The Broken Angel

Chapter 4

Chapter 4: "I Promise"

Angelica's POV

Wes and I walked slowly, neither of us really wanting to get home yet. I didn't bother putting any foundation on again because I was only going home and they would get mad at me if I showed home with makeup on. They would call me a "w***e" again and ask if I was "working the streets" again. Not only that, they love seeing what the do to my face and get off from it. Gross.

We were almost home when a sudden chill went up my spine and shook me to my core. It was warm out and no wind at all, so I didn't really understand this feeling. That is until I heard his voice.

"Were you in a gang fight or something?" a male voice called out behind us. I spun around to face the man, but I only saw darkness. Nobody moved towards us or made a sound. I pushed Wes behind me, just in case there were a group of people. Wes gripped the back of my shirt, making sure to stay close to me.

Then, a man came out of the darkness and walked into the circle of light that cascaded down above him from the street lamp. I could instantly recognize him. He was one of the men from the diner. He had short black hair and green eyes that shone brightly and almost feral looking. He wore a tight white shirt that showed off all of his muscles and tattoos that covered his arms and chest, black, ripped skinny jeans and dark Carolina boots.

"Why do you care?" I snapped at him. I put my hands on my hips and decided to become sarcastic. "Oh, you seemed so nice and kind-hearted at the diner, I was just waiting for you to come after me and ask me something so important. Why aren't you such the knight in shining armor."

He smiled at me and tipped his head up some. "I can tell that you are being sarcastic." he said, cooly.

"Really? What gave it away? Was it calling you 'nice and kind-hearted' or saying that I was waiting for you?" I asked.

"Neither. The knight in shining armor part." he said and I snorted.

"But, I wasn't being sarcastic about that part. You are in shiny white armor, and I can't say I mean that in a good way. If I had to judge you based on appearances, I'd have to guess you're some rich kid who had everything handed to him at his whims. It seems like you have had other people doing you dirty work for you, so you armor isn't chipped, scratched or even dirty." I said and his right eye twitched, clearly annoyed.

"You don't know anything about me." he said, his voice dropping to a dangerous level, but I rolled my eyes.

"And you don't know anything about me, so why don't you just leave us alone." I snapped. He stared at me for a moment before walking towards me. I quickly got into a defensive position and Wes gripped my shirt harder. If I let him, he would jump in front of me, just to protect me, but I was holding him behind me.

The man reached up and lightly touched my cheek when he finally stood directly in front of me. I flinched under his touch and he frowned.

"What. Happened?" he asked quietly. I slapped his hand away.

"It's none of your damn business." I snapped. I quickly turned around and walked away from the strange man, making Wes walk in front of me.

"I'll be seeing you soon enough, Miss Waitress. I promise you that." he said, laughing like what I did didn't affect him.

"I hope that time never comes." I yelled back to him. I glanced back and saw him still standing there, watching us with a devilish smile on him lips.

*-*_*-*_*-*

I sighed as I woke up the next day. I was not ready for today to begin, but I had to get up anyways. I rolled over onto my side and gasped at the abrupt pain that exploded throughout my body. Yeah, they definitely bruised my ribs.

I whimpered as I sat up and softly held my ribs. I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it up and over my head. I looked down and see all of the scars from the years of abuse on my body and I touched the deep bruised skin on both sides of my chest. On the right side of my body, there were bruises going down past my pants line.

I grabbed a random black shirt from the small pile of clothes and pulled it over my head. I stood up and grabbed a slightly ripped pair of blue jeans, pulling them on. I slipped on my black Roxy Newton boots. I only had two pairs of shoes; these boots and a pair of black, flowery Vans I had gotten at a garage sale a couple of months back. They were in good condition and only $5. I think she felt bad for me and knocked the price down to that.

I run my fingers through my hair and grabbed a black and white beanie, slipping it over my head. I was about to walk into Wes's room when I heard crying. My eyes widened as I realized where it was coming from and I slammed the door open. My father was standing above Wes, holding a stick in his right hand.

Just as my father was bringing the stick down, I lunged onto Wes's body and cover him completely. The stick connected with my back around ten or so times before my father got bored. I was biting my lip, refusing to cry out because Wes was bawling under me, frozen in fear.

Before my father left, he decided to get one last kick in. The heel of his boot slammed into my left hip, sending us rolling to the right. I scrambled up and positioned myself of Wes's body again, in case he wanted to hit one of us anymore, but my father just left the room. I rolled back onto my feet and exhaled. My back was aching, but I had things to do today and this wasn't going to stop me. I've had worse.

Wes sat up and grabbed my right arm. "Why?" he asked, bawling his eyes out. I smiled softly at him and raised my hand up, wiping his tears away.

