Pushing My Love

Chapter 2.

Amaia POV

I watched Emmy’s blonde pig-tails bouncing in front of me as she tried to show me her skipping that she learnt at kindergarten today. It’s cute watching her try so hard to get the rhythm. Her wee concentration face is so serious but so funny. “Good job, bunny.” I praise her, giving her a nickname reflecting what she's doing. She stops and beams at me waiting to catch up holding out her hand for me to take again. “What else did you learn today?” I ask her. “N-numbews” she struggles to get out the word. “Oh, like 1,2,3,” “mmmhm” she agrees “four, five, seben, nine” she continues and I giggle a bit at her attempt. A few minutes later she stops and puts her arms up for me to carry her which she only does on her way home. It's a lot of walking for a small child everyday to and from school, not to mention the running around she does at kindergarten. Sometimes I wish I had a stroller for her but I don’t dare ask Tank & Kim. It's a good thing she is so small I guess. She will go down for a nap as soon as we get home like every afternoon which gives me time to do some cleaning.

As soon as I can see our house in the distance, I know something is up. I haven’t seen Tank & Kim for nearly a week and it's a Thursday today. There are about 3 cars outside so they must be having a party. I’m no stranger to these, but this is the first one since Emmy has arrived, and I’m almost scared of what to do with her. She's almost asleep, so hopefully I can sneak in and put her to bed straight away before dealing with the s**t show tonight.

It's always the same people every time, and they are all sleazy and disgusting and get super drunk and I always end up half-cut myself as I am forced to drink as well. I tried refusing, but that didn’t go down well, and then I tried faking it, but one of their friends, Derek, knew straight away what I was doing and blabbed. Of course, I’m left to deal with the aftermath of a clean-up the next day while they sleep it off, and I shake off a hangover and get myself to school if it's a school night, which today it is. There is one car I don’t recognize today which is concerning. I don’t like not knowing who they are and what their intentions are. Most of the time, I can read them and escape their disgusting advances and Tank also pipes up when they get all touchy-feely because I’m underage, he can’t risk losing the paycheck my living under his roof gets him if I was to get pregnant. I can’t exactly hide a pregnancy like I can the bruises.

Emmy is out to it thank god, and I manage to sneak through the front door and down the hallway with her. I lay her on the bed and just as I do I hear “AMAIA” from down the hall. “Get your ass out here!” It's Tank and he has woken Emmy. I put my finger to my lips in a shushing motion for Emmy and she knows. She's quite bright which I’m grateful for and is also terrified of Tank so I know she will be quiet.

I leave my room, making sure I've closed the door tight behind me, and slowly make my way back towards the living room. There are about 10 people crammed into the space sprawling into the kitchen. It's an open plan design so I can keep my eye on everyone which is a good thing.

“Here she is, Eddie” Tank announces my entry. “Your new girl. She will be starting the day after Christmas.” Tank grabs my arm and pulls me towards a huge brute of a man who is actually dressed quite nicely but reeks of cologne and cigarettes. His greasy, dark graying hair is slicked back and he’s eyeing me up and down while licking his lips. “Hmmmm, a beauty indeed Tank, I’m looking forward to tasting the goods for myself.” he says. My stomach drops and I think I'm going to throw up. I’m too late! I should have left already. No. I’m going to throw up. I start to pull back but Tank’s grip on my upper arm tightens to an unbearable point and I whimper at the pain. I look up to see Kim’s evil glint just behind Eddie as she hears this.

“Now, now, Eddie, we had an agreement. She needs to be of age remember? Just a few more weeks and you can have your taste.” Tank says with what sounds like a bit of a tremble in his voice. I would laugh if it wasn’t for the situation I'm finding myself in. Tank’s scared of this guy. So am I but I'm also relieved I still have time to get Emmy and myself out of here.

