Postcards and Polaroids

I lied in bed that night, unfortunately alone. I hugged my pillow. Kellin was finally mine. All mine. I felt stupid, but I couldn’t help but smile. I heard his voice; his song, playing over in my head. He was perfect. And he was mine. Everything was going perfectly. I sighed. All I wanted was for him to be here with me. I just wanted to hold him. I wanted him to kiss me. I just wanted to be with him. I bit my lip, hesitating, but finally decided to call him. He answered after the first ring.

“Hey Jess” He said. This wasn’t his usual tone. Something was wrong.
”.. Are you okay, Kellin?” It was quiet “Kellin?” I said again. He was holding back his shaky voice. “Kellin.. what’s wrong?” I asked again.
“My dad’s here..” He finally said. My heart dropped. “He’s downstairs, him and my mom are fighting. I’m up here with Celine.” I bit my lip. I felt my entire body get cold.
“Come here. Bring Celine.” He was quiet again. “…Kellin?” I said.
The phone disconnected.
Kellin’s P.O.V
The call got dropped. Shit. I could hear the screaming downstairs getting louder. Celine hid her face in my chest. I bit my lip.
“I’m scared, Kellin.” She said. My heart dropped. I held her close, and kissed the top of her head. She hugged me.
“It’s gonna be okay, Celine. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know” She said “You’re the best big brother ever.” I held her close. Finally, it got quiet. Really quiet. I listened closely. You could hear a pin drop. Soon, I hear quick, loud steps coming up the stairs. I quickly put Celine down and stood in front of the door. Soon enough there were loud bangs.
“Open the door, you little shit!” My father. The first I’ve heard from him in years. And that’s what he says. Celine looked at me, her eyes filled with fear.
“Celine..” I whispered. “You know where Jess lives, right?” She nodded.
“I need you to go over there, okay? I need you to go right now.” She kept looking at me.
“I want you to come with me.” She said. I could feel my heart breaking.
“I will.” I said. “I’ll be right there. I just need you to go now, okay?” She nodded. “And I want you to tell her I love her.” She laughed.
“Ewwwww, you love her?” I smiled. I’m glad even through all this, she still had the innocence of a little girl. I nodded.
“Very much.” I said. She nodded. She was mature for her age. I knew I could trust her to get there okay, relaying my message. She hugged my leg before she climbed out my window.
“Be careful.” I called out to her, and then she had disappeared.
The banging on the door became louder, harder. I did my best to hold it back. Finally, he managed to break the door off the frame. I was pushed down with the broke door as my father barged in. Equally as drunk as my mother always was. He angrily kicked me. I refused to flinch at the pain. I tried my best to get up as quickly as possible. He laughed at me.
“Scrawny. Just like I remembered.” He said. I felt my face burn with fury. I glared at him. Large, drunk, a coward. Just like I remembered. He shoved me hard.
“Aren’t you gonna fight your own battles, boy?” He shoved me again, hard into the wall. I could feel the tears coming. I quickly wiped them away. This was my father. Every boy needed a father to look up to; a father to be their role model, and I had this. It wasn’t fair. All I wanted was to be with Jess, and to make sure Celine was safe and sound. He hit me again, hard on the arm. Why was this happening to me? It wasn’t fair. I shoved him hard and ran for the door. He grabbed me by my hair, and yanked back.
“Just my luck” He said, spitting in my face. “I have a boy, and he acts like a girl, with your faggot hair and your girl clothes.” The anger inside me turned to tears. The last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of him. I hid my face.
“And now you’re gonna cry!” He yelled, laughing at me. I pulled away and ran out of my room, and quickly downstairs. My heart stopped. I felt sick. My entire body went cold. In front of me, on the kitchen floor was my mother.
My father had killed her.