alexei

I hide behind the couch, watching dad talk to Reyna. After last night, I have to see what's going on. She wipes her hands on her miniskirt nervously as he pulls the report card out of its envelope. His face darkens. "Am I supposed to be satisfied with this?" "Daddy, I'm trying." He slaps her hard, right across the face. "Trying isn't good enough. A forty eight in math, Reyna?!" I start to stand up, but I see Reyna smile. "Daddy, if you hit me again, I swear to God-" He punches her right in the jaw. Then I get up. "Don't touch her again." She whips around, her hand still cradling her jaw. "Alexei," she warns, sounding exactly like those moms in movies who are trying to keep their kids from getting hit. What scares me is that despite the moms efforts, the kids always get hit. That's why it's not a surprise to me when I'm slapped too. I push him backwards into the couch. "Keep your hands off me, and keep your hands off my sister." His mouth twitches in anger and Reyna looks horrified. "Alexei," She hisses, "Get upstairs right now." I shake my head. "No, I'm not-" She glares at me, and it hurts. I slink upstairs, though every bit of me is tingling with guilt of leaving her with him. "I'm sorry, Daddy," I hear her say through the floor. "I don't know what got into him." Then I hear a thud, and a slight whimpering noise. I run into my room before I can hear anything else. I stare into the mirror and look at my face, at the throbbing hand print. I sit on the bed and take a book from the box Reyna gave me. The Giver. I open the cover and begin to read. Before long I'm completely enveloped in Jonas, the protagonist, and I can't put the book down. Until Reyna busts through my door in tears. I quickly dogear my page and close the book, jumping to my feet. "Reyna, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I-" She hugs me tightly and sobs. "He's... he's... Oh God Alexei, he's going to hurt you!" I blink and slowly hug her back. "Shh, calm down. What do you mean, hurt me?" She starts shaking. "I don't know, but he said you'd regret what you did, and oh God, you have to run." I close my eyes. "Reyna, I can't just-" "Yes you can! Run. Somewhere, anywhere. Go to my apartment! Dad doesn't know the address!" I think for a moment. "What about you?" She releases me from the hug and goes to the window, as if planning an escape route. "What about me?" "Like, where will you go? Will you come with me?" She laughs bitterly. "Dad needs someone to keep him entertained. I'll be better at satisfying him than you. But if I went, he'd get bored, and find us. You're safer without me." I shake my head in refusal. "No, I won't leave you here." She crosses her arms. "Alexei, I'm fine." I reach up and touch her lip, which is split. She winces. "I'm fine." I shake my head again. "You're not." She sits on my bed and pulls me into her lap, and I realize she must hate being the one who's worried over. She used to take care of me. "Alexei, just let me handle this, okay?" I bite my lip. "But I... I love you, Reyna." She kisses the top of my head. "I love you too."

Later, as I'm lost in another new book, my door is flung open again, and there's my dad. "Hey, come here." I blink. "Why?" He rolls his eyes. "Just come on." I reluctantly get up and follow him to his room, where Reyna is on the bed, seemingly stuck in a pose somewhere between seductive and hurt, her shoulders thrust forward and legs straddling the bed, her hair messed up and her eyes somewhat desperate when they meet mine. I look at my dad, feeling my chest tighten. "What did you do to her?" He smirks. "Nothing yet. Sit down." He nods to a chair and I uncertainly settle into it. He makes his way over to his bed and kisses her. He kisses my sister. She just sits. He pushes her into the wall and she just sits. He punches her. "Come on, skank." She glares at him, and I feel my face redden. "Don't call her that." He laughs. "I'll call her whatever I please." Reyna casts me a warning glance, and then moves into our father's lap. He makes a 'Hmph' noise and pulls on her hair, then I watch in horror as he actually rapes my sister. She calmly allows him to abuse her, and I can't believe she's not protesting. He tosses her aside to the floor, where she collects her posture, and pulls on a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt. I blink, but am snapped back to reality when my dad picks me up by the collar and throws me into the wall. I whimper slightly and Reyna narrows her eyes at my dad. "Daddy..." He punches me in the face repeatedly, grinning. Her deep brown eyes widen as Dad pulls out a whip and flashes me a smile. "Daddy." He ignores her and slaps me. "Your clothes go." I swallow and pull off my shirt and pants. The corner of his mouth pricks up in a devilish smile. I follow my instincts and turn around, and suddenly my back is lit on fire. I let out a pained moan, and he begins laughing. "Oh, you like it? You going to moan for me? Well by all means Alexei, show me how much you like it." He continues to crack the whip, and I try hard not to cry, but I end up wailing. He kicks me, right in the crotch, and Reyna stands up, pulling him off of me. "Stop it, Daddy." He snickers and continues. I'm aware of heat, all over my body, heat and snapping. Reyna starts screaming, and hitting him, and he hits her back, and I forget what happens after that.

