Dark and Dirty Like You've Never Seen

I sat in the nurse’s office, Aaron sitting across the room from me. He had a wad of tissues on his face quickly gathering blood. The nurse had already looked him over and told him his nose is most likely broken. I sat on the uncomfortable plastic covered chair waiting for the nurse to come back. She walked in with a bag of ice and sat it down on my hand causing me to wince in pain.

“Well you’re going to have to go to the doctor to be one hundred percent sure, but I’d say your middle and ring finger are broken as well. Looks like you pack quite the punch, missy.”

I lifted the ice off my hand and looked at my swollen fingers. Great. I saw Aaron out of the corner of my eye, glaring at me. I swallowed hard, but didn’t let him see the panic on my face.

“Let me go back in here and give your parents a call to come pick the two of you up.”

“No, wait!” I lifted up out of my seat. She turned and looked at me over her glasses.

“Yes?”

“Ummm … can’t I just drive myself home?” She doesn’t need to know that I don’t have a car.

“I’m sorry. I can’t allow you to drive with your hand like that. Even if I could, I’d have to get your parent’s permission to drive yourself home. School policy.” She walked back behind the curtain that separated her “office” from the “wait room”. I slumped back down in my seat. I don’t even want to think about what my parents were going to say … or do. I started swimming in my own thoughts of what I could do to get out of this when Aaron cut into them.

“You…” He said in a shaky whisper. I looked over at him slowly. I couldn’t get away from him in this tiny room so I just slowly raised my eyes to meet his. “You … will … regret … this.” He broke each word apart into short whispered stabs. I just huffed.

“What? You going to beat me up? Try to get me back? You wouldn’t hit a girl …” I whispered back, not really caring at this point.

“No. That doesn’t mean I don’t know someone who will. Your ass will be sorry you embarrassed me in front of my friends.”

“I embarrassed you? You don’t think a whole lunch room laughing at this shit all over my shirt was embarrassing?”

“No. What’s embarrassing is the fact that your only friend wouldn’t even help you. That’s embarrassing.”

I took in a sharp breath. He knew exactly how bad that would hurt me. And he knew full well that Lacy was the only friend I had, and even he noticed her flee the scene as fast as she could. I turned my gaze back toward my lap in defeat. I heard him chuckle, causing me to gag. The curtain flew back about that time and the nurse stepped back into the room.

“Aaron, your parents are on their way, and Angela, nobody answered at your house. I’ll try again in a few minutes, but I did leave a message. Aaron, you’re welcome to go wait in the front lobby.” She turned and walked back into her office. Aaron stood up and gathered his things. He started to walk to the door of the office, but stopped in front of me.

“You know what’s really sad?” He asked quietly leaning down next to my ear, his breath washing over my face. I tried hard not to whimper or throw up. “Even mommy and daddy are too embarrassed to come save you.” He stood back up and continued towards the door. I stared at my lap until I heard the door open and shut behind him. I let out a choked cry just as the bell rang for lunch to be over. No one heard me.

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It had been almost an hour before my dad called back. School would be out in about a half hour. The nurse relayed what had happened at lunch. He said he would be there as soon as he could, and apologized for not answering the phone earlier. The nurse told me all of this, like she had no idea what was about to happen to me. That’s because she didn’t. No one had a clue except for Lacy who didn’t seem to care anymore, and Frank, who has no idea what happened. Even Aaron, who didn’t have a clue into my personal life, could at least see how worthless my parents were. But the teachers here, they just turn a blind eye. If they don’t see it, it doesn’t happen. There is no one here I trust enough to tell what my life is like. I felt helpless. I feel like I’m screaming at the top of my lungs and no one hears a sound.

The nurse released me to go to my locker and gather my books and things to go home before sending me to the front office.

I slowly made my way down the hall, not in any hurry to leave. I made it to my locker and started putting my books in my bag one by one. I stared into the open door, making sure I had gathered everything. I almost shut the door when I saw Frank’s jacket hanging on the coat hook on the back of the locker. I quickly sat my bag down and pulled out a notebook and pen. I scribbled a note for Frank

“Come to my house as soon as you leave. I’ll explain when you get there. – Angela”

I shoved it into his jacket pocket and threw my stuff back in my bag. I shut the locker and made my way to the front office. By the time I got up there, I saw my dad walking up to the front doors, his face giving nothing away. I stood there motionless, waiting for him to get in the building and sign me out. I watched as he walked past me into the office. He showed them his i.d. before signing a paper that said he had picked me up from school. He came back out and walked past me again to the front doors. I followed after him, just a few paces behind. I glanced up at the clock as I walked out of the front doors. Ten minutes until the final bell rang. That’s about how long it would take for us to get home. At the earliest, I wouldn’t see Frank for twenty to thirty more minutes. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. I climbed into the truck next to my dad, sitting as close to the door as possible. He still hadn’t said anything. We made our way silently home.

Just a few blocks from out house, I heard my dad curse under his breath. He turned into the gas station on the corner after the stop light. I saw the low fuel light had kicked on. I waited for him to get out of the car and walk in to the gas station before I let out a sigh of relief. I pulled my phone out of my purse and checked my messages. Nothing from Frank, but I saw the time. They had just gotten out of class not two minutes ago. At this rate, Frank might meet us at the house. I don’t know if I wanted that to happen either. I don’t know what my dad would say to Frank. Or do my subconscious added. I shook it off. I didn’t want to think about it.

I shoved my phone back in my bag just as my dad got back in the truck. He looked over at me with a blank face before starting the car. I just started at my swollen hand. We got back on the road back to our house. He pulled into the drive way and jumped out of the car walking briskly to the front door. I gathered my stuff and followed him. I walked in the front door behind him shutting it gently. I started to walk toward the stairs but he stopped in the middle of the living room causing me to come to a halt.

“Does it hurt?” he asked without turning to look at me.

“Yes.” I said just above a whisper. He didn’t reply, just started walking back to the kitchen. “The nurse said I should see a doctor. She thinks it’s broken.”

He stopped again and turned slowly back to me. My breathing became faster. He walked over to me and gently lifted the ice off my hand and examined my fingers.

“She said it might be broken?” He asked lifting up my hand to look at it closer. I winced in pain once again. I just nodded, my whole body shaking now. Outside I heard a car pull up in front of the house and cut the engine off. My dad didn’t seem to notice. I turned my gaze for a second to see if I could look out the window for him. Just as I did, I felt my dad’s hand wrap around mine and squeeze. I felt the familiar crunch of my fingers again. I screamed and fell to my knees. He threw my hand down and walked back towards the kitchen. “It is now. Give me ten minutes and we’ll leave.”

I lay on the floor a few feet from the front door, my chest rattling with choked cries. I couldn’t catch my breath enough to let out a cry for help. I heard a knock at the front door. I pulled my body with my good hand to face the front door. There was another knock and a call from the other side.

“Angela?”

I barely heard Franks muffled voice. I took in a shaky breath and attempted to call out his name but it came out in a shrill cry. I collapsed the rest of the way on the floor just as I saw the front door swing open. A blurred vision of Frank came running over to me. I heard him saying my name, but it sounded like he was at the other end of a tunnel.

“Fr…Fr…” I attempted to say his name. I felt myself being lifted off the ground. My face was buried in a familiar scent of cologne and stale cigarettes. I took a deep breath, taking it in before passing out in his arms.