The Hard Life (Working Title), Ashley Beth [books that read to you .TXT] 📗

in the air. Jeremiah grins and says,

“Skylar, shouldn’t you be in bed? It’s late.”

My stomach twists and I nod, suddenly mute. Candy shoots him a glare that he ignores. He waits for me in the hallway. Candy gives me a reassuring slap on the butt as I leave. He joins me in my room and I fight the tears. He’s in a mean mood today. Stupid bastard stays in my room for almost two hours. Leaves me with two fresh bruises and a cut on my lip.

About an hour after he leaves, my door opens. Candy is carrying a Mars bar, my favorite. She sits on my bed without a word and hands me the candy. I eat it and try to stop my tears. Candy’s arms wrap tight around me and I lay my head on her shoulder.

“Why is he only mean to me?” I whisper.

She sighs. “I don’t know, baby. Because he’s a bastard, I guess. He’s not that nice to Cherry, either…”

I sit up and glare at her. “Oh, don’t give me that bullshit. She doesn’t get it half as bad. And he doesn’t touch you ever.”

“That’s ‘cause I’m not scared of him. He knows he can’t push me around, so he doesn’t try. You’ve just got to learn to hide your fear better. Every time he comes in the room, it’s written all over your face. Same with Alex. You panic and they can tell. They feed off that, Skylar.”

I know she’s right. I just can’t help it. She sits up.

“Okay, girl. You need sleep. You look like shit.”

I lie down and curl into a ball. She gives me a kiss on the forehead. Shuts the door on her way out and I fall asleep.


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Chapter 2

I wake up to the sound of my door opening. Thinking its Candy, I groan, “Leave me alone, bitch! I’ve still got ten minutes left!”

But it’s not Candy’s voice that answers.

“You better watch your mouth talking to me like that.”

My stomach twists. I sit up to see Jeremiah standing in the doorway. I actually feel the blood drain from my face. He grins at me and crosses his arms, waiting. I try to find my voice.

“S-sorry,” I whisper, “I d-didn’t… I thought you were Candy.”

He laughs and crosses the room. “I know. She’s getting ready and you should be, too. I told her I would wake—,”

“There, she’s up!” Candy rushes into my room and glares at Jeremiah. She wiggles her fingers and says, “Run along now.”

She’s got guts, I’ll give her that. She doesn’t cower under the look he gives her. She crosses her arms and frowns. He walks toward her and my stomach twists further. Before she can flinch, he backhands her hard. The loud sound echoes in my room. She stumbles backwards and falls to the floor, holding her mouth tight.

“You need to learn some respect. Don’t ever interrupt me again. Both of you get ready or I’m making a call to Alex.”

I jump up, terrified, and say, “Okay, we’re going now. Sorry, she’s an idiot sometimes. Doesn’t always think before she talks.”

He leaves and I look at Candy. She’s holding her mouth and I see tears streaking her makeup. The anger in her face makes me step back. She stumbles to her feet and stomps down the hallway without a word.
Her anger lasts the whole time we’re getting ready. She doesn’t say anything to me. Even when Cherry accidentally bumps Candy’s arm, she says nothing. Just ignores both of us. I know she’s embarrassed. She never gets hit in front of us. And he hit her hard. Her jaw is swollen and her lip takes forever to stop bleeding. I want to help, but I think that might embarrass her more.

She doesn’t offer to walk with me tonight. I’m not surprised. The night goes by slow. The money’s good, though. I make enough again tonight and even have enough left over for breakfast. I can’t find Candy, so I go to the diner without her. I eat fast, anxious to find Candy. Surely she’s not still upset. I mean, it was a damage to her ego, but it’s not like I’ll hold it against her. I get hit five times as much as her. I know what it’s like.

She’s not home when I get there and that bothers me. I give Alex my money and go back outside to wait for her. Cherry comes back a little while later with a grin on her face. So she had a good night, too. I’m really starting to worry when Candy comes up the street. She looks like hell and she’s sobbing. Oh, no. Please tell me she’s okay.

She rushes past me and inside. I start to go in after her, but then I hear something that makes my blood run cold. I can’t hear her voice, but Alex’s is loud enough.

“What do you mean you lost my money!”

I hear a smack and hug myself tight. Alex is yelling all sorts of things at her. I feel hot tears streak down my face. I want to go in and help her, but I don’t have a chance against Alex. She’s begging; I can hear it in her voice. He doesn’t care. Begging never helps.

