I had to get away.
Everything was familiar. The same run down houses lined the streets. The same vulgar graffiti covered every clean surface. The same sound of yet another cop car zooming past.
Pulling up the hood of my sweatshirt, I followed the flashing lights. The sirens got closer and closer to the street that I called home.
The car jerked to a stop outside of a house with broken shutters and a toy littered lawn. It looked just like the rest of the houses on the street, only it wasn’t.
The front window was shattered and the door was kicked in. A cop was trying to calm a hysteric child down.
A phone was clutched against his chest.
“Help mommy please!” He wailed over and over again.
“Officer, please, it-it’s nothing, I-I tripped.” I turned my head to see a young women pleading with a police officer.
“Ma’am, a little fall wouldn’t have done all this damage.” He clicked his pen and scribbled something on to the pad he held.
“I swear!” The officer shook his head and walked to his partner. While he trudged away she turned slightly.
That’s when I saw her face.
Tears were streaked down her face. Her eyes were black and beginning to swell shut. Her lip was doubled in size and a blood was streaming through her puffed out lips. When she turned back to the cop, a golf ball sized lump was barely concealed.
I turned away and fled. The faster I ran the harder my breathing got. My eyes overflowed as images of what I just witnessed flashed into my mind. I sank to my knees and closed my eyes. This can’t be happening.
“And stay out!” A deep voice interrupted my thoughts.
I looked up to see a puppy being kicked out of the house. The owner had his collar in his hand and practically tossed him out of the house himself.
“That’ll teach you! You can come in when you stop chewin’ everything!” The man gave him a disgusted look and slammed the door behind him so hard that the doorframe shook.
The dog whimpered and scratched at the door.
The owner didn’t come out.
Knowing it was no use, the puppy tried something different. He went to the edge of the gate and dug his paws into the soil, desperately trying to get out of the yard that confined him.He whined and slammed his body against the gate so hard that the chains vibrated. The gate door finally creaked open.
With a gleam in his eyes, he burst through the gate and ended up in my lap.
“Awh, whats-a-matter puppy?” He looked at me with sad eyes and whimpered. “Its okay,,” He put his wet nose into my palm.
“Comet! Comet! Where the hell are you when I find you I’m going to-” The dogs owner stopped abruptly when he saw me.
“There you are,” He snatched the dogs collar and started hauling him back in the direction he came. The dog whimpered and planted his paws to the ground. The man only pulled harder.
“Thank you for my dog.” He smiled revealing tobacco stained teeth.
“Stop!” I shouted.
He gave me a toothless smile, “thanks for finding my dog, miss.”
As I watched him drag Comet away, he looked back at me one last time. As I looked into his sad eyes one final time, I knew what I had to do.
I ran back. I ran back to the flashing lights.
To the insanity. Back to where I belong.
When I got there, the women sat with her two kids, an arm wrapped around both. The childrens heads were buried in her shoulder. A man stood in front of the cop cars, his hands cuffed behind him, glowering at her.
She looked up, and smiled. I met her halfway and she enfolded me into the safety of her arms.
“What happened?” I whispered, my voice thick.
“You know, just another fall. Zach overreacted.. Were f-”
“No, you're not fine,” I cut her off, “You can’t let him do this to you anymore. Promise me, you won’t let it happen again.”
She hesitated.
“I promise,” she whispered to me. Fresh tears started to make their way down her battered face.
“Let’s go tell them what really happened,” I took her hand and pulled her from the step.
“Okay,” She whispered.
“I love you Mom, you're the strongest person I know.”
I took her hand and lead her back to the flashing lights.