Hidden

She looked at me, her dark eyes pert. "Please, dear, tell me."

I gritted my teeth and swallowed. "My....my father did it."

The words burned as they came out, as if it were blasphemy for me to utter them. They ripped themselves out of my vocal cords, and seemed to fly across the room, crashing into the wall wtih a force to be reckoned with.

"Your daddy did this to you? We should call the police. Joe!" she called.

"No!" I immediately shouted. "No. He'll just beat me even worse when he gets out."

"But honey, he'll be in there a long time, and you'll be a grown man by the time he's released."

"What is it, Bev? He's awake now? Good to see you're doing better, son."

The man stepped in, and a little black boy was standing behind me.

"What happened to him?" the boy asked.

"His daddy was mean to him. Go play over with Jackson and Alex for a while," Bev ordered quietly.

The boy obediently left, going out the back door.

"I think I'm going to go outside. You know, get some fresh air."

So I stood and left the dim house.