CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:AUSTIN

After hearing what Shane said about the assault, I wondered what was going through the minds of Zack Sanders and his friends when they attacked Shane.

After all, what would they have said about Summer to cause Shane to confront a group of guys who were older than him? Even though he had the advantage in stature, he was outnumbered but still defended her?.

All i know is that he's a good kid, and Leo was doing a decent job with him; I hope this town doesn't ruin him.

I snuck in through the window hoping not to wake my mum and her new boyfriend, who has been staying with her ever since I went to juvie and returned, she says she loves him but I know my mum quite well, it's all a bunch of crap, my mum literally falls in love every month, so whatever is between them will never last.

When I walked into the kitchen, they were both drinking in the living room on the couch; after the day I had, I was annoyed to see her drinking; because of her bad liver, she promised me she would stop, but I was a fool to believe my mother, so I walked over to my mother and took the bottle from her grip.

"What the fuck mum, I thought you stopped drinking?"

"It's just a little bit, son, Dan said it will be okay" she said and I noticed the bottles lying on the floor and her slurred response, and I knew she was too inebriated to even stand.

My mother had been sober since I went to juvie, or so I thought "What the fuck is going on, man? Why are you encouraging her to drink when she already has liver problems from drinking before? Are you insane or what?"

"Don't treat him like that, son; he's your new stepfather; we married while you were in juvie."

"You've got to be kidding me, mum, this jerk will never be my father," I said, before she slapped me across the face.

"Give him some damn respect before he beats you," my mother said as I stared at her in disbelief; while the bastard just stood there smiling.

"Fuck you, Dan, and wipe that damn smile off your ugly ass face," I yelled as his smile morphed into a scowl.

"I'm going to teach you some respect, boy." Dan said anger evident in his tone, I didn't expect what was coming since I tried to stop my mother from grabbing another bottle.

He first hit me on the back with his belt, then I turned to protect myself but he jumped me sending me to the ground, he kept using the belt on me but he wasn't satisfied so he started using his fist, punch after punch, I tried blocking the ones I could

"Get off me, you asshole, mum make him stop," I said, trying to get the 200-pound man off my body while my mother stood nearby with a bottle. What she said next broke what was left of my heart.

"You deserved it, son, you were disrespectful to your father."

"He will never be my father, I will not accept that even if it kills me," I yelled at her as Dan continued to hit me. Despite the pain, I tried to push him off my body, but he was bigger than me.

He finally got off of me after I thought he was done beating me to a bloody pulp. He began kicking me in the ribs as I lost consciousness from the pain.

I tried to hold on but it hurt so bad, and the last thing I saw before passing out was Dan standing over me with a smirk on his face and my mother drinking her fill.

When I woke up later that night, my entire body was in excruciating pain, and moving made it worse. After a while of laying there I was able to stand on my feet while my mother and Dan passed out on the chair, beer bottles scattered around them.

After what happened today, I'd rather sleep on the streets than continue living with the two of them, so I went to my room and packed some clothes and other necessities into my carry-on bag before leaving my room. Along the way I stopped in the hallway to look in the mirror, and my face was covered in bruises and blood.

I couldn't leave the house looking like this, so I washed the blood away in the kitchen sink, but my face still looked like crap.

My ribs were in excruciating pain as I walked out of the house I had lived in for twelve years. I couldn't believe she had just watched him beat the hell out of me and did nothing. But what was I expecting from her? She never even came to see me in jail.

I walked around for a while before deciding to stop in the park. I sat down and put my bag on the bench. I felt my eyes close, as if my body was tired or in too much pain to function, so I lay down on the bench and fell asleep, covering myself with the blanket I brought from home.

Some time later, I felt someone shaking me and calling my name. I woke up from my sleep in excruciating pain. I was confused at first, but when I looked up, I saw Athena's terrified and worried expression.

"What are you doing here, Austin? And please explain why half of your face is so badly bruised"She asked, her voice breaking slightly as if on the verge of tears.

As I stared at her worried expression she reminded me of the same girl I met a few years back that helped when I was in a similar situation, "Hey red, what are you doing outside so late? It's dangerous"

"Don't avoid my question. Austin Kendall, what are you doing here? And why is your face bruised? Who hurt you?" She asked with anger evident in her eyes and I knew she wouldn't let this go, so I told her the truth

"I don't have anywhere to go and I can't go back home."

"Did you get these bruises at home?" She inquired, and I nodded; it was pointless to lie to her.

"Why didn't you call Leo? And if you couldn't call Leo, you could have called me Austin, we're friends, aren't we?" She asked, her eyes welling up with tears.

