"Rachel, make sure you put your backpack and the rest of your things in the car," my mom calls from the downstairs of our empty apartment. I don't answer, only stare out of the cracked pane of my bedroom window. I can see my mom's old car parked outside, a few boxes scattered around it like knick knacks by the curb at a yard sale.

"Rachel, are you ready to go?"

I still don't answer her, but I pick up my tattered backpack and the last of my things, a brown duffle in the corner of the room. Turning round, I gaze at the vast openness, scanning every last inch of space as if to copy all the memories of loneliness and solitary to put them onto a hard drive inside my memory bank.

My grip tightens on the bag in my hand. A small comic book slips onto the floor. I examine the bag to notice that it had a huge hole ripped in the bottom. More contents tumble onto the floor: my small wooden bokken, a black training garb, and more comic books.

I pick up the comics, flipping through the pages in unison. I stop at one of the big pictures, running my fingers over it like I did when my dad would read them to me. Sometimes, I felt that I could almost feel him right beside me again, if I looked just far enough.

"Rachel...Rachel?" my Mom calls, shattering my trace.

"Yeah?"

"Honey, we have to go now. It's time."

Reluctantly, I obey. I stuffed the contents back into the bag, carefully holding the hole closed. I had told my mom I had gotten rid of my training equipment, but I kept it anyway. Training in martial arts has become my only way to spend my unlimited spare time, due to the fact that I dropped out of school long ago, after my dad left us. Now that my mom has found a new job out of state, she plans to enroll me in a new school. Hopefully, I will make it through the first quarter without being suspended for giving some random student a black eye. In any case, I can easily take care of myself in a tight situation.

I climb into the awaiting passenger seat while my mom climbs into the driver's side. It takes her a minute to get the old engine started, but it eventually gets running.

Neither one of us says anything to each other for what feels like hours.

"I don't see why I have to go," I say softly, breaking the silence.

"Go where?"

"To this new school."

"Rachel, we've talked about this."

"No, you talked and I listened."
"Because you only have three years left and you need the education if you are to live under a roof with a decent job. It's a requirement."

"What does it even matter? I can't afford college anyway. It's only a waste of money just for me to fail."

"You wouldn't fail if you apply yourself to the work. If you apply yourself to it, you can land on top. I miss him too, but you can't throw away your life or any other opportunity because he's gone. You father loved you and wanted you to become the best you could be. I need to help carry that on for him."

I don't say anything more. This has nothing to do with my dad leaving and disappearing. No one ever asked me if I wanted to live for the rest of my life in my aunt's crappy apartment. No one asked me if I wanted to be set into a high school with a bunch of punks. What would my father think about that?

Hands shake me awake out of sleep. For a moment, I think I'm back in my own bed in Phili, but I frown when I realize the truth. I sit up on a lumpy mattress, tucked under a raggedy blanket in a room packed with box in all corners. I remember now.

"Rachel, wake up honey. You over slept. You're gonna be late on your first day."

"Late for what?"

"School!" I groan again and pull the sheet over my head. I haven't been going school for the the past several years and I'm not in any rush to start going again.

"Rachel, wake up. If you don't-"

"Helen, come down and help me with theses boxes. If that girl is late to school, it's her own fault. I have much better things to do than move you in myself!"

"Coming Aunt Flora. I know it's hard Rachel, but you can finally start off with a clean slate." she makes her voice soft and as soothing as possible,"Just try. For me. Please."

I don't answer as she walks out of the room. "Okay, I'll try," I say softly.

I rummage through a box labeled "clothes" and pull out a red button up shirt. a pair of skinny jeans ripped at the knee, my favorite leather jacket, and my black studded boots. I also pull out a golden bracelet lined with spikes that my mom gave me shortly after my dad left and sling my backpack and gym bag over my shoulder as I troop down the stairs. No matter how hard I try, I'll never pass as a New Yorker. I don't even bother to do anything with my hair. I just leave it in the messy braid that I slept with.

When I walk into the dining room, a piece of burnt toast rests on a cracked yellow plate next to a pile of runny eggs that look as if they just came out of their shells at the island. A lady with a white bun glued to her head with hair spray stands with her back to me on the other side of the counter.

"What is that?" I say, taking a seat and poking at the repulsive food with a fork.

"Your breakfast." she says sharply, not bothering to turn and look at me. "If you're not satisfied you can do without it today. I won't have you being ungrateful for what you've been given. You'll eat whatever I give you."

"Whatever." I choke down the eggs, holding my nose as the slop trickles down the back of my throat. The taste makes me gag and half of it lands on my plate. "Geeze, what did you put in this? expired orange juice?"

She wheels around the counter, grabs my braid and yanks it back so I'm forced to look at her in the eyes, which have pupils so big, they can swallow you whole. Her breath reeks of liquor and it looks like she's never seen a dentist in her life. My fork clatters to the tile floor.

"You had better appreciate what I've done for you. If I wasn't so generous to let you live here after your father's little disappearing act-"

Heat rises into my face and my hands curl into fists, burning on fire. I pull my hair out of her grasp. I'm not afraid of her! I don't even care if she is my aunt. No one talks trash about my father to my face! "Don't you dare talk about my father that way!"

"If you refuse my generosity, then you can live out on the streets!"

"That would suit me just fine!" My hand connects!

The scene before my eyes shifts! The red print of a hand appears on the right side if my aunt's face. I stumble back speechless, staring at my own hands. She doesn't look at me. I hear a choke noise behind us on the other side of the room. My mom's face peeks out from around the corner. She saw! She saw me strike! After I promised her I would contain it!

"Mom." I say softly, her eyes overflowing with tears. But my words have no effect. I stare in disbelief at what I've done, my fists falling to my sides lifeless. The flame is burnt out.

She walks away tromping up the stairs. I immediately leave my aunt and quietly follow her. Peeping around the corner, I see her sitting on her bed with her back to me. She's holding something but, I can't see it from where I'm standing behind the door. She lets out a sob, falling onto the bed with the item tumbling onto the floor. The light from the open window illuminates a silver chain with a diamond wedding band on it. The tears start welling up in my eyes.

"Mom?" I whisper.

She doesn't answer or move a muscle as if she's made of stone. What is she doing? Why isn't she scolding me? I find myself wishing that she'd be angry at me. Her cold and eerie silence is even more frightening. As frightening as the anger that I unleashed on my aunt, like this was all she expected from me.

"I'm really sorry, Mom."

She continues to stare at the wall."I don't want to talk about it Rachel. You're going to be late to school if you miss the bus. Just go."

I walk down the stone steps like one condemned, the ghost of my aunt's face stinging red on my hand. I avert my eyes of the other students, staring out of the musty window at the blur of passing cars. I have no family left. And it's all my fault.

So, this chapter is a bit of a filler to give some background info on the main character of the story! Please comment and tell me what you think!