When Alex finally storms past me, I see him wiping blood off his fist. He ignores me and I go back inside. Candy is slumped in the corner of the room next to the couch. She’s not moving and I panic. I cross the room and crouch down next to her. Her face is covered in blood and she won’t open her eyes. Terrified, I check for breathing. She’s still alive, just unconscious. I see Cherry standing in the doorway, hesitant.

“Can you help me? I don’t think I can get her up.”

She nods and we try to pull Candy up. We stumble down the hallway and put her in her bed. Cherry leaves to get a rag and I sit down next to Candy. I brush her hair from her face and try to stop crying. She’s okay. Its okay now, she’s still alive. I chant the words in my head, but they don’t help.

“Candy, wake up.” I whisper, “I need you to wake up. I can’t take care of you… you’re the one who takes care of me.”

Cherry comes back in with a couple wet rags and an icepack. I wash the blood off Candy’s face. She’s got cuts all over from his ring. Stupid bastard, hate boils deep in my stomach. She’s never in trouble! She’s allowed to get a pass!

When I put the icepack on her forehead, her eyes flutter open. She immediately groans and tries to sit up.

“No, girl. Stay down.” I say quietly. I put a hand on her shoulder to keep her still and she frowns.

“What happened?”

“You lost the money, I think. Alex was pissed. Got you bad, but you’re okay now. Just a few bruises, not too bad.”

“Why do I feel all swollen?” She mumbles.

“Because you are. He got your face. You’re fine; just don’t enter any beauty pageants… I don’t think you’ll win.”

She tries to smile, but it looks painful. I give her a smile and tease,

“Not that you would’ve before…”

She rolls her eyes and mutters, “Get bent, bitch.”

I laugh and see movement out of the corner of my eye. Cherry is standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

“Um… is she okay now?”

“Yeah, she’ll be fine. Thanks for the help.”

I give her a smile and she returns it. Maybe she’s not such a bitch after all. Huh. I turn back to Candy as Cherry closes the door. I say,

“What happened? How’d you loose the money?”

“I don’t remember. I think it was—,”

The door opens again and Jeremiah crosses his arms.

“Skylar, your room. Now.”

I jump up and give Candy a quick squeeze on her shoulder. When I walk past Jeremiah, I expect him to close her door and follow me. He doesn’t. I turn in time to see him go into Candy’s room and shut the door. I hear his voice, low, but I can’t understand the words. She whimpers and I press my ear to her door. A small hand grabs my arm and yanks me down the hallway. Cherry whispers,

“What are you doing? Don’t you know how dangerous that is? Leave them alone or you’ll look like her, too.”

I yank my arm away and say,

“What is that supposed to mean?”

She shakes her head and pulls me into her room. As soon as she shuts the door, I cross my arms. She sits down on her bed and I join her.

"What are you talking about?"

“He set her up.” She whispers. White-hot anger shoots through me. “Because she talked back to him. He set her up with Alex. Stole her money.”

“Wait, how do you know that?”

She sighs. “I just got out of a car. She was walking my way. I was about to yell at her to go somewhere else and then he grabbed her. Pulled her in the ally and I heard yelling and crying.”

“What happened?”

“I dunno. I wasn’t about to stick around and find out.”

Before I can say anything else, Cherry’s door flies open. My stomach twists at the anger in Jeremiah’s face. He crosses the room and yanks me to my feet by my hair.

“I said your room! Not hers!”

I cry out in pain when he rips out a handful of my hair. Involuntary tears streak down my cheeks. He drags me down the hall to my room and I try to keep up. He’s still got my hair in his fist and the pain is horrible. He’s gonna rip off my scalp!

When we get to my room, he throws me to the bed. I’m terrified he’s about to hurt me, but he stands in the doorway.

“You need to learn your place. When I tell you to do something, you do it. I say sleep. Now. I better not hear this door open until tonight, do you understand me?”

I nod and try to stop my tears. I hate that he scares me so much. He smiles at me and I cross my arms.

“Good girl. Maybe I’ll come keep you company in a little while.”

I feel the blood drain from my face. He gives me a wink and shuts the door behind him. As soon as he’s gone, I sigh in relief. I rub my head and grab the Advil hidden under my bed. I take a few and curl into bed. From across the hallway, I can hear Candy crying. I want to go check on her, but I’m terrified Jeremiah will hear me.

I feel so bad for Candy. She’s messed up because she stuck up for me. I deserve to be the one with the swollen face, not her. I shut my eyes and try to fall asleep, but can’t. I get up and wander around my room. I’m too worried about Candy to sleep. So she puts Jeremiah in his place. Once. What the hell is his problem? It’s not like it’s a big deal. God forbid he has damage