CRASH!
My eyes opened.
What was that noise?
I could still see the “C” shaped moon through the dark arms of the tree outside the window. It was still nighttime. I rubbed my eyes, still tired, Mr. Bunny tucked underneath my arm. What was that noise?
I whispered for my sister, “Steph?”
I looked over to her side of the room. The lights in the bedroom were off, but I could see the outline of her bed was and it was empty; blankets thrown over to one side. I sat up and put Mr. Bunny in my lap. Stephanie was standing by the door. She had it opened a little bit and was peeking through the crack. The light from the hallway lit up some of her face. Her eyes were big like she saw something scary.
“Steph,” I whispered again.
“Shh,” she shushed back, putting her finger up to her lip, making the quiet face.
Then I heard the shouting. Who was fighting?
“Don’t raise your voice at me, you stupid bitch!”
Uh oh, daddy said a bad word.
I grabbed Mr. Bunny by the arm and climbed out of bed. I tiptoed to my big sister. I wanted to see what was happening too, but her giant head was in the way. Just cause she’s older doesn’t mean she should get to do whatever she wants. I wiggled my head under her arm and opened the door just a little bit more so I could see what was going on.
One of the kitchen chairs was on the floor on it’s side. There were broken pieces of glass on the ground too. Mommy was standing there wearing the same black nightgown she was wearing when she read me my bedtime story. Daddy was still in his outside clothes. They were both angry.
“Where were you? It’s nearly 4 in the damn morning, where the hell were you?”, Mommy yelled.
“What happened,” I asked Steph in a hushed voice. “Did Daddy come home late again?”
She stayed silent and stared ahead.
“Steph?”, I muttered while tugging at her night shirt. She looked worried and scared.
Mommy and Daddy just kept shouting. They always fight. Why did they always have to fight?
I rubbed my face against Mr. Bunny’s gray head. His fur was so soft; it felt nice against my cheeks. I covered my mouth as I yawned. I was still so sleepy. I just want to go to bed.
I turned to walk back to bed, but then my sister shoved open the door and ran out into the hallway. The door was wide open, and I could see Mommy on the floor struggling to get up. My sister was crouched down next to her, holding her hand up to Daddy, telling him to stop. Mommy got up and started yelling at Daddy, telling him to leave, daring him to hit her again. She started pushing and shoving him. But Daddy was stronger.
My sister just kept trying to wedge herself in between them. She kept trying to push them apart. Her cheeks were wet with tears as she shouted for them to stop. But she’s too little and they’re too big. She should just come back to our room before Daddy sees her crying.
I was crying too. I didn’t mean to cry. Daddy hates it when we cry. I didn’t want to get in trouble. Last week when I tripped and scraped my knee, Daddy said he would beat me with a broomstick if I didn’t stop wailing like a baby. I pressed my mouth and nose into Mr. Bunny’s tummy so that Daddy couldn’t hear me. But the tears wouldn’t stop coming out of my eyes. Why wouldn’t they stop fighting?
Then Daddy pulled his hand back and hit Mommy’s face really hard. She fell on the floor again. The tears in my eyes gushed out faster. I covered my face with Mr. Bunny’s back and closed my eyes like I do when I see something scary. Sometimes when I’m dreaming a scary dream, I squeeze my eyes tight and when I open them, the bad dream goes away. Maybe when I open my eyes, everything will be okay again.
SLAM!
I opened my eyes and peeked over Mr. Bunny’s head. Steph was cleaning up the broken pieces of glass on the floor. The chair was right-side up again. I slowly walked out of my room, past my sister, and into Mommy and Daddy’s room. Mommy was laying down on the right side of the bed like she always does. I walked over to her. Her eyes were closed, but they looked a little wet.
There was a red cut on the corner of her lip. I touched it lightly with one finger,so it didn’t hurt her.
When I did, she opened her eyes and looked at me. Then she closed them again.
“Go back to sleep, Cece,” she said.
“But I had a scary dream.”
She opened her eyes and looked at me. Then she moved over so that I could lay down next to her.
She patted my back softly and hummed me my lullaby. I hugged her tight like the way I hug Mr.
Bunny. My sister came into the room and laid down on Mommy’s other side.
I wonder when Daddy’ll come home.
