grabbed my arm to pull my face close to his. He snarled with gritted teeth and commanded me to clean up my room. As I was against his face, I could taste the smoke in his breath as he exhaled the word “room� into my face. He threw me to the floor while my arm began to swell where he’d grabbed me. After slamming the door, he stomped through the house and into the kitchen. I heard that repetitive sound again of him hitting the pack on his hand. He yelled that he would be in my room to check that it was clean in three minutes. Fear gripped my heart. I scrambled, grabbing my chest with my hand and coughing from the smoke. He loved me, but he loved his chemical more. I shoved my tracks away into the bin with my other toys and shut the lid as he burst through the door. His eyes were horrifying as they loomed over me. I leaned against the wall with a thud and slid to the floor. Holding my knees to my chest, I peered up at him as he walked over to the corner of my bed where I had accidentally left one of my toys. He bolted toward me, faster than anything I had ever seen, and threw me over his shoulder. I pounded on his back screaming for him to let me go, begging and pleading while my tears fell to the floor behind him, unnoticed. He was so strong. With one arm still around my legs, he pulled out the pack and hit it with his hand again several times. The sound again. He set me in the closet that I knew so well and lit his match. He loved me, but he loved his chemical more. My tiny fists fought with the wooden door, but the doorkeeper was present on the other side. After hours, he opened the door. My eyes were puffy, swollen from the stress and the tears. My hands were raw and red from pawing at the door. My stomach was sore from the violent lift to his strong shoulders. He told me to put my hands out, but I shook my head. Once again, he told me to give him my hands. He loved me, but he loved his chemical more. Taking his freshly lit cigarette in his thumb and forefinger, he took my right hand in his vice grip, and shoved the coal into my 15
The Mill Literary Magazine: Spring 2011
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