Chapter 10 – VENOM
Chapter
Ten
VENOM
“Please, no more!” I beg.
I always beg, but it never helps. Mama never shows any mercy. She strikes my back again with the leather belt.
“Say you’re sorry!” she demands.
“It was an accident, Mama!”
The belt comes down again on my bare back.
“Say it!”
I accidentally spilled her coffee this morning when I brought it over to her. Tripped on the edge of the rug and sent it spilling on the floor and the side of the sofa. It made her so mad.
Mama is always so mad.
“I’m sorry.”
“Louder!” Another lash blazes across my flesh.
“I’m sorry!” I shout through tears. My gaze lands on my brother who sits like a statue on the sofa, afraid to move. He looks away from me, and I hang my head. “I’m sorry, Mama. Please, no more.”
My pleas die when the buckle of the belt begins to crash against my back and spine, splitting and bruising my skin in white-hot pain. All there’s left to do is hold my body tight and wait for it to end.
When Mama finally leaves me curled up on the floor, my brother finally comes over to me. The first touch of his hand on me sends me flinching and cowering.
“Marcus, it’s just me. It’s Ben.” I lift my head and look at him through blurry eyes. “Come on, let me help you.”
I let him slip an arm under me, helping me sit up and then stand.
I used to wonder why Ben never stepped in when Mama would hurt me—until the one time he did.
She got him real bad. Bad enough that he had to go to the doctor.
He came home with his arm wrapped in bright blue, race cars printed across the cast. After that, Ben never tried to stop her again.