Penalty for Disobedience

A beautiful young teen with honey hazel eyes:
She stares and hesitates for a moment, not wanting the man to know she is there.
She is playing a game . . . . . . a desperate game that decides the outcome of her life.
She has played this game a thousand times,
Day by day she learns the ever more complex rules.
She is trapped by it . . . pulled into its grasp, trapped by her own fear.
The man turns.

The girl freezes . . . . . She’s been seen.

“What are you doing, *Melanie?”

His voice seems to be neutral, but is coated with a syrupy-sweetness that screams of near punishment.

*Melanie blinks, thinking hard. . . .The truth, or a lie? Which will bring her less pain? She swallows.

The man is suspicious . . . . . He thinks. He knows what she is going to do. She’d given herself away.

If only she had stopped further back.

“*Melanie, I asked you a question. Answer me.”

She takes a breath, “Going to Laura’s, Dad.”

The man’s face changes slightly with displeasure.

The girl is afraid . . . She gave the wrong answer.

“What have I told you about that girl, *Melanie? I don’t want you two to be friends.”

“I’m sorry” . . . . . She feels the prickles of fear that creep into her voice and crack it. For a moment, she is so angry with herself that it overwhelms her fear. She drops her head to avoid showing the tears that threaten to fall, bringing sadness along with them.

“Come here.”

She bites her lip and swallows hard, then takes careful, measured steps towards the man. All too soon the gap between the two of them closes and she is standing, looking up at her father. The man glares down at her.

*Melanie holds her breath.

The man moves, and she sees the back of a hand just before it makes contact. Then . . . there is only pain.

She opens her eyes, hyperventilating from the tears that just won’t stop cascading down her face. She struggles to get up at the man’s demanding yells, but staggers from another blow before she can balance herself. She falls again. The man screams for her to be quiet. *Melanie clamps her teeth shut, but cannot stop the whimpers.

Quiet . . . she thinks . . . I must be silent.

Her cheeks feel raw. Her eye is unquestionably bruised. How will she explain this to her teachers and her friends?

The man stares at her.

*Melanie does not move.

She has managed to stop whimpering.

The man shakes his head. “Next time, you’ll know not to disobey me.”

Then he walks out of the room.