Lucy''s Point of View.
I wake up to searing pain in my head, as Ind with the thud onto the floor. Startled and dazed I attempt to open my eyes when I feel a foot connecting with my ribs. Incoherent shouting echoes around the house waking up Daunte, as he begins to cry. As I try to get up off the floor to go up the stairs and soothe my nephew, I am greeted with a hand pping me across the face.
Shaking my head, I look to see a drunk, angry Samantha yelling in my face. I do not know what it is about, nor do I care. All I am bothered about it going and soothing the two-year-old little boy who is obviously frightened right now, not that his poor-excuse-for-a- mother cares about that.
The front door opens to the house, and I see my brother grabbing Samantha by her waist as she twists and turns trying to get out of his grip. I stand to my feet,pletely confused as to what has just happened, my head spinning, when I hear the back door close, the lock being turned as Cal, rushes past me to go to see to his little boy.
Samantha is banging her fists on the back door, screaming and shouting about being locked out of the house, and calling me all the bitches under the sun.
I hear Daunte settle, and sit on the edge of the sofa, my head in my hands. I cannot do this anymore. I have to leave, it''s unbearable.
Cales and sits alongside me, lifting my chin up with his finger, muttering, "f**k," as he looks at my face.
"What the hell happened?" he asked, as he steps up and goes to the freezer bringing out a bag of frozen peas, wrapping them in a tea-towel, before sitting next to me and gently cing them on my face.
"I have no clue. I was asleep when the next thing I knew I was on the floor, and she was kicking the s**t out of me," I sigh.
Tears spring into my eyes, as I shake my head, not knowing what the hell I should do, or where the hell I can go.
"Lucy, what has been happening? Tell me everything," Cal sighs, as the banging on the back door continues, but the shouting stops.
"Cal, I cannot stay here," I whisper out and look at my younger brother who just nods his head.
"Lucy, please, what has been happening?" he asks again.
"She is always out with her friends, and when she isn''t, she is upstairs because she needs to nap. I have been recovering and looking after the kids. Don''t get me wrong, I love those two, but she has not done a thing with them since I got here, apart from when you are home from work." I sigh out.
Cal nods his head, as if he already expected the answer.
"You are home from work early," I say looking at the clock, seeing it is just past midnight.
"Yeah, I was on my break when I saw her shing her t**s at a fire engine, then getting into an argument with that fireman you are going out with tomorrow, or should I say today now," Cal sighed. "What? She had an argument with Ben, what the hell?" I sigh.
"Yeah, she didn''t know I was stood watching and listening, she offered him s*x, and basically he told her to go home and look after her kids, or words to that affect." Cal shook his head.
"Why didn''t you tell me? And where the hell did she get the money from to go out?" Cal asked.
"I am sorry, you have enough on your te without worrying about the kids and her not really looking after them." I sigh.
"No Lucy, if she is not looking after them, then I have a right to know. I cannot go to work and leave her with them, if she is neglecting them." He sighed.
"The money may be my fault as well. She demanded I give her ￡500 per month to live here and ￡50 per week for food, she said you wanted me to give it to her." I sigh.
"f*****g b***h, no way Lucy, we agreed you would give me ￡100 per month to cover the extra food, nothing more, and why the hell would you pay that to her," he all but shouted, then seeing I was about to cry he ced his arm around my shoulder.
"I am not mad at you Lucy, only her." He pulled me in for a hug, but I winced with the pain in my ribs.
Looking at me, he pulled up my PJ top.
"s**t, she has bruised your ribs," he gritted out.
"I cannot stay here Cal," I repeated.
"I know, where will you go?" he asked.
"I have no clue. But Ben has booked us into the hotel tomorrow night, so I will have a think about it, see if I can find somewhere to stay that is cheap, until I get my first pay check." I shrugged.
"Lucy, I am not sure how much of that money you gave her is left, but I will check, and give you back what I can. I am so sorry sis." Cal sighs.
The banging on the back door stops, and I look towards the rear of the house wondering if she has wandered off or fallen asleep out there.
"What are you going to do about her?" I ask him.
"I cannot leave my kids Lucy. As much as I want to leave her, I cannot leave them. I am going to have to give up work. If she is not looking after them, I have no choice ... and get some legal advice." Cal shrugs.
I look at my brother, and my heart breaks anew.
"I feel this is all my fault Cal. If you find any money is left, you keep it. If you have to leave work, you are going to need it," I whisper to him.
"No Lucy, I will manage. It is not your fault, this has been going on since Dante was born, she has been going out cheating on me. When I am not at work, leaving the kids with me, but now I am seriously worried she has been going to bed all day and leaving the kids to fend for themselves." He sighs.
"I wish Mam and Dad were here," I sob out.
"Me too sis, Me too."
My phone lights up, and I see a number of missed text messages from Ben.
I sigh, opening them, wondering what the hell had happened whilst I had slept.
