Based on the song "He" by Jars of Clay
Don't try to reach me I'm already dead The pain when it grips me For things that I've done
Well, I try to make you proud But for crying out loud Just give me a chance to hide away Exhaustion takes over Will this someday be over?
Fearful tears are running down The pain you've laid don't speak a sound Don't take my heart away from me And they think I fell down... Again
Daddy, don't you love me Then why do you hit me And Momma don't you love me Then why do you hurt me
Well, I try to make you proud But for crying out loud Just give me a chance to hide away Exhaustion takes over Will this someday be over?
Fearful tears are running down The pain you've laid don't speak a sound Don't take my heart away from me And they think I fell down... Again
A teardrop falls from up in the heavens Drowning the sorrow of angels in high For the least of the hopeless, the helpless, the loveless My Jesus, His children, He holds in His arms
-He, by Jars of Clay (CD: self-titled)
Prologue...
Menley sat on the floor, rocking herself to sleep, her back perched against her bedroom wall. She couldn't lay down. She couldn't turn her back, for fear of not seeing what was to come to her in the future. If she turned her back in her house the pain would only be more unbearable... if she didn't see it coming.
Oh Lord, save me from this. Help me. Somebody, anybody... help me.
Chapter 1...
Menley woke up the next morning, her head pounding as she stood from the floor. She could feel the bruises forming on her body already, and as she walked out of her bedroom and down the stairs she felt her whole being ache... inside and out.
The morning was the only time of the day that she was alone in her house. The only time she had freedom. The only time she wasn't petrified... of her family at least. Being alone only made her afraid of herself.
She had a pattern every morning. Wake up, stand from the floor, and walk downstairs to the kitchen. Upon reaching the kitchen, she immediately went to the cabinet that held the advil. And that's where she battled with herself inwardly to only take the recommended amount. Three advil always ended up being popped into her mouth, an unknown force holding her back from downing the entire bottle.
That morning was different though. She took the three advil but instead of going upstairs to take a shower, she picked up the phone and dialed her friend Nick. "I'm not going to school this morning. You don't have to pick me up."
After making up excuses of being sick, she managed to finally get off of the phone with him. Taking a shaky breath, she walked back up the stairs and to her bathroom where she examined her battered body. It had been too bad last night. The wounds that she received were worse than most.
"I fell down the stairs" and "I ran into a door" would get her nowhere at school. Being klutzy didn't give these types of injuries.
Chapter 2...
Nick jumped into his car later that day, after school and headed towards Menley's house. It was odd. Lately she'd missed a lot of school.
Nick and Menley had been friends for 2 years now. They met in their Sophomore year at Tampa High and were now Seniors, ready to graduate and begin building lives for themselves. He had to admit, he'd miss her terribly. He'd be going to UCLA in the Fall of next year, while Menley was staying in Tampa... for reasons unknown to him. It didn't seem like she was really close to her family or anything, so why she would want to stay close by was beyond him.
Now that Nick thought about it... he'd never gone to her house in the afternoon. He always picked her up in the morning and gave her a ride to school and after school she claimed that her mom was picking her up and that she had tons of homework to do, so she couldn't hang out. He'd never met her family. Not once. But the fact that she never mentioned them didn't pass him by.
Pulling into her driveway he noticed a car parked in it that wasn't there when he'd pick her up in the mornings, and as he neared the front door he heard yelling. Hesitating, he raised his hand to the door and knocked.
Chapter 3...
The sight of Menley when she came to the door gave Nick a fear that he'd never felt before. The dark circle around her right eye, the cut on her bottom lip and across her forehead... all these things made her look as though she'd just been in a street fight.
He could still hear shouting and screaming coming from inside the house, followed by a big bang from upstairs. "Menley, what is going on in there??" he asked, though it was plenty obvious what was happening. It didn't take a genius to figure it out.
"Nothing, Nick." Menley's voice came out in a raspy whisper, her throat, and every other part of her body, aching. "Everything's okay. Just go. Please, you have to leave."
Nick watched helplessly as small fearful tears ran down her cheeks. "Men, no! You're hurt. Let me get you to a hospital," he spoke quietly - while holding her hands in his own - for fear of her father hearing him.
Nick had always had suspicious feelings about Menley's family. The fact that she shuddered every time he mentioned her parents - or even his, for that matter - just didn't seem right.
"No... Nick, you have to leave. Please," her eyes seemed to reach deep into his soul as she begged him.
Nick had never seen his friend look so scared in all the time he'd known her. "Okay. Men... I..." he didn't know what else to say. He kissed her forehead gently, before walking back to his car.
It might've seemed like a stupid thing to do. To just leave her there when her father was obviously hurting her, but Nick knew that he couldn't do anything for her at that moment, by staying and refusing to leave. If anything, that would only make her situation worse.
But he would come back.
