11 Days in Hell

Chpt. 1 "broken glass"

The pillow over her head did nothing.

The makeshift earplugs from crumpled up tissue didn't work.

It seemed as if the more she tried to suppress the noises, the worst they got.

Cora rolled over onto her stomach and glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand.

3:47am.

Cora yawned, sleep deprived and hungry. She sat up in her bed, reaching for her backpack to retrieve the back of salt&vinegar potato chips she'd bought on the way home from school. Cora knew better than to leave her bedroom when her father was on a rampage.

"I didn't talk to him, Carl! I'm telling you the truth." Cora heard her mother cry out, while loud thuds mad their way down the staircase.

"You liar!" Cora her heard father yell. Shuffling and the sound of a glass bottle being thrown causes Cora to jump and her bag of chips went flying onto her bedroom floor.

She slowly picked them up one by one, as the fighting and rattling came to a slow halt. When her parents bedroom door slammed shut, she crept out of bed and took a peek through her doorway.

Cora watched her mother, on her knees, using the hem of her nightgown as tray to hold the broken shards of glass in front of her. Blood dropped from her palms as she continued to gather the glass.

"Mom, you okay?" Cora wondered quietly, tip toeing over to her mother.

Cora's mother looked over at her with water eyes and a bruised face. "Go back to bed, sweetie. You have to be up for school soon." She told her, sniffling and shaking as she tried to clean up the mess.

"No, I want to help." Cora insisted, walking closer to the mess. But before she knew it, her right foot was punctured by what seemed to be the sharpest piece of glass. Cora winded in pain as she immediately fell to the fell, created more injuries.

"Sweetheart!" Her mother gasped, rushing to her daughters side. "You should've just went back to your room.. I can handle these type of things." Her mother relays to her, sighing heavily as she tries to pick out the pieces of glass that have merged themselves into her daughters skin.

The daughter wept in silence as her mother picked, pinched, and pulled in efforts to removed the glass that Cora had dove into it.

When all the glass was successfully removed, Cora sat on the kitchen counter as her mother applied alcohol to Cora's wounds and bandaged her up.

We can't keep letting him do this. Cora thought to herself, making her way back up to her room to try to rest before school in the morning.

For as long as she could remember, which was from about age 6, Cora's father had pretty much abused her and her mother her entire childhood. Most of his abusive came from jealousy and really wanting a son but he received Cora instead.

Carl, her father, did a lot of shoving and grabbing on Cora. He never actually hit her though. Which was still no better.

But it was as if her mother lit a fire within Carl; something Cora would never be able to understood.

Her mother wasn't aloud to work, let alone leave the house. She couldn't wear revealing clothing. Cora's father made it a mission to provide long dresses, thick sweaters, plenty of jeans, etc. everything Cora's mother wore started at the neckline and ended at the  ankles.

Cora absolutely adored her mother, despite feeling like she was weak for allowing herself to be a punching bag for Carl.

Her mother's name was Julia and she was only 34 years old. She was fair skinned with long auburn colored hair that reached the middle of her back.

Because Julia wasn't aloud to work, she spent most of her time reading books or tending to the garden in their front lawn.

Always seeing her mother so calm and collected, it ended up rubbing off on Cora. She was a very quiet child and a now super shy and timid teenager.

Julia and Carl met when she was 17 and he was 38. He was the city bus driver and came across Julia just about everyday. The age gap didn't matter much to Carl because he had convinced himself that Julia was the love of his life and they were meant to be together.

Apparently Julia got pregnant her last month in high school, Carl married her and moved her away from her family. There was no college involved and the rest of her life was spent being a loving housewife. 

When the sun rose, Cora descended downstairs to the kitchen to meet her mother. Every morning, including the weekends, Julia served buttermilk pancakes with a side of extra crispy bacon for Cora.

"Is my breakfast ready?" Carl questioned, forgetting to greet his family properly. He was already dressed in his work uniform, ready to head out.

"Yes, it is." Julia spoke softly, but she was still shaken up from last night. She placed a plate of pancakes, sausages, and eggs in front of Carl along with a large cup of orange juice.

