against the cooker. Hot water poured everywhere, over the both of them. They both screamed in agony. i screamed in fear. 'Frank, don't!' i cried. He was gonna kill him. That thought ran through my head for what seemed a million times. Frank grabbed hold of dad's head and smashed it against the wall. Blood poured out and dad closed his eyes and groaned. 'You don't like that do you, old man,' Frank spat at him. He threw him to the floor and began hitting him around the face. I shut my eyes. Maybe when i opened them everything would be back to normal. Mum would be painting in the corner and dad would be fixing the car in the garage. It would be back to normal, the way it used to be. But instead when i opened my eyes, i saw dad had recovered from his beating and had Frank against the wall, a knife to his throat. 'You wanna know what they do to boys like you Frank? You want be to show you?' And the laughter of my crazy father filled my ears as pulled the knife down, towards Frank's throat.