Ben - Lucy, I am so sorry, I think I have caused you some s**t. Saw Samantha out, and I kind of lost it a bit xxx
Ben - I am not sure if you are awake, but I am sorry Lucy, I should not have got involved, I hope you forgive me xxx
Ben - When you wake up, please let me know you are okay. xxx
I look at the texts, then up at Cal.
"It''s Ben apologising." I sigh.
"He seems like a nice guy, when she offered herself to him, he was fuming that she had spoken badly of you. Then told her to sow her fanny up until she was prepared to look after what came out of it." Cal smirked at my shocked face. "He isn''t wrong." I shrug.
Lucy - it is not your fault, Cal saw the whole thing, don''t worry, I will see you tomorrow, stay safe xxx
"Are you going to tell him about this?" Cal asks, removing the frozen peas from my face and cing them onto my ribs.
"He feels guilty enough but given the mark on my face I think I may have to." I shrug.
"Okay, try to get some sleep Lucy, I am going to go and get her back in the house, I will not let here near you, I promise." Cal sighs.
Iy back down on the sofa and listen as he opens the back door.
"You locked me out, you f*****g cunt," Samantha shouts.
"Yeah, go to bed Sam, we will talk in the morning about this," Cal gently tells her, then walks her through the living room, leading her to the stairs, taking her drunken a*s to bed.
I am woken up by the kids as Cal brings them down for breakfast.
"Hey, no climbing on aunty Lucy, she needs her rest," Cal tells them, nicely but firmly.
"It is okay; I am up." I sigh, folding the nkets and putting them in the cupboard under the stairs.
A gentle knock on the door, makes me look over at Cal. He goes to answer it, as I gather the kids wondering who the hell it was at half six on a morning.
Ben stands in the doorway, as Cal stands to one side, motioning for him toe in.
"Hey." I smile.
Ben looks down at the bruise on my face, and gasps slightly.
"What happened? I am so sorry Lucy," he says, his eyes swirling with a mixture of sorrow, and anger as he gently cups my face in his hand.
Cal ushers the kids into the kitchen to give us some privacy.
"When she got in, she beat me up whilst I was asleep. Cal came in and stopped her. He was on his break from work and saw the whole thing. Her shing the engine, you telling her to go home and look after her kids. He even saw and heard her offering you s*x, and what you said to her in response." I sigh.
Ben nodded his head, then pulled me into his huge chest, I winced with pain from my ribs, and he halted looking down at me.
"Yeah, I got a good kicking in the ribs." I sigh.
"s**t, Lucy, this is all my fault, if I had just ignored her none of this would be happening to you," He whispered.
"It is honestly not your fault, I believe this would have happened no matter what, she was looking for an excuse." I shrugged.
"Do you want to cancel tonight?" Ben whispered.
I snapped my head up and looked at him, that was thest thing I wanted to do, but maybe after all this he had changed his mind.
"Why, do you?" I asked, tears forming in my eyes, as I attempted to blink them away, but one strayed onto my cheek.
"Definitely not, I just thought you might have changed your mind after I confronted that woman." He sighed, wiping away my tear with hisrge thumb.
"No, I am seriously looking forward to it. I have been all week." I offer him a soft smile.
"Me too. Lucy, I cannot leave you here, not with her doing this to you. Honestly, since our first meeting I have wanted to get you out of this ce, it has been driving me mad, the thought of you living like this." Ben sighed looking down at me.
"I know, I am going to enjoy tonight, then tomorrow I am looking for a room to rent, as I do not want toe back." I tell him my n.
"What about a room that you can stay, without paying rent?" Ben asks.
I look at him confused.
"Lucy, I have three bedrooms, I use one, there are two spares. You can stay in one of those as long as you need. Get yourself back on your feet. Or if you don''t feelfortable with that, the mother will put you up, no questions asked. If that is too weird, I know Josie will help as well, she has a spare room," Ben tells me, his eyes locked with mine.
"I don''t want to be a nuisance, Ben." I sigh.
"You won''t be, you will be doing me a favour, stopping me from worrying about you all the time." He smiles down at me. My heart leaps in my chest.
Cal walks to the cupboard under the stairs, grabbing the two bin liners of clothes I have, and plonks them on the floor.
"Lucy, I love you sis, take the man up on the offer." Cal winks at me.
Ben looks down at me and I nod slightly.
"Good, let''s get you out of here, and back home." Ben grabs hold of the bags, as Cal grabs my jacket slinging it over my shoulders. Then in my PJ''s, a denim jacket, a pair of fluffy slippers, with two bin liners full of clothes and shoes, I leave the house that has been like a living hell for me and climb into the front of Ben''s car.
"It is only till I get my first pay check and find somewhere to rent," I tell him wanting him to know I would not take advantage of his kind nature.
"That is fine. Now, I need some sleep, and I bet you do to, before we go out on our actual date." Ben grins, putting the car into gear, and heading off towards his home.