Chapter 7 - THE FIRST WHISPER OF RETALIATION
I did not sleep that night,
the pain was too intense,
and every time I closed eyes,
I felt his heavy hand gripping,
gripping the back of my neck,
slamming me into the hard plaster,
around five in the morning,
my phone vibrated on the nightstand,
the screen lit up the darkness,
it was an unknown phone number,
my heart began to race fast,
I picked it up with shaking fingers,
opening the text message quickly,
the message was short and brutal,
you are going to pay for this,
it read in cold black text,
you think you are safe now,
but you are dead to this family,
when I get out of here,
you will regret every single word,
I knew it was from Logan,
he must have used a phone,
inside the holding cell or jail,
or maybe it was his friend,
his friend Chad who hated me too,
I felt a cold sweat break out,
across my forehead and my back,
the threat was real and clear,
he was not sorry at all,
he was only furious at me,
I saved the text message carefully,
taking a screenshot for evidence,
knowing I would need it later,
when the court date finally arrived,
if I survived until then,
downstairs the house became quiet,
mom had finally stopped talking,
she was probably sleeping now,
or waiting by the front window,
for the sun to rise up,
so she could go to the bank,
and drain her small savings account,
to buy her precious boy’s freedom,
I looked out my window pane,
the sky was turning pale gray,
the birds were starting to chirp,
oblivious to the horror inside,
I realized I had to leave,
I could not stay in this house,
it was no longer a sanctuary,
May you like
it was a dangerous trap,
and my mother was the guard.