"Because, you're my baby brother and I will always be there for you." I said, quietly. It was a promise I had made with myself a very long time ago, and I don't intend to ever break it. "Now, let's get going."

I stood up and reached my hand out to help him up. Wes completely ignored my hand and stood up by himself, stumbling a little bit.

"I promise." he said, a determined look in his eyes.

"You promise what?" I asked. I was really curious to know, but a little scared to find out.

"I promise that I will get big and strong, so I can be the one protecting you. You are always protecting me and working to support us, so I'm going to be the one to do it, so you don't have to put on your brave face anymore and cry when you think I'm not looking." he said.

I smiled at him, a single tear slipping down my face. I put my right hand on his head and pulled him to me, into a hug. I started running my fingers through the back of his hair and I put my cheek on the top of his head.

"I'll be waiting for that day then." I whispered. I kissed the top of his head and pulled away from him, wiping away my tear. "Okay, then, let's get to work. You can help me today, if you want." He nodded his head, excited, and we set off.

*-*_*-*_*-*

The man from last night was sitting in a booth at the back of the diner. He was close enough to see my every movement, but out of the way that people wouldn't notice him. He was watching me intently, and I don't like it. And Jack hates him even more than I do. It's to the point where Jack won't stop glaring at the guy.

When I occasionally glance over there, the man is looking at Jack, smirking, which in turn infuriates Jack more. I have no idea what he's thinking, but I doubt it's anything good.

Wes has been helping me take orders, but I alway service the food. For the first few orders, I was there with him when he did it, but I let him go after I knew he could do it. Rosa was okay with him helping out and said she would throw a couple bucks his way. Rosa is great and knows a little bit of what our home life is like, but not all of the details, so she's willing to help out as much as she possibly can. Which is really nice of her to do.

Suddenly, someone was bear-hugging me from behind and I gasped. I looked back and seen a mop of red hair and knew who it was. "Lexa." I gritted out of my teeth. "Let. Go. Of. Me." She quickly let go and stepped back.

Lexa is a really weird girl and I don't care for her much, but she is really attached to me for some reason. She has long red hair and green eyes, with black and pink glasses framing her face. She likes to wear dresses all of the time, even in winter, and she's seventeen years old. She failing in almost all of her subjects in school and this is because she likes to skip way too much and doesn't do much when she is there.

"Sorry about that, love." she said, smiling happily. Another thing about her is, she is in love with me, or so she proclaims. I don't have a problem with that, but she can be really pushy at times.

"What are you doing here? School is still in session." I asked, tapping my foot. I felt like her mother when it came to things like this because her real mother doesn't care about her and only cares about drugs and men.

"Yeah..." she started, looking away from me like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"You're skipping again." I started and she stood there in silence. I pinched the bridge as I groaned. "You really need go school and get your education."

"Why should I?" she asked. "You didn't go to high school!"

"Yeah?" I asked, getting angry at her statement. "I'm a twenty year old, high school drop-out that is working a full-time job a diner where I get minimum wage. I have a ton of bills that need to be pair off and I take care of my kid brother when I'm not working, so I don't get any free time to myself. Do you honestly want to be like me?"

Lexa looked down at her shoes, ready to cry, and all the anger left me. I put my hand on her head and apologized, even though I didn't mean it. In another life, I would hate to have this life and would never want to live it. I would want to go to school and get an education. Marry a nice man and settle down. But, that will never happen because I can't abandon Wes and I never will.

I could tell that Lexa was just pouting because I sounded upset at her, but I wouldn't wish this life upon anyone. I'm grateful for this job and Wes, but if all of this could have been avoided I would rather have that.

I rolled my eyes and pulled out one of the lollipops I had in my apron. Normally, I kept twenty or so in my apron in case kids come in, and when I'm low, I grab more from the back room. I buy these myself because I love seeing the smiles on the kid's face when I give them it.

"Stop pouting." I tell her. "I didn't mean for it to sound like I was yelling at you or giving you a lecture, but I just want you to have a better life than I do. Without a high school diploma, you are very limited on job choices. And I'm not saying you have to go college and do something big, but you need to at least graduate high school, so you can have the opportunity if you want to." Lexa sniffled and nodded her head.

"Alright, I'll go everyday, all day!" she said. I smiled and ruffled her hair up. She pulled me into another bearhug and I hissed in pain. "I love you, Angel! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I promise, I will! I'll be good!"

She started crying into my shirt, makeup running and everything, which made me thankful that I normally wear black. I just patted her head, trying to comfort her and not strangle her in this situation. Jack, thankfully, saved me and dragged Lexa off to the back room, so he could clean her up. I shook my head and got back to work like it never happened.