Opting for coffee instead, Julia stood in the corner of the kitchen, watching her daughter and husband eat in silence. There was no conversation at all. Just the sounds of chewing and gulping. Julia realized a long time ago that there was no real connection between Carl and Cora accept dna. Genetically, they were a family. But realistically, they weren't.

Once Carl finished eating, he snatched his lunchbox from Julia and slammed the door behind him.

"Do you feel alright?" Julia asked Cora, examining her body, the areas where her daughter had been caught by the glass.

"I'm fine." She replies.

"Good. Make sure you wear a long sleeved shirt. We don't need social services coming back here. That'll set your father off again." Julia said, seriously.

Cora nodded and headed back up to her room to get ready for school. She dressed herself in a charcoal colored cardigan, black skinny jeans, and white converses.

On her way out, Julia handed Cora a brown paper bag with her lunch and kissed her forehead goodbye.

As Cora slid into her assigned seat in the front row, she pulled out her notebook and homework folder, eager to hand in todays assignment.

Mrs. Reyez walked down the aisles, eventually coming to halt when she realized there was a bandage wrapped around Cora's right hand.

"What happened?" The teacher whispered to Cora. Worry and regret twinkling in her eyes.

"Broken glass," Cora confessed, shrugging.

When lunch time came around, Cora reluctantly headed to the cafeteria. Usually she'd find a spot outside on the lawn but the rain prevented her from doing that and the principal had a strict no-eating-in-the-girls-bathroom rule.

Also, Cora didn't have friends. Not because she didn't want them, but because she had a hard time with speaking and slightly had social anxiety.

Everyone at school just about ignored her, except for her teachers and occasionally the principal.

"Will Cora Abney please report to the principals office" Cora heard over the loud speaker as she searched for an empty table in the caf.

Being called to the principals office was actually continued a rescue for her. You know, from her fellow associates.

"How's everything?" The principal, Mr. Turtle wondered as he motioned for Cora to take a seat to have small talk with him.

"Everything is good." Cora quickly let out, happy to be isolated from the kids at her school, but also nervous about talking to Mr.Turtle. She didn't mind talking to him, it's just the questions about her parents that made her uncomfortable.

"Are you sure?" Mr.Turtle pushed.

Cora nodded quickly, averting her eyes.

"You know I'm here for you. You can talk to me about anything...." he trailed off. "Including those bandages on your wrist." Mr. Turtle pointed out.

"The last time I answered you truthfully, social services showed up at my house." Cora reminded him.

Before Mr. Turtle could respond, Cora picked up her backpack off the floor and grabbed her lunch bag off his desk.

The last thing Cora needed was to have her principal poking around in her family's business again. Her father would go berserk and for sure take his anger out on her mother, who never deserved to be his personal punching bag. 

When the school day was over, Cora lugged herself back home. She usually had three or four hours with her mother before her father came home and gulped down a bottle a whiskey for dinner.

"How was your day, sweetheart?" Julia greeted her daughter with her beautiful smile and warming hug. Cora loved coming home alone to her mother. Julia always smelled of fresh lavender and had snacks waiting for Cora.

Julia sat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with a side of milk on the kitchen table for Cora, waiting excitedly to hear about her daughters day.

"Mr. Turtle pulled me into his office. He didn't really say anything. Just asked if everything was okay." Cora spilled the beans, fiddling with her sandwich. Cora was over pb&j's.

"Did you tell him anything?" Julia asked. Cora shook her head. No.  "I told him everything was fine."

"Good." Her mother stated, a wave of relief coming through her. Cora bit into her sandwich and smiled weakly at her mother.

"And besides. Everything really is fine. It was just some broken glass." Julia reassured Cora.

Cora didn't believe her mother at all. She looked at the white gauze her mother's hands were wrapped in. The cuts clearly hadn't healed, she noticed as her eyes locked on the fresh blood stains that had seeped through the bandages.

Sure, Mom.

It's just broken glass.