Jonathan sat in his room with the door locked as his little sister slept soundly. His parents were drunk and high and god knows what else and he needed to protect Isabella. He put the bag of half eaten peas back on his eye that was already swollen shut. He jumped when his phone ran and he dashed to the corner, hoping his parents didn't hear. He knew there would be hell to pay if his parents heard that he was still awake.
He ran to the bathroom and closed the door softly. He saw that it was his friend Alex Gomez. He answered and cringed when loud music blasted through the phone.
"He-hello?"
" Jon, my man, you need to get your ass to this party." Jonathan rolled his eyes and opened the door to look at Bella. She gripped her stuffed dog tightly in her sleep and she smiled, probably having a dream.
"I can't. Babysitting my sister tonight." He heard Alex sigh and laugh to someone else in the room.
" Are you sure, Tiffany's here. She's asking about you." Jonathan sighed as he heard her name. He had a thing for her since second grade when she held his hand when he fell off the monkey bars. But he couldn't leave Bella here alone.
"Sorry man, I'm gonna have to miss this one, tell her I'm sorry." He could already feel Alex rolling his eyes.
"Whatever man. Your loss." He hung up and turned the light off and pulled his sister into his arms. He heard a loud bang and his mother laughed. He pulled his sister in tighter and closed his eyes, hoping and praying nothing will happen to the two of them while they slept. Even though the door was locked and his dresser in front of it, he still wasn't able to allow himself to fully sleep.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Jonathan's eyes flew open as did the door, hitting his dresser. He looked at his father who looked pale and he continued to bang the door against the dresser until Jonathan got out of bed to open it.
"What the hell are you doing?" His dad growled.
"I uh, was having some private time." His dad paused then laughed. Jonathan cringed, that was the first thing that popped in his head, he hoped his dad believed it.
"Oh, so you think your a grown man now?" Jonathan shook his head as he put the dresser back in place and his dad came in.
"Well, let me tell you a secrete little boy! You are far from it." He jabbed his finger into his shoulder blade. Jonathan rubbed his shoulder, that will probably bruise later. He turned as he heard Bella yawn. He hoped his dad would just leave but of course he wouldn't. He grabbed the back of his head and flung him to the wall.
"I'll show you what it feels like to be a grown man."
"Please." Was all he could muster as his head hit the wall, he could see black and red from the corners of his eyes. His dad threw punches into his gut, he could of easily beaten his dad down to a stump but he knew better, his parents would throw him out on his ass and then he wouldn't be able to protect Bella. So he let his dad hit him until he felt satisfied. By the sixteenth punch he was breathless and had trouble standing up straight. His dad knocked him in the head and he heard Bella cry. He met her eyes and smiled softly, letting her know it was all going to be okay.
The look in her eyes made him want to tear away and hold her tight. So he made a stupid decision. He let his dad knock him onto the ground and he slowly reached for his baseball bat from it's corner. His dad was too busy trying to not kick hard enough to hurt his bad knees so he wasn't paying any attention to what Jonathan was doing. Which was picking up the bat and tightening his grip onto it so he could swing.
And as his dad swung his foot, Jonathan spun onto his back and grabbed his dads foot, pulling and breaking his balance. He fell to the ground with a grunt and hurriedly stood up. He looked his dad in the face and looked back at Bella who was huddled in the corner.
This is for you.