“What did you say, you little shit?” Lucinda snarled, enraged with all grief gone from her face. She struck me in the chest before I could defend myself. I dropped to my knees with the wind knocked out of me. Her next blow was with the coffee cup that had been sitting empty on the table. She swung back and hit me across the side of my head, making the room spin out of control as blinding pain gripped my skull. I curled up in a ball, trying to protect myself from her rage that burned out of control, showering me with one blow after another. When her hands began to fall feebly, she resorted to kicking me as her anger reached a climax. Time lost all meaning as I let my mind float away, becoming numb to the beating I was taking. I willed myself to find my happy place, which had changed over the years to suit my age. For a long time it centered on Kevin and me being free from this madness, but recently it had changed to include Max. His image was never hard for me to remember and I allowed myself to sink into his arms as the trailer and Lucinda faded away.
I woke sometime later, unaware of how much time had passed. A deathly pale Kevin was holding my hand, crying silently when I finally opened my eyes.
“Where’s Lucinda?” I asked groggily.
“She left a while ago. I was so scared, I couldn’t wake you up,” he said.
“You couldn’t?” I asked, sitting up. My stomach dropped at my movements. I lurched to my feet and rushed to the bathroom as my stomach released its contents. I rested my head weakly against the side of the sink. I groaned as a sharp stabbing pain shot through from the top of my head and traveled down my body. I reached up to touch the sensitive spot with my fingertips and was dismayed when they came back sticky with blood.
“Kevin, can you hand me a wet rag?” I asked, trying to keep my tone even so I wouldn’t alarm him.
He nodded his head and grabbed the washcloth from the shower. He kept his eyes firmly on me as he anxiously wet the rag.
He handed it to me still dripping wet, but I didn’t complain.
“Kevin, I think I have a concussion,” I said after I washed the blood away as much as I could.
“What does that mean?” he asked frightened.
“It means my head is sick.”
“Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“I don’t think so, but I have a very important job for you.”
“What is it?” He asked, standing up taller.
“I need you to make sure I don’t fall asleep again. Do you think you can do that?”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure exactly, but I know from watching TV shows they always talk about how you shouldn’t fall asleep.”
“Is it bad that you already fell asleep?” Kevin asked worriedly.
“I don’t think so, bud. Why don’t we go to my room and we can read some more of ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.’”
“Does your head hurt too much to read?”
“I was going to let you read to me. You’re reading skills put mine to shame anyway,” I added, making him flush at my praise.
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious. If I was half the reader you are when I was nine, I’d be a genius.”
“You think so?” He asked as we settled in on my bed.
“Of course I do, champ, you’re one smart guy.”
“I don’t feel all that smart sometimes in class.”
“That’s not your fault, bud. It’s because we’ve moved so much and missed so much school. If we never moved you’d be running circles around the other kids with your grades.”
“Katelyn, I wish it was someday soon now.”
“Me too,” I said, saddened at how defeated he sounded.
“Someday soon, it will be just us,” he said, opening up his book where we had previously left off. “Well, Max too, if you want,” he added, mentioning Max for the first time in weeks.