4. Maya
Maya
The trailer smelled of cigarettes and alcohol. I wasn’t particularly used to the smell—the church hadn’t smelled like that—but I was growing used to it. You had to when you lived with Jed.
I hated it.
“Where the fuck have you been?” a raspy feminine voice asked me. I squinted in the darkness of the trailer and dropped my bag onto the floor.
I categorized the yellow cabinets, shag carpeting, and dated furniture. Everything was the same from this morning, down to the shattered breakfast plate I’d dropped after her first hit, still laying on the dusty kitchen floor. I looked for Jed or any other threats before looking at my mother.
I flinched at how tall she was compared to me. Her body was much larger than my own, covered in a sweaty nightgown. Instead of making eye contact, I examined her white-blonde hair that always made me question my darker shade.
“Where, Maya?” she screamed. My back hit into the trailer wall as thunder erupted outside. I could feel something jabbing into my back, and I groaned at the sensation of blood dripping down my school skirt. At least I would be healed by morning. Thank God for the nail sticking out.
I swallowed and rasped out, “Study group.”
“Whoring yourself out, more likely. I saw the men who dropped you off.”
I shook my head. “No, just study partners, Mother. They didn’t want me to walk back in the rain.”
“Liar!” She growled, a manic look in those dark eyes as her hand snaked forward to grab me by my hair.
I hated that look in her eye—it was the one that made her think she was doing the right thing by hitting me, by purging the devil from me.
Jed just seemed to take advantage by joining in on the action.
I groaned as her hand tightened on my hair. She dragged me toward the kitchen sink and yanked open a cabinet, placing a bottle of hand soap on the counter.
“Clean your mouth out, now,” she snarled. “Liars are impure. Sinner.”
I began to whimper as she poured the soap into my mouth, filling it with water and making me choke on the bubbles. I couldn’t control my gut reaction to expel it, and bile rose as my stomach forced out my sandwich from lunch onto my mother.
Crap, crap, crap.
“You disgusting bitch,” she raged. “That’s the devil removing your sin!”
I let out a strangled sob as she flung me on the ground to rest in the vomit and kicked me in the ribs. I gasped as something snapped. I could barely breathe as the intense pain radiated through me.
She wasn’t done though. Never done. Never enough.
My mind blanked with the singular hit to my back.
I knew this punishment. Pastor Malcolm had performed it often.
I swallowed back the pain as my eyes found my backpack, only a few feet away.
My phone was in the side pouch and turned inward.
I stared at it, attempting to draw strength from the thoughts of my new friends.
I have no idea how long she hit me.
When the door opened, I realized my mother had stopped. She talked with Jed, a happy lilt to her voice as my consciousness began to fade. I couldn’t look at Jed, and he made no mention of me. Instead, they began getting ready for dinner.
As if I wasn’t lying on the floor in my own puke and blood.
I groaned as the door closed, waking me from my half-conscious state.
I watched the truck’s headlights fade as I stumbled to my feet.
Let out a string of curses before looking to the floor, I shook my head with disgust before pulling off my shredded hoodie.
I had no idea what I would wear to cover the bruises in the future.
Ripping the hoodie up further, I began to clean up the mess at a painfully slow pace.
My back was shredded, my polo ruined. Once the hideous flooring was cleared of blood and vomit, I stumbled toward the bathroom, cringing while pulling off my skirt.
Thankfully, it only needed a wash. Only my upper body had gotten super bloody. Lucky me.
I turned on the water in the narrow shower stall and rinsed my skirt in the sink while I waited for the water to warm.
I hung the skirt on a towel rack, then looked at my wan form in the mirror before taking off my bra and underwear.
I could see how bad the injuries were, but I couldn’t find it within myself to care.
Why care when nothing would change? I could numb out the pain. It had happened so many times before, and thanks to the cuts, my skin was healing. I wasn’t sure if I had the devil inside me, but my mother certainly did, and until she didn’t, this would keep happening.
Only four days left.
The only thing keeping me going right now was thoughts of my new friends.
I didn’t want to worry them. Not that I wanted to assume they would worry, of course. Still, I knew they were texting me; I could hear it while I laid on the floor. I wasn’t positive how I’d heard a silent notification, but somehow I had.
The spray of the shower was painful. I attempted to clean myself, especially my hair, of the puke and blood. Once I was finished, I walked naked toward my room and brought my skirt along, opening my window to let it air dry.
I couldn’t call my room a bedroom now that I had seen the boys’ house. It was a tiny space with a singular window, and my mattress lay in the corner with a threadbare sheet on top. I pulled on a loose sleep shirt, not wanting to get blood on any of my nice items.
Taking one last trip into the main living area, I retrieved my backpack and a kitchen chair, dragging them to my bedroom.
I locked the door, wedging the chair beneath the knob for good measure, and turned on the small light on the floor next to my bed, ignoring the spiders in the corner of the room.
Ledger: Text me when you’re settled for the night, firefly.
Anani: Peanut? Please answer.
Henry: Are you alright, Maya?
Sai: Maya, answer.
Marco: If I don’t get a response in five minutes, I’m coming by.
I jumped to text them back. I didn’t want my friends to see me like this.
Maya: I’m okay.
I breathed out before my phone began to light up with a call.
“Hello?” I said into the smooth high-tech contraption.
“Thank the Maker,” Marco muttered. “Why weren’t you responding?”
I didn’t want to lie, so I whispered, “I was with my mother.”
I heard grumbling in the background, but Marco sighed. “I understand. We were all concerned about you.”
I flushed at their thoughtfulness. “That’s sweet of you.”
Marco grunted. “You’ll let the twins pick you up tomorrow.”
I knew it wasn’t a question, but I still answered. “Yes, but can you tell them to meet me near the front of the trailer park? My mother was upset that I hung out with boys today.”
Sai muttered something in the background before Anani told him to shut it. Marco grunted again, “Yeah, that’s fine. How mad was she?”
“She ended up going out with Jed, so apparently not terribly.” It wasn’t a complete lie.
“You’re home alone?”
“Um…” I bit my lip. “For a bit. I was about to head to bed.”
Marco sighed. “Okay. Atlas is in the area, so he may stop by.”
“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” I said, panicked. “What if they come home?”
“He’s particularly quiet,” Marco offered softly.
I mumbled back, “Okay, I may be sleeping though.”
I didn’t like the idea of someone I didn’t know showing up while I slept, but Marco trusted him. Plus, I didn’t believe men that huge could be sneaky, so I wasn’t too worried about not noticing him… Unless maybe this one was smaller? It was unlikely, though.
“That’s okay,” he stated. “Do you need anything?”
I bit my lip, considering, then asked hesitantly, “Do you by chance have another polo for school?”
Silence followed.
“Why do you need a new polo?” Marco barely got out.
I thought fast. “Dinner.” I had been in the kitchen.
Marco sighed in relief. “I’ll have Atlas drop one by.”
“Thank you. Tell everyone I said goodnight.”
I hated lying. I hated it, but I forced myself to be good at it because I knew the truth would upset them. Even after knowing them for such a short amount of time, I could tell that these men cared for my well-being…so I would protect them from the reality of my situation.
Marco repeated my message before whispering goodnight to me as well.
I hung up the pink device, placing it under my pillow, and closed my eyes in relief while positioning myself on my stomach.
I hoped Atlas would just leave the polo at my window or something.
I wasn’t much in the mood for meeting anyone.
It had been a very long day.