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Episode 11: sTilL tHe sAMe

Whooo! I am on fire!!

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I had never called out of work before. Not until Monday rolled around, now it was Tuesday. Marcus was coming back today and even though the swelling had gone down my eye was still lightly bruised and my lip had a scar in the process of healing.

It felt good to stand up to my family. But how much had really changed? I didn't want to go to work because I didn't want people to see. Ask questions. I didn't want Marcus to see, what if he changed his mind? What if he realized I was just another fucked up person and decided I wasn't worth it?

I couldn't jeopardize my growing relationship with Marcus. I hope Mr. Hill would understand.

My phone rang. It was Charlotte, I answered. "Hey, how are you?" She asked. "I'm fine, just feeling a little under the weather," I said. "Yeah, Mr.Hill called he said you called out two days in a row? He said that's not normal, that you've never called out before," She said. "I'm just sick, that's all," I replied. "Interesting, you go see your family for two days and now your sick. Interesting," She said. "Charlotte please just let deal with this on my own. I promise we'll talk in a couple of days," I said.

"I knew it! What did I tell you Charlotte! Were on our way Lora. In this friend group nobody goes through things alone," Ricky's voice screeched through the background. The line went dead before I could object. I stared in the mirror assessing the damage once more, why couldn't they just wait a couple days.

I feel so horrible. I didn't want to verbalize what I had gone through back home. I just wanted it to go away. It sucked tremendously but it was my mess. The last thing I wanted was to make it anybody else's problem.

I tried to splash my face with cold water to make the redness around my eye go down. There was no covering my lip, I don't know how I was gonna explain that. Fuck, it was so embarrassing. What were they gonna think of me?

Ding Dong

They were here. I rushed to dry my face, being careful around my eye. "Coming!" I screamed. I rushed to put a hoodie on covering my head. Maybe they wouldn't notice?

I ran up to the door unlocking it. Charlotte and Ricky stood on the other side of the door holding wine and a bunch of take out menus. "Hi babe! We couldn't choose what to eat-what the fuck? What happened to your face?" Ricky screamed. Charlotte gasped almost dropping the bottle. They stepped crowding me. Ricky pulled my hoodie down, "Oh my-fuck Lora! What the hell happened?" He asked. "Honey, who did this to you? Did someone in your family put their hands on you you?" Charlotte cried out.

"M-My dad-he-he," I stuttered feeling my lip quiver. I couldn't stop the emotion from emptying itself everywhere. I didn't deserve this. "I'm calling the police, this is insane," Charlotte said pulling her phone out. "No! I'm done with them. I don't have to see them ever again," I said. "Babe, you don't have to protect him. I know he's your father but this is not okay," Ricky said. "Seriously, don't call the police. I just want to move on from my life, be done with them for good," I said. Charlotte put her phone down.

"I can't believe your own father did this to you," She said. Ricky grabbed the sides of my face to get a better look. "Sweetie, why did you try to hide this from us? Why didn't you want us to know?" Ricky asked.

"Because-I didn't want you-I d-didn't want you to see me like this. See me different. Look down on me," I said breaking down. "You didn't want us to pity you? Babe, that's not what we would do. I know the feeling and I promise you I will never look down on you for anything. It's okay to be vulnerable," Ricky said pulling me into a hug.

"I didn't want this to be your problem," I cried into his shoulder. "Lora, if it's your problem its our problem. We are here for you," Charlotte said rubbing my back.