Page 60 of Day Break

Kate’s husband Donnie was… well… a man baby. Most of his time was spent in the television room, watching movies or playing video games. Yes, video games. He was constantly talking about computers but didn’t even really know how to hook up a game console to the television.

He’d brought along a set of headphones and was often yelling into them as he played a very detailed shooting game.

The graphics were so crazy that, once, when I was cleaning his spilled chips and drink and happened to glance up, I almost threw up at the amount of blood gushing from a character. Donnie was laughing as his character repeatedly stabbed the other until the screen turned all red.

I felt nauseous for almost an hour after that and vowed to never glance up at the screen again. Sometimes Derrick or Phil would join in the games, and the three of them would drink beer and yell at one another, all while the rest of the family sat around watching.

All except Lane, who was locked in the front office trying to work, and George, who would usually sit outside with Byron or head upstairs to nap.

At first, I didn’t know why his family came over every day. They could have spent their summer at the house they’d rented. After the first week, I realized I was the reason they hung around. Not because they assumed I was out to steal George’s money. No, the reason they drove over here every day was because I was free labor. Their slave.

When they wanted a soda from the fridge, all they had to do was call out and demand it. When they wanted snacks, I was there. Their dirty dishes magically disappeared, their messes were cleaned, their favorite foods and drinks were ordered and replaced weekly without them so much as batting an eye. They hadn’t even had to pay for it all, since it was George’s shopping orders.

I hadn’t minded at first. But then their requests changed from soft tones to yelling. Sometimes they were so loud about their demands that Lane came out and argued with them to keep it down since he was going to be on a call.

I knew that he was trying to help. For a while, it seemed to. Hours would go by without them yelling or demanding anything from me.

The following day, however, it would start all over again.

I was actually looking forward to having a full day off, away from them. Away from the crazy family and a break from all the work.

No matter what was going on in my life, I’d stayed busy through it all. The hardest times were when I couldn’t, such as in one of my many visits to the isolation rooms in prison.

For my own mental health, I needed to stay busy. Idle hands and all that.

Since Lane hadn’t come out of the office for dinner, I made a tray of food and carried it into him.

He was busy on the phone but motioned for me to set it on the desk as he moved his laptop aside, then he waved towards the chair for me to sit and wait until he was done with the call.

Moments later, he hung up. He rubbed his forehead and smiled over at me.

“How was today?” he asked, lifting the lid on the food.

“Good,” I said, automatically.

His eyes ran over my face and, as if he could sense my worries, he frowned. Then his eyes moved down, and I saw him visibly tense.

“Who did that?” he asked between clenched teeth.

“What?” I asked, looking to where his eyes were locked.

I hadn’t noticed or I just hadn’t looked. In the same spot Phil had grabbed me upstairs were four perfect dark bruises where his fingers had dug into my skin.

Seeing them, I gasped slightly. They weren’t the first bruises a man had put on me, nor, the way my life was going, would they likely be the last.

“I…” I started, but I stopped when Lane stood up quickly and started to leave the room.

I jumped up and rushed to stop him. Thankfully, I caught him before he left the room.

“Don’t,” I warned softly. “Please don’t fight.”

“Someone hurt you,” he said, his eyes glued to the door.

“They’re leaving for the night,” I said, still holding his arm. “They’ll be gone in a few minutes.”

Lane visibly relaxed. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

“Who?” he asked softly.