Eddie grunts in displeased acknowledgment to Tank though, still eyeing me up while Tank pushes me back to the hallway and whispers harshly to me “Deal with the brat. Make sure she's not seen for the rest of the night. I don’t want anyone seeing her. Come back out when you're done with her and start serving.” I nod hastily and pull away before he grabs me again. “Don’t even think about running Amaia or I'll get the dogs onto you and you don’t want that I can assure you. It’s not just you anymore.” He gives me an evil smirk. I know he’s referring to Emmy. “You're going to be Eddie’s biggest income in a while and therefore ours so don’t even think about it.” I nod again trying to keep my trembling at bay. It's not like I could escape anyway, Tank barred my windows and the back door is sealed shut. I should have turned back to school when I saw the cars, dammit. I just have to keep Emmy quiet and get through tonight then make some plans with Mrs Gibson tomorrow. Screw my last exam. We need to get the f**k out of here. Fingers crossed she will help. Taking a deep breath to calm myself I open the door walking into my room.

Sitting wide-eyed on our bed, yes, our bed that we have to share, is my little green-eyed princess who gives me a beaming smile when she sees me.

“What are you playing with my wee bunny?” she holds up her soft ‘dolly’ for me. God, I wish I could get her some more toys. Soon, Mai, soon, I tell myself. Get us out of here first.

I give her a kiss on the head and pick her up. I need to get her to the bathroom so she can go to the bathroom before I have to hole her up for the night.

I managed to get her to the loo, then into the washroom for a quick bath before going back to our room. I pulled down a grocery bag from the back of my wardrobe where I keep emergency food, having learnt from the last time I always keep a stash. Mrs Gibson gets me a few bits and pieces here and there in the way of food and toiletries or I'd have nothing otherwise and this has increased significantly since Emmy arrived. She even brings us sandwiches for lunch every day. She really is a blessing, but I also know that I don’t look that healthy either, and of course she's noticed. I’m very skinny and pale, and sometimes I can’t even hold food down and end up throwing it up.

I put together some dinner for Emmy consisting of a boxed breakfast drink, some dried fruit and some large rice cracker biscuits. I have a couple of those myself as I pull the blankets off the bed and put them on the floor in the wardrobe. I guess we are lucky in the fact that the house we live in is less than 10 years old. They managed to get it through a government housing scheme easily because they are foster ‘carers’ and need to have a home that is of a certain standard. I still don’t understand how the hell they were even accepted, but that doesn’t matter now, we will be out of here soon enough. I will give Emmy the childhood I never had and make a better life for us. But I can’t think about that right now, I just need to get us through tonight and make plans tomorrow. Our wardrobe, though fairly empty, is large and carpeted, so I arrange the blankets into a makeshift bed at the back and grab our one and only pillow for her. I grab the star shaped night light that Mrs Gibson gave her when she wasn’t sleeping well and plug it into the wall and sit it on the empty shoe shelf for her. I grab her two books out of her backpack as well as her teddy and dolly. Emmy is watching me like a hawk as I rearrange our wardrobe for her. She knows something is going on, and I just hope to shelter her from anything that happens tonight, hence why she's going to go in the wardrobe. It can get pretty feral sometimes. Lots of alcohol and lots of s*x. They don’t care where or who they are with, it's pretty much just one big orgy. Fortunately the wardrobe locks and I found the key on the top shelf not long after I moved in. They didn’t leave me the bedroom one though that would have been handy on nights like these. I know it sounds horrible to put her in there but it's only until I am done with the company tonight and am certain they are all gone. If they go wandering through the house, which they sometimes do in their drunken states there won’t be any trace of her, and I’d hate to think of what could happen if one of them found her.

I finish my cracker and bend down and move her to the bed I've created for her. “Hey princess,” I say, grabbing her wee hand that is food free. “Can you be a big girl for Maimai tonight?” She nods her wee head. “Good girl” I need to praise her as much as possible. “You are going to stay in here and have a sleepover with Dolly and Teddy ok?” She looks at the bed then holds up Teddy. “Yes with Teddy all by yourself, you're going to be a brave big girl and be as quiet as a mouse.” I try to explain to her the best way I can for a three-year-old. She just looks back at me with those same big green eyes as myself. Gosh the things I would do for this wee girl. I grab my water bottle and let her have a sip as she finishes off her food. I put the bottle down by her wee bed so that she can have it if she needs it. It must be nearing 5 o’clock now so I need to get a move on. If I can get her to sleep, then hopefully she will stay asleep till I can let her out. It's probably a good thing she never actually went down for a nap.

I tuck her into the makeshift bed and make sure she has Teddy and Dolly at arms length and start reading one of her books for the hundredth time. Books are another thing I will spoil her with when I get the chance. I love them too.