~ * ~ Menley ~ * ~
Menley sighed quietly as she closed the door. Her father would kill her if she knew that she had answered the door for Nick. She had looked out the window when the knock had come, to see who it was. She had to get Nick away from her house, otherwise if her father had heard him knocking he would have most likely killed him. Or her.
Tears streamed down Menley's face as she quietly ran up the staircase. She needed to find her little sister and make sure she was okay.
Menley gulped as she looked at herself in her bathroom mirror. Her father and mother had run off to the local tavern approximately 30 minutes after she'd gotten rid of Nick. Her little sister, Hannah, had been okay. Unfortunately, though, she'd been the 'loud bang' that Nick had heard come from upstairs. Menley's father had pushed Hannah and she'd fell back against a hallway table, knocking over the flower vase that sat atop it. Fortunately, she'd only gotten a little bump on the back of her head. Now she was sleeping peacefully in Menley's bed.
Menley, on the other hand, wasn't in as good of a condition. It hurt to breathe. Badly. And as she looked in the bathroom mirror at the large bruise that lay across her ribs, she knew her father had broken another one. She'd had 3 broken ribs over a 6 month period.
Menley slipped her T-shirt back over her head and turned the bathroom light off as she walked back into her bedroom. Slipping into bed beside her 7 year old sister, she kissed Hannah's forehead lightly, before closing her eyes and trying to fall asleep.
The only time she ever slept in her bed was if her sister was there. Even then, she didn't sleep much.
~ * ~ Nick ~ * ~
Nick gulped as he ran his fingers through his hair, while pacing the length of his bedroom floor. "What am I going to do?" he murmured to himself. "I can't tell anybody else what I know. That would only put Men in more danger. Maybe I should tell my mom though. No... I can't."
Tears filled his blue eyes as he plopped down onto his bed. He sat there, staring at the wall for 20 minutes. Menley was his friend. Possibly his best friend. He had to help her. But how was he supposed to help her, without putting her through even more pain?
Chapter 5...
Menley sat up in bed quickly when she heard something at her window. Looking down at Hannah to make sure she was still asleep, she stood up quietly and snuck over to the window sill peering out through her curtains. She opened the window quickly, "Nick??? What the heck are you doing out there??"
"Let me in," Nick whispered, before she moved aside, allowing him to crawl into her bedroom. "Are your parents home?"
"No..." she replied shakily. "No, they're not. Why?"
"'Cause I'm getting you out of here. Men, I want you and your sister to come with me. I know your parents are hurting you. Please, you've gotta let me help you."
"Nick, you can't help me. There's nothing you can do," she whispered, her eyes adverting. "I'm fine. Hannah's fine. We're fine."
"No, you're not!" Nick's voice rose, before he looked over to where Hannah was sleeping. "No, you're not," he whispered. "Menley, please. Someday they're gonna hurt you two so badly that you're gonna die. Please, Men, please... They'll kill you."
"No! Nick, you need to leave! We can't-" she stopped talking when she heard the front door slam shut. She could hear her parents cussing at her from downstairs and knew they were drunk. "Nick, leave," she whispered hoarsley, trying to push him towards the window.
"No!" Nick rushed over to Menley's bed and picked Hannah up, cradling her head against his shoulder.
"What's going on?" Hannah asked quietly, waking up slightly.
"Nothing, sweetie," Menley said gently, smoothing her sister's hair away from her face. "Just go back to sleep."
Menley panicked as she heard her parents stumbling up the stairs towards her bedroom. Her eyes connected with Nick's, "The window!" she whispered as they ran towards the window.
Chapter 6...
Menley gasped sharply when she turned the wrong way, her ribs aching.
"Menley, are you okay?" Nick's mother, Jane, asked gently, holding Menley's elbow in her hand.
Men nodded, trying to smile. She didn't want them to know that she was in pain, that something was wrong. "I'm fine... really."
Jane looked at her skeptically, but decided not to push her. When Nick walked into the room that Menley would be staying in, Jane said she was going to bed and left, shutting the door behind her quietly.
Menley stood and grabbed her jacket, "Nick, where's Hannah? I really should take her and we should go..."
"What?! Men, no," Nick grabbed her arm to stop her. "I'm not letting you go back there, got it?? There's no way. Hannah's just fine, okay? She's asleep in the room down the hall. Her room is right next to mine. If she wakes up in the middle of the night I'll hear her, and I'll check on her a few times, okay? She's fine, Men. And you're going to be fine too... as long as you stay here."
"That's not true, Nick! That's not true at all... It's the opposite! If I stay here, I'm dead. But I'm probably dead already, because my parents know I'm gone... Oh, Nick, what am I gonna do??" She began to cry, though she'd tried not to.
Nick instinctively wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair with his hands, "It's gonna be okay, Men," he whispered. "I promise... We'll figure something out. I won't let anything happen to you ever again. I promise."
And for some reason, unknown even to herself, Menley believed him.
