.....“Stricken with grief my ass,” I said out loud.

     I threw down my room key on the nightstand and then undressed. I slithered my way in to the bed. I had drastically underestimated how wonderfully comfortable this bed was. It might have been the mattress, or it might have been the fact that Father wasn’t in the same building as I was, but I went straight to sleep.
     The soft morning sunlight woke me up. My window curtains were open. I could have sworn that I shut them yesterday evening. This is just like something Jon would do. He would always say, “Natural light eases your brain into its conscious state, Lisa.” I loved him, but that would always get on my nerves. I rose to my bed to shut the curtains. The clock said 5:06. It was too late to go back to sleep. I looked at my bed again-
     “Jon, what are you doing here? How did you know where I was? You didn’t tell Father where I am, did you?”
     “Lisa, Father is here. Would you care to talk to him?”
     “NO! Of course I don’t want to talk to him. What is wrong with you? You know what he does to me. Besides, I’m half naked! If you weren’t my brother I would have slapped you by now. Come to think of it, why haven’t I slapped you? You scared me to death. Why are you even here? And why are you all of a sudden calling him Father? You always used to call him Allen. He’s not even your father. Jeez, hand me my pants, would you please?” He silently obeyed. This wasn’t like Jon. I could see it in his eyes. They were usually so glowing and kind; now they were dark, and hollow. This was not my brother. This was not my Jonny.
     “Here is your shirt, too. Father is waiting for you outside. You should really talk to him.” I couldn’t stand it anymore. He was talking just the way Father does. I pounced on him.
     “Listen, Jon, I don’t know what kind of drugs you’re on, or what father has said or done to you, but I will never – DO YOU HEAR ME? – Never talk to that sad excuse for a man again. Do you see these bruises?” He didn’t flinch. This made me even more enraged. I grabbed his face, and turn it to the left so that he could get a better view of my arm. I was speaking through a clenched jaw now. “I said, ‘Do you see these BRUISES?’”
     “Father is waiting outside. He wants to talk to you.”
     “Shut the fuck up Jonny!” I hit his chest out of anger. “This,” I showed him my bruises again; “This is not a normal father-daughter relationship. This is not what he is supposed to do!” I started hitting him again. I also started sobbing.
     “I HATE HIM!” My words were so in-audible due to my sobbing that I rolled off of Jon, and went into the fetal position. “Why did you have to leave me, Jon? Why did you have to move out? You left me all alone with him!” Jon picked me up, and led me to the door. I was too weak to do otherwise.
     “We are going to talk to father now,” he said. I couldn’t resist Jon. He was just too sweet when he wasn’t asking this strange. All those times that he helped me, how could I disobey him? He opened the door; there he was. Father was standing there with that smug grin plastered across his unshaven face. He smiled at me.
     “Good morning, Lisa. How did you-” Just then I lifted my fist, and POW, right in the kisser.
     “How dare you even think about talking to me? How the fuck do you even think that you have the right to live, you fucking scum?” I raised my fist again, but this time he stopped me. He had grabbed my right arm, the one that he had broken. It hurt like someone just stabbed scissors straight through my arm.
     “Now why would you want to make Daddy angry?” He said. I spat on him, and before I could say anything else, he stuck me across the face. Jon grabbed me then.
     “It’s time to wake up now, Lisa,” he said. Then he pushed me.
I sat straight up in bed. It was four o’clock. I looked to my left; no Jonny. I got up and looked through the peep-hole on my hotel room door; no Father. I slumped against the side of the door, and started to sob. I picked up the hotel phone and dialed Jonny’s number. I placed the phone to my ear, but not too close. I had seen enough CSI episodes to know that the phone and remote control were very unsanitary. The phone was ringing. I knew it was early, but I needed to hear his voice.
     “Hello?” he said in a sleepy voice.
     “Hey Jonny, it’s Lisa.”
     “Oh, hi Lisa. Why are you calling so late? Are you okay?”
     “Yeah Jon, I’m fine. I just had it a little rough the past couple of days.”
     “Is Allen being a dick again? Listen, I’m sorry I’m not there to stand up for you anymore. It was really selfish of me to move out like that. I-“
     “Jon, shut-up. We already talked about that a bazillion times. No hard feelings. I’m actually not at home, and don’t ask me where I am because the I would have to tell you and then Father would-“
     “Whoa! Chill out! Please tell me that your not calling me from a pay phone because you decided to sleep in the woods on the trail again.”
     “No, I’m safe.”
     “Okay. Hey, why don’t you come and stay with me for a bit. It will be just like old times. We can watch movies and-“
     “Jon, I’m hurt really bad. My arm is broken, along with some ribs, I think. I can’t go to the hospital; they would have to call Father.”
     “Lisa, you know that I’m in med-school and that I can fix you right up after I get some supplies from work tomorrow. You’re coming over and that’s final.”
     “Thanks, Jon. Can you come pick my up? I’m at the Comfort Inn right off the highway. Don’t ask me how I got here because I’m not so sure myself.”
     “Okay, I’ll be right there Sis. I love you.”
     “I love you too,” I replied, and hung up the phone.



Part Six has been posted.
Go check it out!