Wrapped in Cation Tape

I am slowly awoken to the sound of yelling. I try to block it out but the longer I try the louder it gets. Eventually all I can hear is my mum and step dad screaming at each other. I look across at Joey and Beth who both are looking scared.  “It’s ok you two” I tried to reassure them softly. Joey my twelve year old brother got up and went over to the stereo and turned some rock song on as loud as the stereo would bloody go. He probably didn’t think that through very well.  Less than a minute later my step dad Jeff bursts into the room.  “CODY WHAT THE f**k IS WRONG WITH YOU” he screamed at me as he unplugged the stereo and smashed it against the floor.  Beth my sister screamed and tried to hide behind me. I froze and kept quiet knowing it would keep my brother and sister safest. Jeff looked me dead in the eyes  “you’ll regret this” he said storming out the door and slamming it shut.  Beth started crying against my shirt as soon as Jeff left.  “Why does he hate you?” She asked confused.  I guess I would be confused to if I was seven. “He doesn’t hate Cody all the time just when he is high or drunk” Joey said bluntly.  I wish I could run away with the two of them but I don’t have anywhere safe to go and I have no money. Also kind of makes it hard when your step dad is the head of police in your town. Everyone treats him like a super hero but me and my siblings know the truth. I have tried to tell someone about him but I was told to stop lying each time.  I look at the three old mattresses on the floor then look back at the two of them.  “It won’t be like this forever” I said trying to act calm.  Beth smiled and I knew it helped her feel a little better. However Joey frowned at me slightly, I knew he didn’t believe me. It was ok that he didn’t believe me because even I didn’t believe what I had just said.  I quickly put on some jeans with holes in them. They looked horrible because after some holes appeared I made extra so it looked like I brought them like that. I grabbed a bra and shirt off the floor and threw it on then picked up a black large hoodie.  While the others got ready I walked into the bathroom and brushed my long brown hair. I looked into the mirror and judged myself. I hated having brown eyes and I felt so skinny. Guess that’s what happens when you don’t get given enough food. Beth walked in and looked at me. She stood there silently which made me worry for her. “I’ll do your hair” I grabbed a brush and started brushing her long blonde hair.  “Is there any food for lunch today?” She asked. I could tell she had searched the house and found nothing.  “Yeah I picked some up yesterday it’s in my school bag” I calmly said.  “Did you steal it?” She asked sadly. “No, Mum gave me some money” I hated telling her lies but I didn’t want Beth to be more scared. “Joey can you get food for you and Beth out of my bag” I yelled.  “Yep” he yelled back.  On the way to school Beth walked ahead of me and Joey so I knew I’d be piled with questions any moment. I guess you have to expect that when you have a large age gap between you and your siblings.  “What will me and Beth do this year when you turn eighteen?” Joey asked while looking at the ground.  “What do you mean?” I asked confused.  “Well you’ll leave because your sick of being hurt and then..” I quickly stopped him mid sentence.  “No I’m not leaving you both, no matter what” I said and I meant it.  He looked at me sadly “you promise?” He asked with doubt.  “Yeah, I promise” he gave me a smile and we kept walking.  Arriving at school Joey met his friends and ran off while I walked Beth to class. Beth waved to me and her teacher smiled at me as I left. When I got to class I was 5 minutes late for maths. I was scared about going to maths because I had a new teacher and I had no idea what he’d be like. We were told his name was Mr Jay and he hadn’t taught a class before. I walked in with my hood up and sat down hoping everyone would ignore me.  “And you are?” A voice said sternly.  “Cody” I mumbled after sitting down at the back.  “Good morning Cody I’m Jay” he said smiling at me.  “Thought it was Mr Jay” I said looking at what was written on the board.  “I like to be called Jay otherwise I feel old” he said and started laughing.  I think his plan was to make me laugh but I wasn’t in the mood. I mean I already had to fake I was ok for hours this morning for my siblings so I’m sure he’ll live if I don’t laugh at his joke. I gave him a slight smile and got my text book out.  “Oh” he said quickly looking back at the class. “If people are late after today it’ll be detention” he stated, sitting down at his desk.  Jay was quite good looking he had brown hair like me and looked like he had a lot of muscle. Zoe the most ‘perfect’ girl in my grade was f*****g him with her eyes. She sat at the front and asked Jay so many questions. Finally the bell went and I could escape this s**t.  I walked quickly hoping to get out of the class before the teacher picked a reason to keep me back. “Hey Cody?” Too late..  “yes” I said possibly sounding annoyed.  “After today keep the hood down in class” he said with an amazing smile. The smile made me what to tell him everything that was happening instantly. But that’s too dangerous especially since Jeff has control over all my teachers. I realised I needed to keep away from him so I could keep my secrets hidden. “Right” I said walking out the door before the conversation went any further. I could feel his eyes on me but I just kept walking.  I walked anxiously down the hall as quickly as I could. I hoped I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone but like always nothing works out for me. Zoe pushed me into the lockers roughly. As I hit the lockers everyone looked towards me and I froze a little bit especially when the flash backs to Jeff started.  “You think you can just walk these halls like you belong here!” She said in her best intimidating voice.  “Trust me if I had a better place to be I’d leave straight away” I yelled. She looked at me like I was the grossest thing she’d ever seen.  “You know we all hate you here?” She said looking at the other students hoping they’d agree.  I then noticed Jay heading towards us and I really didn’t need him trying to stop this argument.  “Believe it or not Zoe but a lot of people at this school also hate you” I watched her face almost turn red with anger especially when all the people watching began to laugh.  I took the weak moment she had to leave before Jay reached us.  I found a place to sit for the rest of our break under a tree. I went through my bag in case there happened to be food. I guess deep down I knew there wouldn’t be since I told Beth and Joey to grab food out for their lunch but I still hoped something would be in here. I decided to take this time to do the stupid math homework that was given to us all. Unlike everyone else I don’t have time for that s**t when I get home.  I quietly sat there studying at the bench when suddenly Zoe appeared out of no where.  “Where’d you get those ugly jeans?” She said laughing with her friends. One of her friends Jordan hung at the back and didn’t laugh. I took notice of her.  “You ok Jordan?” I asked ignoring Zoe and the others.  She looked into my eyes and then walked off without saying a word.  “She is fine, freak! Anyway those home made jeans look like s**t! You should just not come to school if you can’t buy clothes.” I slowly looked down. I felt the whole yards eyes on me.  “You should just kill your self” Zoe whispered right into my ear. I quickly stood up pushing her over on to her back. I then picked her up by her shirt and slammed her against the tree.  “What the f**k is wrong with people like you?!” I screamed at her. She started crying uncontrollably.  “And you think you’re tough? Just because you can say hurtful s**t to someone? Well anyone can do that! Takes someone tougher to be a decent person!” I yelled at her.  Everyone took a step back from me like they were scared and a few other people were filming. I then put Zoe down, grabbed my s**t and left.  I finally made it to the last lesson of the day but it was definitely the worst. Physical education aka PE, I was basically as bad as someone could possibly be at sport and that wasn’t even the worst part. No matter how hot the weather is I have to wear long pants and a jumper to cover bruising. I changed into track pants and walked onto the oval.  “You’re wearing that?” My teacher Mr Conner asked  “yes sir” I said hoping he wouldn’t give me extra laps.  “You forgot your shorts again?” He said annoyed with me. I slowly nodded and looked down.  “ you can do laps, I’m sick of this why do you forget every lesson?” I knew I wasn’t meant to answer his question so I started running.  When me, Joey and Beth got home Jeff seemed furious. He grabbed my hair and dragged me to the bed room and pointed to the floor. I could see broken pieces of the stereo on the ground and wished I’d cleaned it up.  “What did I tell you about cleaning up things you break?” He asked while still holding me by my hair.  “I’ll clean it up now” I mumbled. “NOT f*****g GOOD ENOUGH” he screamed into my ear and then dragged me out of the room.  Before I knew it I was in the basement. My head was throbbing from Jeff pulling my hair so hard and I stood there knowing it was only going to get worse. Jeff pushed me over as I fell I scrapped my cheek and nose slightly. The stinging hurt a little bit then I saw him standing over me. I tried to get up but before I could Jeff kicked me in the ribs. I fell back down and moaned in pain. He kept going kicking me over and over until I stopped fighting it. He then just looked at me and walked up the stairs and slammed the door.  I woke up on the floor and it was dark outside. I slowly tried to get up and felt a sharp pain in my side. I looked at my ribs and my whole side was starting to bruise from this beating. After a few minutes I managed to get to my feet and walked into the bedroom. I saw Beth asleep but Joey was sitting up and noticed me come in.  “Is it bad?” he asked in a worried voice.  “No, just a slight scratch on my face” I said lying to him.  He looked at me once more then rolled over to get some sleep. I tried to sleep but after passing out earlier I couldn’t. I then spent the next few hours trying to get homework done.