Maybe we can have a library.

Now I’m dreaming.

We need to get out of here first.

She's asleep halfway through the book. I knew she was tired, and she's a fairly heavy sleeper, so fingers crossed she stays asleep. I give her a kiss on her forehead pushing her hair off her face before turning off the main light and shutting and locking the door.

I hide the key then make my way to the bathroom to freshen up.

I wash my pale freckled face and re-tie my long wavy brown hair into a messy bun. I stand back looking in the full length mirror at my petite frame. I’ve filled out quite a bit in the last couple of years, but it looks silly because I'm so underweight and very pale. I’m glad the clothes that Kim has provided are all baggy tees and jeans. I know it's to hide remnants of any punishments, but I’m glad they cover my body well. I know I don’t look very appealing, and the less people see, the better. I’m quite short too, only 5ft 2 so people think I'm a lot younger than 17. I don’t know what it's going to be like out in the world with Emmy, but I'll make it work. I have to make it work. I will adopt her myself as soon as I can. Then no one can take her from me. She won’t be an ‘unadoptable’ like me. She won’t be a loner like me. I won’t let her be.

I finish up taking one last look at myself with a long deep breath and make my way out to the party.

I’ve been serving the guests, as Kim calls them, for nearly 5 hours now, and I’m itching for the night to be over. They haven’t made me drink as much as usual, which I’m grateful for, so I’m able to keep my wits about me. Kim is just about naked, wearing only underwear and is now sucking off her third guy for the night while Tank watches on stroking himself. It takes a lot for me to not gag seeing it, but I need to keep my eye on everyone's whereabouts, making sure they don’t go down the hall. Also, Eddie and Derek have been very handsy tonight, making me feel incredibly uneasy. A couple of people have already left and Kim and Tank are on their last legs, so hopefully not too much longer.

“Eeeek” I squeak as a big arm suddenly wraps around my waist while I grab some more ice out of the freezer.

“Come sit down with me, my little beauty, and give those legs of yours a rest.” Says Eddie’s gruff voice from behind me.

“N-n-no, I’m all good.” I say while trying to pull away. “W-would you like another w-whiskey?”

“No I’m good, but you need a little something more, don’t you sweet cheeks?” He replies.

“N-no thank you, I’m fine.” I say, still trying to get out of his grasp.

“Don’t be so silly” and he lifts me up around the waist and takes me back to the armchair he has claimed sitting me on his lap. I sit up as stiff as a log as he grips me tightly round the waist. I can’t get away from him now and Tank and Kim are too far gone to stop him now.

He leans in and licks my neck as Derek brings him over another whiskey. He must be his little b***h by the looks of it.

“Hmmmm” he hums into my neck. "You, my beauty, are going to make me a lot of money. But not until I get my fill first. I always get the first taste.”

Now I'm really trying to pull away.

“Now, now not yet Beauty, just sit still and enjoy." He says. "Here, have some of my whiskey.” And he puts the drink to my lips.

I shake my head trying to refuse, but he just pushes harder, so I take a small sip. “More” he says angrily, and I no I have no choice. He won’t take me yet, he said so himself, didn’t he? Tank won’t let him. I look over to Tank, and he’s now fully passed out on the floor with his d**k out alongside another naked guy. Gross.

Kim is now over in the kitchen moaning her head off while there is another guy taking her from behind while Derek just sits opposite me staring like he is just waiting for something to happen. Eddie eyes me greedily and starts to pull up my t-shirt, but before I can stop him, a scream from the kitchen distracts us and I see Kim and the guy have disappeared behind the kitchen island and seem to be out for the count now too.

Now I really am alone with Eddie and Derek d**k-face. I try to pull away but as I do, I start to feel really woozy. Wow, that whiskey has really hit me hard. I try to stand up, but Eddie is still holding on tight.

“I-I-I need t-to go to bath-bath…..t-toilet.” I slur out.

Wow, ok, I really need to try and focus as I again try to stand up.

“Focus Mai” I say out loud while Eddie and Derek start to laugh.

“It’s kicking in,” Derek Says.

“Tank’s such a stupid f**k thinking he's going to get away with stealing from us.” Eddie laughs out “C’mon let's get what we came for, she’ll be worth half as much after we are done with her.”

And I’m suddenly lifted up and carried down the hall.