Her Tortured Bear

Chapter 2

We found that Cadence’s father and my step-father was sitting in the drawing room with my sports teacher.

My heart stopped beating that instance.

Cad looked at me with something in her face and eyes which I could not even think about recognizing at the moment because I was not in a state to do so. I already knew what was happening and I was not ready for it. But misfortune was something that always kept trailing me like the stale perfume of last night.

Both the men had seen me by that time and there was no place to hide.

“Look who’s here. Mindy, come on… I was just telling your Dad that you are the star athlete of our team and you are now ready for State championships. I am sure Mr. Dennis that you are going to give us the permission for training her for the next level. After all the passion and skills that Mindy has is rare to be found amongst women,” said Coach McAllister, looking at me but he did not see what I saw.

The man whom I was forced to call my step-father had only venom laced in his eyesight but unfortunately since he had to keep up the pretenses he replied sweetly,” Of course Mr. McAllister. But you know it is not all in my hands. I need to discuss this thing with my wife as well. She would also like to know about the achievements of her daughter. But surely I shall give you my answer after I make up my mind.”

And just like that my last sliver of sunshine was wiped out off the sky as the dark clouds overcast them. It was the precursor to the storm to which I did not know yet if I would survive it or not. Cadence had probably sensed what had been going on inside me and she clutched my hand trying to reassure me but it did little to diminish the turmoil that raged in me.

“Then I shall take your leave. Mindy, Cadence I am sure you will enjoy the Thanksgiving holidays. See you back at school right girls?” said Coach McAllister, and as we both smiled and nodded at him I mentally kicked him in the groin for doing this to me.

He left the house and Nina had also fled the scene probably sensing the aftermath.

“Did you not consider it necessary to inform this to us? To your parents? After everything we have done for you, is this how you repay us?” asked the man standing in front of me, who was just another sick son of a b***h.

Probably for the first time in my life I snapped. After all I now knew that everything I had least care about had been snatched away from me and I had nothing to lose anymore.

I looked up at him.

“You are not my father. You are just a f*****g creeper with no backbone who has lived off my ancestor’s property and money just because my mother was too weak to fend for herself. You are just another piece of s**t who…” before I could finish the sentence there was the smack which came down on my left cheek. Cadence flinched at the hit but did not leave my hand. I could feel that my lip had split and blood was trickling down slowly to my chin when I looked back at the man once more.

He was not a man. He was just a monster in a meat-suit and he had shown his true colours today.

I took Cadence’s hand and walked away calmly from the scene while he kept on screaming at me about how I was just a failure for him and the entire family. I already knew that and I did not need to look back at him or listen to his rants.

Cadence took me to the master bathroom and put a band-aid on my split lip after wiping off the blood. I smiled at her and said,” You know I could not have asked for anything more in my life other than you. But right now I need to be alone, you think you can give me that?”

Cad nodded and kissed my hand which she had been holding and left me sitting there, on the edge of the bathtub.

No one came to disturb me that evening, neither anyone called me for supper. I thought that probably I was being punished with starvation for being the only insolent child in the family. I did not even bother looking at the mirror to check how my lip was. It was throbbing with pain and I was sure that there was a bluish green hue on my skin due to that smack which had been inflicted.

I could hear my mother sobbing and that disgusting man screaming his voice out once more regarding how I was just a black spot in the name of this family and no more. I slammed the windows from which I could hear their voices.

After everyone had finished eating their supper Nina silently brought me chilli-corn and bread sticks to eat.

“You need not do this Nina. You know we both would get into trouble if he comes to know about this,” I said as I took the plate and bowl from her hands.

“That man has done something today which you should have never faced when you had not done anything wrong. Girls at your age run away from home with their boyfriends so that they can enjoy their lives while you are trying to create an identity for yourself Mindy. And that is something you should never be ashamed off. I know this, that if your father was here today then Mr. Cooper would have been proud to call you his daughter,” said Nina as she wiped her wet cheeks.

“I just hope that you are correct Nina. This is getting tougher for me every day and I do not understand the reason why mother puts up with this beast. And more I am worried what is going to happen tomorrow morning…. I had never expected that Thanksgiving holidays could turn such a pathetic turn,” I replied as I took a spoonful of the chilli-corn and shoved it in my mouth hungrily.

“You don’t worry at all Mindy… Holidays should be fun always and tomorrow we will have fun…we will make your favourite pot roast and Cad’s favourite dessert…but there is one problem with that,” said Nina looking up at me with a grimace.

I just raised my brows at her in question, because it had been instilled in me that it was bad manners to talk while you were eating.

“Since Paul is not here, who is going to kill the chicken?” asked Nina, but it felt like more of a suggestion than of a question because blood made Nina very queasy. So this was the problem that she had been trying to tell us in the afternoon when the incident happened.

“Don’t worry about it Nina. If that is the first thing to do in the morning, then you will have a chicken on your kitchen counter before you cook….why were you hesitating in telling me that?” I asked as I stuffed the rest of the bowl as soon as possible. I had not realized that I was so hungry until the first spoon had hit my stomach.

“You know Mindy, as the housekeeper I should be talking about these things with your mother but I have long realized that she doesn’t like hearing about problems. So I find it better suited to get them by myself but now you are all grown up and I know that you can take care of all things so I need not worry,” said Nina as she smiled at me eating the food.

I did not bother replying because I rather knew that there was no point in replying her about something which was out of my control. My Pops had tried to instill something in me from when I was young and which he had seen my mother lacking. That was backbone and Cooper men were famous for their backbones. I finished my plate and Nina wished me goodnight as she tiptoed out of my room.

The night was filled with an eerie silence, but it was not silent really. If you listened carefully then you could hear the occasional hoots of the barn owl over the chirping of the crickets. I never even knew when I fell so asleep hearing to their sounds.

It was the early morning rooster which woke my sleep and I remembered that I had to kill a chicken for Nina. Now, killing the chicken was not the tough part but catching it was. I freshened and skipped down to the barn where one area was enclosed for the coop. Thankfully the chicken were still huddled together in sleep and they did not wake until I caught hold  the neck of one of them and brought it out.

The trick of being able to wring its neck was to not look in the eyes before you killed it. And I had no interest in getting emotionally involved with the creature I knew who would bring meat to our table this afternoon.

I plucked and cleaned the feathers as soon as I could and went to the kitchen where I hoped Nina had already made a fresh pot of coffee.

The day was nothing more than ordinary except the fact being that me and Cad spent the day placing the decorations and flowers all over the house, making it ready for the guests while the smell of herbs and spices mingled with the roast wafted all over the house. It was almost noon when my mother called me from the top of her stairs to her room.

I knew what was going to happen. And I was going to get another lecture about obedience and respect of elders and telling lies and how I have been wading in the path of sin from long. This had been going on for so long that I even knew her exact dialogues. But what happened caught me by surprise.