I wake up numb, faint beeping in the room, Reyna's face over mine. I blink repeatedly. "R-Reyna?" She touches my face. "Yes?" I look around. "What... happened?" She sighs. "Dad." I blink again, remembering. "Oh." She nods and a familiar face appears in the doorway. I blink and try to remember where I know her from. "Hey," She says quietly. "Bad fight, huh?" I look back and forth between she and Reyna. Reyna half smiles at her, and mumbles a "thanks". The lady nods and bends over me, and I'm aware that she's touching me. Like, as in, touching my penis. I feel my eyes widen. "What are you-" She pulls out a roll of bandage from the cabinet and begins wrapping it around me, and she glances at me. "I know you got kicked, I'm a doctor, okay, don't freak out." She turns me on my stomach and presses something cool to my back and I wince slightly. "I'm sorry, I know it stings." She covers it in bandages too, and then turns me again, wrapping stuff around my ribcage, and I start crying, and she pauses. "What's wrong?" I shake my head. "This is embarrassing, and it hurts, and I don't even know you." She softens a bit and finishes whatever she was doing with my ribs. "I know you probably don't like me touching you everywhere, and doing all these things, while you're still in pain. And I'm sorry, but this is my job. And you know who I am." She peels something off my face, and I smell blood and then I'm throwing up, and she looks sad and Reyna looks up at her. "I'll do the rest, please." The doctor nods. "Alright." Reyna finds a towel and begins cleaning me up, and I notice her mouth twitching as if she can't hold back tears any longer. She tosses the towel into a hamper thingy and picks me up while the mystery lady changes the sheets. When I'm back in bed, Reyna presses a cool cloth to my face, and talks to me, just about whatever, I don't even know what she's saying. She finally finishes and kisses my forehead. "There." I blink. "Thank you." She shakes her head and sits in the chair next to my bed. The doctor looks up from her clipboard and nods. "Good. Now, where did you want me to say the cuts on his back came from?" Reyna looks back at her. "Oh, yeah. Just say I just brought him over from Russia... which I did, but you know. And at his school the teacher had done that. Which isn't a total lie." The doctor nods. "Right." I bite my lip. "Why are you lying?" Reyna glances at me. "We can't tell the truth; Dad would kill us." She says it as if I should've realized that. I blink. "Why is she covering for us?" Reyna smiles. "You really don't remember her?" I shake my head. The doctor pulls out her phone and flips to a picture of... me, and Reyna, and someone with turquoise hair. I blink. "How old was I?" She smiles. "Seven. I was seventeen. Your sister was twelve." I look at the picture again. "Blanche...?" Her smile widens. "I knew you'd remember." I finally smile back. "Yeah..." She hands me a drink from the fridge and leaves, I guess to go care for other patients. Reyna sits on the bed and kisses my cheek. "Are you... okay?" I look down at my ribs. "No." She strokes my hair. "I know, I'm sorry." "It's not your fault. It's no one's fault except-" I look up as the door opens and let out a yelp. "Hello my angels." My father smiles. Reyna stands up. "Don't you dare come near him or I will call the doctor and tell her the truth." He laughs. "You wouldn't dare." She narrows her eyes at him. "I would." He must have noticed her voice shake like I did because he slaps her. "Shut up, stop wasting your breath. You don't have the courage." I bite my lip, but end up growling at him anyway. "She has the courage to do anything she wants, shut up." He punches me in the nose, and I start crying again cause its not like I didn't already get punched to near death last night. Reyna grabs his arm and jerks him away from me. "Don't hurt him, please." He sighs as if irritated with everyone including himself. "You get two nights off for him to recover, then I expect you back, at least you anyway." She swallows. "Yes, Daddy. I'll be there. Thank you." He slaps her one last time and storms out. Reyna lies down next to me, and pulls me close, letting me snuggle into her. "It's okay, Alexei." She whispers, and I realize I've been crying hysterically.