TW for violence/physical abuse

My uncle was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, glaring up at me as I descended. He reached up and grabbed me by the hair, hard.

“O-ow!” Well that hurt, I’m sure he ripped out some hair.

“Get over here brat, what was takin’ ya so damn long!”

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t hear y-” How long had he been calling me?? Any longer and he probably would have come up to my room.

“Shaddup! Yur goin’ outside!” He started dragging me by my hair to the front door, which had been left open for who knows how long. There was a puddle forming inside from the rain and water sloshing over the front deck, and the cold air was seeping in. I shivered, thinking of how much danger I’d be in if he forced me into the water. Is he really throwing me out?!

I caught a glimpse of Aunt Bea, sitting in her usual spot on the couch. She wasn’t even looking my way, just staring blankly at the t.v., as if this wasn’t even happening.

Georgi grasped my arms tightly, there would most likely be bruises there the next morning. At least there’s no school tomorrow, I won’t be paranoid of someone seeing them all day.

Suddenly weightless, I gasped, shutting my eyes and curling up in a ball before slamming down onto the steel deck floor. The air was knocked from my lungs and my shoulder felt numb, having been the part of my body that took the brunt of the fall.

I stayed like this until Georgi slammed the door shut and finally relaxed as I heard the clicking of the locks. His stomping could be heard from outside as he stormed around to presumably get another beer from the fridge, or maybe go to bed. I heaved a sigh of relief, thankful that he hadn’t done anything worse to me.

I peeked around the deck, looking for a good place to wait the set out away from the rain, but sadly, there was no shelter. The wind was heaving the rain right into the front of the house, and the overhang could do nothing to shield me. As I unfurled and began pushing myself up, I jolted from the sharp pains running through my arm. Looking down, I noticed that it hung lower than usual, and I could barely lift it without having to grit my teeth through the pain.

It’s not… broken, is it? I can’t tell for sure… I’ve never had a broken bone before. I’m not bleeding anywhere… It’s probably… umm, what was it called? When it’s popped out of the socket… It starts with a Dislo… something. Oh well, I’ll find out later when we go to the hospital, hopefully. They will take me, right? Hmm…

I didn’t feel particularly cold, but I could hear my teeth chattering away, perhaps from shock. Using my right arm, I dragged myself back to lean against the wall. Closing my eyes, I fell asleep, leaning against the wall, tilting my face away from the rain.

***

The jarring sound of his alarm rang loudly, and Olli startled awake. He clutched his left shoulder as though it was still dislocated, glancing around the room for any sign that his uncle would come storming in. The suns were just rising, casting a dull light around the unfamiliar room. He was confused at first, then relaxed as he remembered where he was.

Olli hadn’t had a nightmare like that in a while, well, more of a terrible memory than a nightmare. He had woken up to searing pain in his highly swollen arm. The ride to the hospital was probably the worst part, though, with his aunt exclaiming how he was horrible to take care of and complaining about having to take him all the way to the hospital so early in the morning.

They had made him work to pay them back for the treatment, griping to him about how much trouble he had caused them and demanding to know whether he could pay them yet. He had decided not to just pull all of his saved up money out from the bank, instead cramming another job into his already painstakingly packed schedule.

He would spend almost all of his free time doing other people’s homework. They did pay him, but it took a long time to do. He ended up getting the new job at a factory on First Island, sorting through parts to find any disfigured ones that couldn't be used. It wouldn’t have been so bad if his coworkers hadn’t had him do most of their dirty work, ordering Olli around and threatening to fire him if he didn’t get it done.

It had taken him three months to finally get all of the money, and he quit as soon as he paid Georgi and Bea back. Olli remembered seeing Georgi leave with the cash and come back that very same night, wallet empty and completely drunk.

Olli sat in bed for a few minutes, repeatedly blinking his blurry eyes to try and wake up. When his vision fully cleared, he got out of bed, picked out some clothes, and began his routine to get ready for school.