Eat.

I laid in bed next to Mario and stared at my naked body in fear and disgust. Blinking back the tears, I slowly got my aching body off the bed and pulled my clothes on. While pulling on my pants, I trip on a shoe, making me freeze in place and Mario snore. Taking a breath of relief, I pulled on my shoes and tiptoed past his mother's room, down the stairs and towards the front door. But as I put my hand on the door knob, I heard someone sit on the squeaky couch.

“I don't know why you're still with him.” A soft voice said.

I turned around to see Mario's sister, Mabel, sitting in front of me. I shrugged, not knowing what to say.

“I know what he does to you.” She mumbled, “Because he does the same thing to me.” I saw the pain in her eyes and opened my mouth to say something, but she beat me to it, “Leave him.”

“I love him.”

“Do you?” She asked, staring me down, “You have a choice, to leave and to never come back. I don't, he's my brother.”

I didn't look at her, instead, she got up from the couch and walked up the stairs without another word. Taking another deep breath, I walked out the door and to my car.



The next morning I woke up in my own bed, my legs feeling exhausted from the endless positions that I was forced upon. Feeling sick to my stomach, I wrapped myself deeper in my blankets and dozed off. When I woke up twenty minutes later, Joe knocked on my door and entered.

“You're going to be late.”

“I don't feel very well.”

“What are you feelin', doll?” He asked, sitting down on my bed.

“Feeling sick.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“I have a tummy ache.”

Chuckling, he said, “Seventeen years old and still saying tummy ache. Alright darlin', you can stay, but you know that if anything is bothering you, anyone in school that's giving you trouble, you talk to me, okay?”

“It's nothing like that, but okay, Pop-pop.”

“Anyting special to eat? Or does your tummy hurt too much?”

“'M not hungry.”

“Alright.” He sighed, “I've got to go to the shop soon, make sure you eat something nutritious. That means no donuts or potato chips for breakfast? Alright?”

I nodded, “Okay.”

Joe leaned in and kissed my forehead, rubbing it and then walking away. I stayed in bed for another hour and waited for Joe to leave. When he finally did, I got out of bed painfully slow and looked at myself in the mirror. I undressed myself carefully and saw the bruises that were on my hips and shoulders. I looked at my wrists and saw the bruises forming. I winched as I moved my arms to get rid of the soreness and get my mind off of what happened last night. But no matter how hard I tried, what happened last night was branded on my brain.

I curled up in a ball and reached for my phone, dialing the familiar number and putting it to my ear, hoping to God that he wasn't mad at me and that he would answer.

“Hello?” Brian answered.

“It's me.” I sniffed, wiping the tears off my face.

“Yeah I know. I have Caller ID.” He said, I could almost hear his smirk, “Why aren't you at school?”

“Can you come over? I'll explain it.”

“You want me to come over now?”

“Yes please.”

“Why? What's up?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Are you okay?”

“Not really.”

“Uhh, shit. I'll tell Mr. C that something happened. I'll be there in a few, alright?”

“You're in class?”

“Yeah, English but I'll be fine. I'll see you in a little bit.”

“Okay.”



I hadn't put any clothes on since I called Brian, but after sitting on my bed for another two minutes, I walked to my closet and pulled on a large shirt. Two seconds after that, there was a knock on the door. Trying my best to hide the more obvious bruises, I walked down the stairs and opened it, to see my very concerned Brian standing in front of me.

“What happened, Ellie?” He asked after I let him in.

“Can we go upstairs first?”

“Sure.”

I sighed and crossed my arms, walking up the stairs to my room. When we made it upstairs, he took off his shoes and crossed his legs, looking at me expectantly. I sat next to him and mimicked his sitting position, for a minute, we sat there motionless and played the waiting game until one of us decided to open our mouths.

“What happened, Ellie?”

“Last night,” I began shakily, I cleared my throat a couple of times, and looked at him, his eyes full of concern, “I was at Mario's house and we were arguing about something a-and he got really mad and he just-”

I looked down at the bed and covered my face, crying everything that I had been holding in for the past month. I felt Brian wrap his arms around me and place kiss on my head.

“It's alright, baby.” He soothed, rubbing my back, “I'm right here and I always will be.”