“I knew you’d be just like Mom. You’re going to leave, too.” I couldn’t even process what he was trying to say.
He took a step toward me, and I sprung up from the couch. He started undoing his belt, and for a second, I felt a punch of fear that my own brother might try to rape me. My body flung itself into fight or flight mode.
“Woah, what are you talking about?” I took a step back, the backs of my knees hitting against the coffee table.
“I went to your graduation, you know. I saw you with the Delvecchio boy.”
My heart was punching against my ribs. I hadn’t expected Peter to come to graduation; I hadn’t even told him when it was. I put up my hands defensively.
“He’s just my friend,” I lied. “You know this, Peter. We just work together.”
Peter folded the belt in half, and a chill swept over me as I realized he took it off so he could hit me with it. I was ready to run, but he was blocking the only exit.
“I saw you with him!” I started to wrack my brain for what he could’ve seen at the ceremony. Jackson did give me a piggy-back ride from the field to the parking lot, and I had sat with him in his truck. Did we kiss in the truck at the school? I couldn’t even remember anymore. I was focusing too much on what Peter was about to do to think about anything else.
Fear crawled over every inch of my body as he took another step toward me. “Just like Mom. You’re going to leave me for a man.”
I couldn’t fully wrap my head around what he was insinuating. Peter hated me, so why was he mad that I was finally leaving him alone? He didn’t even know about my plan with Jackson. Why would he even care? This was what he’d always wanted. Right?
I tried to think of something to say to calm him. I moved to take another step back, but I’d forgotten about the coffee table behind me. I fell on top of it, my dress sliding up my body. When Peter saw I wasn’t wearing underwear, his nostrils flared.
“I knew it.” That was the last thing he said before lunging for me.
The first crack of the belt hit my right arm, and I cried out in pain. This was the first time he had ever intentionally hurt me. That shocked me more than the sensation of the leather.
“Peter, stop!” I tried to fight my way out from beneath him as the belt kept smacking against my skin, hitting a different spot each time. He was too heavy, and he was pressing down on my stomach with his full weight. I could barely get out the words to plead for him to stop.
I clawed at any piece of him I could. Everything was happening in one quick blur. Eventually, he dropped the belt and pinned my arms to my side. I could feel blood trickling down my right arm from where the buckle had struck me.
When I looked in his eyes, I couldn’t see any piece of my brother left. I cried beneath him, feeling the tears drip down my temples as his eyes turned sad in a quick moment.
“I hate you, Denise,” he said weakly.
I was breathing heavily, trying to catch my breath. He called me by our mom’s name.
“I’m not Denise,” I said quietly.
Peter stared at me for a while, like he was trying to figure out who I was. He finally let go of me, then fell to the side with a whimper. His body heaved with heavy sobs that had me frozen in place next to him on the floor.
“I hate her. I fucking hate her!” Peter yelled.
He buried his face in his hands, rubbing them up and down. He turned to look at me, and I saw my brother again. Just like that, Peter was back, but he looked like a hurt little boy.
“I’m sorry, Addie.”
I didn’t respond. I jumped up, grabbing my purse and running outside. I wasn’t wearing shoes, but I couldn’t even feel the bite of the cement under my feet as I ran down the street.
I didn’t stop until I made it down the block, then I got down on my hands and knees, crawling into a heap of bushes on the side of the road. I couldn’t even get in my car and drive away, because it was still at the high school.
I finally registered the stinging on my arms from the smack of the leather as I dialed Jackson’s number.
When he didn’t answer, I felt my breathing grow more rapid, to the point that every inhale was a gasp. I left him a shaky voice mail.
“Jackson, I need you to come get me. Something happened with Peter. I want to leavenow. I can’t wait till August, I wanna goright now.” My breath caught in my throat and I choked back a sob. “I really need you.”
I hung up and tried calling him again. When he didn’t answer by the tenth time, I grabbed at the bushes and pulled out a chunk. I picked off pieces of brush until I felt my phone vibrate with a text from Jackson.I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Stay where you are.I let out a breath of relief. He was coming. He would get me. We were leaving this place for good.
I waited and waited. Twenty minutes turned into thirty, then thirty turned into forty-five. The last time I checked the clock, it was almost three thirty in the morning. I lost count of how many times I had called him. I tried again, only to find that his phone was shut off.