"Thinking about you I fantasize; Hey, you've got to hide your love away. I hear people are talking about us; that's okay though. He's a special guy, kind of sentimental, thinking about you I fantasize." - Liz Phair
Katie sat on her bed, three and a half weeks later. Everything had changed so much. She had cried so many times in the last three and a half weeks that she was numb. She didn't sleep, she didn't eat, and she couldn't feel. Everything she had known was demolished; it had vanished, and now it seemed as though she was living a hellish nightmare.
Judy was gone. Carole had fired her the second day she was there. Kirsten and ben were gone also. Kirsten was living with Katie's grandparents whom lived in New Jersy. Ben had gone to a special school, because when Carole had found out that he wouldn't speak, she took him for deaf and sent him away. Katie wasn't sure where.
The younger girls were still in the house, but Katie hardly ever saw them. Her house had almost become a jail. When Carole had found out that Zac went to school, she hired a tutor that would start teaching the girls in September. Carole had had the entire house set on alarms, even the skylights in the bedrooms. They had no phones or computers in their rooms, and all calls were screened. Their bedroom doors were even locked at night. The windows had alarms on them that went off when they were opened, so that wasn't a choice for escape.
Katie had cried and cried for days, not knowing what else to do. What could she do? her house was no practically jail. Most of the day, she just sat on her bed, crying or reading Morgan's poetry books. She had nothing to do, and that just made her more angry and upset. She was filled with anger and distress, and it had been eating her up for almost a month.
Carole had informed them that she was getting re-married at the end of the summer. He already lived with them. He was a big man with a beard, and he was named Mike, and he was very, very rich. That was the only reason why Carole was marrying him. Katie laughed to herself and wiped her eyes. She hadn't realized how perfect her life had been until then.
She hadn't seen Zac since the day he was kicked out of her basement. She hadn't seen him, spoken to him, or heard from him. He had no way to contact her either. Katie didn't go out; Carole wouldn't let her. She was practically under house arrest. Morgan, Katie, and Sandra were put on birth control pills. They made Morgan sick, katie emotional and Sandra gain weight.
For the first week, he had called every day, sometimes as many times as six or seven times. Katie knew it was him because she had been near the answering machine several times, and she could hear him breathing into the phone, every so quietly, then slam it down with a frusterated grunt. After a week or so the calls had stopped. Katie knew then that he had given up on her. Would he wait until she got out of this hell? He hadn't called in two weeks. She was so scared that the only thing she had right now was leaving. With that, she started to silently cry again.
With all of her time, katie had begun to think about her father. She missed him so much, and he was bareley a memory in her mind. She remembered the exact night he had brought Carol home. She had looked at them all with such secret disgust it had made Katie had her the moment she had laid eyes on her. Her father was so much in love with her, because with her, she had been a completely different person.
She missed Zac so much. All she wanted to do was walk out of her own house and straight into his arms. She laid back down on her bed, still sniffing and gasping from her sobbing a few minutes earlier. She had fanticized it so many times. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. All day she would sit in her room, not doing anything but crying. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
She pictured herself seeing Zac again. She would run up to him, and he would envelop her into his arms, hugging her tightly. She could almost feel the way it would be to wrap her arms around him as tight as she could. She could almost smell him, feel his hair tickling her cheek. He would tell her everything would be alright, and then he would kiss her. Just lightly and sweetly on the lips, ever so gently.
She woke up with a start. She looked out her window, seeing that it was dark. She heard voices in Morgan's room. She groggily stood up, and her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten a real meal in days; Carole didnt' cook, and judy wasn't there. She opened the door to the bathroom. She walked across, then peered into Morgan's room. She was carefull not to be seen. There was Carole, standing in front of Morgan.
Katie gasped when she saw that Morgan had buises on her face. She had vomit on her shirt, and Mike was standing off to the side.
"Eat!" Carole screamed.
Morgan just glared at her, her dirty, stringy hair hanging in her face.
"I said eat." Carole said. "I won't have you dying on me. Then what would I do?"
"I'd rather die." Morgan said, her voice just above a whisper. Katie saw her green eyes staring into Carole's blue ones with such fierce intensity it made katie's spine tingle.
In one swift motion, Mike smacked her across the face. Morgan fell back on her bed, not moving. Mike had hit each of them so far. He had hit Morgan the most, then Sandra, then Katie. He hit her four or five times once on the back, and she knew he hit hard. He was a big man, and she had been in pain for hours afterwards. Her left cheekbone was still purple and swollen from a hit she had taken three days ago.
Katie couldnt' bear to watch any more. She went back into her room and shut out her light. She cried into her pillow. Please God, she prayed. Make this stop.
She knew she had to do something, but she couldn't. Carole had everyone that counted on her side. Anyone who questioned her, Carole had sweetly lied. Katie knew that no one would catch her. Carole always got her way. Always.
Katie was so scared she was trembling. She had seen how hard Mike had hit Morgan, and she wasn't moving. She heard Mike and Carole walk downstairs. She got up and crept into Morgan's room.
She walked over to her sister's bed, where she lay, her lip bleeding. Her face was swelled and purple, and she had bruises on her arms. Katie got a cold washcloth and cleaned up the blood on her sister's face, then got another to put on her cheeks to ease her pain.
Morgan's eyes opened briefly to look at her, then the closed again. Katie knew that Morgan hadn't eaten in days. It was something she did when she was in distress. It wasn't the first time she had done it. She had to be taken to the hospital four or five times to be tube fed since she had turned fourteen. It was a disorder she had where she couldnt' keep food down if she felt overwhelmingly worried or stressed.
Katie stayed with her sister for another hour or so before going back into her dark room. She sat by her window, not knowing what to do. She looked up out the window and almost screamed.