A Little Bit Married

Silence

ANGELINE'S P.O.V.

I have always been scared of silence. It reminds me of all the times my mother had one of those "good men" over. It reminds me of how she would shove me in her closet, and I could hear them through the thin wood.

It apparently hadn't mattered to her back then that I could hear, and everytime I told her I didn't want to be shoved in there, she told me it was the only way she knew to make sure we got by.

We were drowning in debt. The house could have been taken from us. But these good men... they always make sure to save us.

I slowly went to the floor, water running down my hair and my clothes, the bunch of keys I was holding, leaving my fingers to jingle noisily on the floor.

Why was I only remembering this now?

It all seemed to come back with full force. Like a volcano. Like the weight of the entire world. I felt trapped, my throat closing, tears filling my eyes.

"You bloody b***h!" Came Victoria's scream from outside, but all I could hear were those sounds.

The sound of flesh and moaning. Of cracking belts and whips. Of everything those men made my mother do.