August 30, 2008

August 30, 2008

Free Writing: Life Without Lisa

So I lay there, propped up against the tree. I didn’t remember it being there.

If you ever read The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton and the part ware Johnnycake gets beaten up by that Soc. That is what it felt like.

He beat me until he got sore, then he stood and somberly walked off. At one point he threw the bike he used to pursue me, “Here take your God damned BIKE!” he screamed. The petal gashed a hole in my thigh and I guess the handle bar knocked me out.

I was sore, I didn’t think I was in any shape to ride my bike back home. Or to walk home for that matter.

But one thing that really scared me was that he was drunk. He smelt like Mom’s whisky and beer and he stumbled a lot. So really it wasn’t a fair fight, I could have taken him.

I pressed my hand to my forehead. The funny thing is I couldn’t tell which hand was my previously ruined hand.

“Ah! Ah.” I wined when I made a move to get up. This was bad. The petal must have hit a nerve in my leg because I could not move it at all.

It was worse than I thought, “Hey! Help!” no one. “HEY! HELP! ANYBODY!” the wind was whooshing in my ears, a mosquito was hungrily feasting on my exposed leg, and the cicadas chirped loudly. Be I heard no sounds of a human.

So I have to do this on my own. I thought of taking the night bus, but I had no money. I was going to have to walk.

This was crazy! I had to walk home after being brutally beaten by my stepbrother who was drunk and crazy. It was crazy but I had no other way.

I slowly stood using the tree as support. Then I picked the bike up. Pete defiantly didn’t want me to come home. The tires had gaping holes. I also noticed he cut the brakes, something smart to do; I was on a hill.

Ditching the bike behind a dumpster I hobbled down the sidewalk. My leg screamed and pinched with pain. Blood and sweat made my clothes feel uncomfterble on my aching body. My head swirled with a headache and I tasted the saltiness off blood in my mouth.

What’s this? I spat out a sharp object from my mouth. My tooth. My whole tooth was knocked right out. And it sat in my hand, swimming in a pool of blood. I felt the gap on the right hand corner of my mouth. With all the pain my body was suffering it seemed dull, numb, like it wasn’t so bad. But still, it hurt.

I closed my ‘good’ eye; which hurt too but it wasn’t swollen. This was bad of course. I hoped I wasn’t losing blood; there was so much outside my body.

I made it home in a matter of minutes. I used the back door as to no disturb anyone who might be in the living room. I never thought of who I would be disturbing when I went through the kitchen

“Holy…” Lisa whispered.

I shut the door softly. “Quiet!” I hissed.

She gasped when she saw my pant leg, torn so it showed the broken skin perfectly. “Ken…”

“Shut-up okay Lisa, I’m going to bed.” And I toddled off to the bathroom.

She stammered, “Don’t get blood on the shower curtain!”

The next morning I got worse. I felt the makings of a week long cold and the soreness in my body hadn’t subsided. That’s not the worst thing though.

I looked down at the makeshift bed. It was red and wet.

“Shoot.” My leg must have split open again.

So I went out back to throw the sheet in the trashcan when I heard my sister scream.

I ran back inside to shut her up. “Lisa! Be quiet!” I hissed.

“Ken…” her expression was weary. She shook her head not lifting her eyes from my blood soaked cot. “Mom’s not home, she’s at work.”

I closed my eyes and fell to the floor. It hurt, “OW!”

“Ken…you should…ah, go to school.” She sat and pinched the area in between her eyes. Lisa’s usually a wide-awake person, unlike Mom and me who are always groggy after a night’s rest.

I glared at her, was she insane?! I have a useless leg that spit open in the middle of the night ruining my bed with serious amounts of blood. “You’re crazy Lisa!” I shouted.

She returned a tired glare. “Just go to school Ken! I don’t feel like driving you to the ER.”

I just stared at her; she didn’t feel like it? What was that suppose to mean? “I hate you Lisa.” I snapped. “You should go back to college…” I ignored the pained look on her face. “Or become a prostitute.”

She gasped, “What did you say?”

I just turned and headed for the shower. Life without Lisa should start soon now.