"I didn't want to be a burden, Red; he already has a lot on his plate with Shane; I didn't want to add to it."

"How do you think he'll feel if he finds out later, Austin?" I never thought about that, I'm so used to being alone that I didn't think they care so much since we just met and all "I'm calling him right now, so we can get you to the hospital"

"No, Athena, please I can't go to the hospital."

"Okay but I'm still calling Leo " I can't stop her even though I tried, I was in too much pain to fight her, I heard him on the phone, she told him what had happened and I heard him say I will be right over.

A few minutes later, Leo's truck pulled over to the side of the road, and when he saw my battered state, he became angry.

"Who was it, Austin?" He questioned, his rage visible in his eyes.

"Hey, buddy, why are you being so serious?" I tried to lighten the mood by laughing, but Leo wasn't having it.

"My mother's new boyfriend, apparently he's my stepfather now," he said.

"Fuck! Why didn't you call me Austin? I would have been there in a heartbeat, I will always have your back, that's what friends are for dude, you still didn't want to tell me what happened to Shane?"

"It wasn't a big deal, Leo, just relax." I was surprised by how concerned he is about me, and I didn't know how to respond.

"It's a fucking big deal, look at you, you can't even sit straight Austin"

"Everyone, calm down, yelling at each other isn't going to solve anything, Austin, get those ribs checked out" Athena said, which made me wonder if she had seen me holding on to my side because I didn't make it too obvious.

"I apologize for yelling at you, Austin, I'm in a lousy mood right now."

"You have every right to be, I didn't call because you already have enough on your plate with Shane, I'd just be a burden."

"How many times do I have to tell you? Austin, you will never be a burden, you are my friend and Shane loves you like hell, even though we just met, I see you as family," Leo said sternly. "So promise me you'll call me whenever you need help?"

"You're not obligated to do that, Leo."

"I said promise me Austin"

"OK, okay, chill, I promise, shit I think my ribs are broken," "Let's get you to my aunt, she was a nurse before she moved here."Athena said, she looked really worried which made me feel really shitty for putting them through this.

Athena and Austin assisted me into the car before we drove to Athena's apartment. We got out of the car and they both assisted me up the stairs, which was painful but I managed.

Athena knocked on the door and a woman stood on the other side of the door with a confused expression.

"I thought you were in bed," she said as she fixed her gaze on us.

"Sophia, my friend Austin needs your help; I believe his ribs are broken."

"Put him on the chair while I get my first aid kit, Athena come with me, I need your help" Leo guided me to the chair while Athena and her aunt vanished down the hall

"Man, I'm fine, stop looking at me with that guilty expression, it wasn't your fault, that bastard really did a number on me," I said but that just made him look more guilty.

"I saw you with a bag, Austin, where did you intend to stay?"

"I'm not sure, maybe a motel; I was planning on figuring it out along the way."

"No arguments, you can stay with me and Shane."

"I can't leech off you, man,"

"OK, then pay rent to me while you stay with us."

It was a good deal, and I didn't have any other options. "All right, but only for a while,"

"You can stay as long as you want, we're not complaining."

Then Athena and her aunt returned to the living room. Athena was holding a dry rag and a bowl of water, while her aunt was holding a first aid kit.

"Hey dear, I'd like you to take off your shirt so I can examine your ribs," she said, and as she pressed her cold fingers against my skin, I winced in pain.

"I have good news, your ribs aren't broken, but the muscles around them are tender, so you'll have to rest for a few days, but other than that and the bruises, you're fine." Sophia said, then attended to my other injuries and gave me pain relievers. Thank God they weren't broken because I couldn't afford to have them fixed

"You guys can stay on the couch; I can't let you go just yet; I need to keep an eye on you overnight; can I call your parents and let them know you're fine?"

"I don't think they'd care that much, ma." I saw her aunt give me a sad look before smiling and saying, "I have some leftover pizza if you guys are hungry, I will just warm it up."

"Thank you so much for your help, ma." Leo said with a smile

"It's not a problem, Leo; any friend of my favorite person in the world is always welcome," she said, and I saw Athena smile at her aunt's remark.

When her aunt went into the kitchen to get the pizza, Athena came to sit beside us, "How is the pain?" Athena questioned, her face concerned, My Red is such an angel.

"Thanks to you and your aunt, I'm doing better than before."

"No problem, I couldn't just leave you there, after all, we're friends."

"Yeah, friends, I've never had those before, but I'm getting used to it."

"You better get used to it, because you're stuck with us Austin," Leo said, a small smile on his face.

"I won't have it any other way," I said, maybe having friends to lean on wasn't such a bad idea.