Chapter 1
The black clouds in the sky were no match for the black clouds in Emma’s heart. Even though the ominous sky warned her not to do it, she ventured out into the oncoming storm after work anyway. So, when the storm caught her in its clutches, Emma had no one to blame but herself.
“Sure. Just run into a damn thunderstorm with no umbrella, Emma,” she rolled her eyes at herself. She sought shelter under the awning of a small shop. Sheets of water slid off of it onto the sidewalk. The rain pummeled the concrete and splashed back up at her. Emma was soaked to the bone. She thought of her cozy, warm, and dry dorm room. And the lack of cozy, warm and dry clothes there. The thought of doing laundry while naked and wet was less than appealing. The other alternative was to go to her father’s house. Bile rose into Emma’s throat at the thought of it.
“Naked laundry, or Jane? Clean, dry clothes, or catching pneumonia?” Emma weighed her options. She could have called her boyfriend Matt or her friend Sabrina to pick her up. She could have… if she hadn’t let her phone die.
“Why are you like this?” Emma whines as she stared into the endless downpour. Waiting it out wasn’t an option. She heaved a sigh. There wasn’t another choice. She’d have to go home and get some clean clothes. She’d been meaning to try and get more of her things anyway.
“All right,” she said to herself in attempt to hype herself up. “Here’s the plan. You’re gonna run home, and sneak in the back. Get to your room, throw some stuff in a bag and sneak away before anyone sees you. Okay. Good talk.”
Emma set off into the storm. The last thing she wanted to do was go home. It wasn’t a home. At least not to her. She’d lost her mother when she was young, and her father has been in varying degrees of drunkenness ever since. In one of his more sober moments, he got remarried. Jane was nice at first. She came with her own daughter, Anna. And the expansion of the family seemed to do some good for her father. For a while anyway. Soon enough, he was back to his old ways. He’d be drunk from 9:00am. He never hurt them or anything. Jane took care of that. She was evil incarnate.
Emma had become a servant in her home. Her father lived in a perpetual drunken stupor. Emma wasn’t sure he was even in there anymore. Jane took advantage of this and forced Emma to do everything. Jane and Anna never lifted a finger. Unless of course it was against Emma.
The sight of her home was bittersweet. While it held the precious memories of her childhood, it also held the deep trauma of the abuse Jane subjected her to. The cold rain soaked her down to her soul.
“Just a quick in and out,” Emma reassured herself. She went around to the back door, and prayed for it to be unlocked. As she closed in, familiar sounds assaulted her.
“You good-for-nothing sack of shit! Why don’t you just die already? You aren’t worth anything to me alive!” Jane’s venomous screams rattled the house. This home was once such a happy place. That joy existed only in Emma’s memory now.
She knew her father would be slumped in his favorite chair in the living room. Emma could be in and out of the back before anyone saw her. The house was dark and desolate. Jane’s screams and the droning of the TV drowned out the noises of Emma sneaking around. Or so she thought. Just as she reached her room, arms flew around her waist.
“Emma! Sneaking around here in the dark! What do you think you’re doing?” Anna squealed as her arms tightened around Emma’s body. Emma’s body stiffened. This is the last thing she wanted. Jane was evil, but Anna wasn’t any better. She often piggybacked off of Jane’s cruelty. Anna thrived off of it. “Mom! Look who’s trying to avoid us!”
Jane marched out of the living room, and her eyes narrowed at Emma.
“What the hell do you want?” she screeched. Anna let go and giggled with malicious glee.
“I need some of my things,” Emma sighed.
“All you and that deadbeat father of yours do is take, take, take! Neither of you contribute anything to this family! I’ve kept us afloat for these last ten years! And you! You’ve been such a horrible pain in the ass!”
“I work three part time jobs while going to school full time! I pay you $500 a month! I clean this house every weekend! What more do you want from me?” Emma countered.
“Prices go up. Aren’t you supposed to educated? Your father put us in so much debt! I can’t afford anything anymore!”
Emma was tired of this argument. She was cold and wet. She just wanted to leave.
“I don’t have the energy to do this with you. I’m just going to get my stuff and leave —”
“You won’t be my problem soon enough. In fact, you’re our solution,” Jane became smug and a foul smile spread across her face. “After you graduate from college, you’re going to get married. I already found a man that has agreed.”
Emma was stunned. There was no way.
“You can’t be serious,” Emma said.
“Oh, she is!” Anna chimed in. Jane pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and shoved it at Emma. It was a photo of an older man. Bald, fat, ugly. He was at least over 50 years old. Emma was just twenty-one.
“I’m not marrying him,” Emma said, her voice filled with disgust.
“Oh, yes you are! He already paid us!” Anna sang.
“I’m sorry, he what?!”
“He paid $50,000 for you. You’re bought and paid for,” Jane said.
“You SOLD me?”
“You get to save us! You ungrateful brat!”
Emma’s anger bubbled over.
“I have a boyfriend! I’m not yours to sell! You couldn’t have sold Anna to this old man?”
Before Emma took take a breath, Jane slapped her hard across the face.
“You stupid bitch! He already paid for you! And the money is already gone! You’re gonna marry him or I’ll have to sell the house!”
“You should feel lucky that someone thinks you’re even worth anything,” Anna teased.
“You’re not going to sell the house, and I’m not going to marry that man! I’ll pay that money back on my own!” Without any of her things, Emma stomped out the house and back into the rain.
Jane was an evil bitch, but this was an all-time low. Emma had been sold. She wanted to cry and scream at the same time. Her tears mixed with the rain, and after a while she couldn’t tell the difference. Matt, she thought. I need to see him. Being around him always made things better. After a fight with Jane, Matt had a way making the bad feelings melt away. He was the one she was supposed to marry after graduating. Not some perverted old man. He came from a wealthy family. Maybe they could help her with this.
She ran through the storm, and with water sloshing everywhere, she made it to Matt’s dorm. Emma knocked on the door, and waited. The door opened and she hoped to see her salvation on the other side.
“Matt! I—” she stopped short when Matt’s roommate was there instead. “Oh, I’m sorry to bother you.”
“Emma, you’re soaked. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, sorry. Is Matt around? I need to see him.”
“He’s…” his roommate said. His hand scratched the back of his head, and he looked down. “He’s… he’s not here. He ran out a little bit ago. Said he was busy with… something.”
Emma felt bad. Matt was under a lot of pressure from his family, and was usually busy to ensure he met their standards. She should have known better than to show up unannounced like that.
“Oh. That’s okay. I understand. Thanks. I’ll try him later,” she smiled and turned to leave.
“Emma?”
“Yes?” Emma turned back and saw Matt’s roommate reaching towards her with a sad look on his face. He seemed to battle with something, but shook his head as though he’s changed his mind.
“It’s nothing. Be careful out there, yeah?” He offered a smile and then closed the door. Emma trudged back to her dorm, heavy with water, sadness and regret. Naked laundry it is, she joked to herself. After what seemed like the longest day of her life, she finally got back to her dorm hall. As she got closer to her room, she thought she heard her name.
“What else could happen today?” she whispered to herself. As she got closer, the voices became clear.
“Come on, Matt,” a sickeningly sweet voice simpered. “You’re going have to choose between us eventually. Tell me, baby. Which one of us is it? Who do you really love?”