God Sent Me an Angel

Chapter 6

Home Sweet Home

Grace pulled the front door open and stepped inside, half surprised to see her mother in the kitchen unpacking some dishes. "Hi honey," she said turning towards Grace. "How was school today? Better then yesterday I hope."

"I was okay, I guess," Grace replied, she wasn't so big on talking with her mother about her life.

"Who did you meet?" her mother questioned suddenly.

"What?" Grace was taken a little off guard.

"Yesterday you had a horrible day and now today you had an okay day, so you had to have meet someone," she hypothesized.

Grace laughed softly in amazement. Although she didn't get along with her mother to good, she had to admit that she was a pretty, damn good mom. "Just someone in science class," she confessed, there was no use in denying it, her mother would just be on her case if she did. "Nothing big."

"Well honey, just don't break his heart," her mother said, gently placing a plate into a cabinet above the sink.

"What are you talking about? I never break anyone's heart," Grace said, slouching down into a chair, that stood on the tiled kitchen floor beside the countertop.

"Oh Gracie, please. You could have thought of a lie a little bit more convincing, ya?" Grace rolled her eyes, from the way she saw things, everyone else was breaking her heart. A slight silence filled the room. Her mother stared at her waiting for her to speak. "So...what's his name? What does he look like? Is he cute? C'mon Grace, give me the 411!"

"Mother! Calm down!" She had never seen her mother so excited about a guy before. "His name is Malik and..."

"What does he look like?" her mother interrupted before Grace could get another word out.

"Well...lets just say that when first I saw him the first thing that went through my mine was, 'great job God, you made one fine looking masterpiece there'."

Her mother broke out in laughter, and Grace couldn't help but let out a few soft giggles. "Okay, so he's cute," her mother summed up once she had caught her breath.

"Oh mom, you have no idea, you just don't understand hot."

"What's that suppose to mean? Just because I'm old and married doesn't mean I don't know what a cute, young guy looks like." Grace rolled her eyes, as far as she was concerned, mothers didn't know anything. "So his name's Malik, correct?" her mom asked, she always had to make sure she had the name right.

"Yeah."

"And what may I ask are you using him for?"

"Using? I'm not going to use him for anything," she snapped back. It angered her every time her mother asked that. "I like him."

"Well then, what's he using you for?"

"He's not like that! He's different."

"Honey, you say that about every single guy you date," her mother began to lecture.

"I'm not going to date him, we're just friends!" Grace interrupted. Not the complete truth but who was keeping track?

"Every guy that you get into any form of a relationship with always ends up ripping your heart out and tearing it to pieces!" her mother continued, her voice raised to a angry tone.

"Mom, he's different, I swear!" Grace could feel tears forming in the corner of her eyes, she didn't mean for the tears to show but they did.

"And now you're crying, and I suppose it's all my fault?"

"It is all your fault!"

"Grace!" her mother said sternly. "What did I say? Why can't you let me be a normal mother and worry about you?"

"I'm not stopping you from worrying about me but please mother get your own life and stay out of mine!" Grace wasn't quite sure if the words she had said made any sense at all, but it had felt good to say them.

"Gracie all I'm saying is don't get all mixed up with some guy you just met, give yourself some time."

"Why give myself time? I only step closer and closer to my death with every minute that passes. Why should I wait and waste all that precious time?"

Grace's mother stared at her. Grace could get so over dramatic sometimes. "Calm down honey, you have plenty of time to live."

"How can I calm down, mom?! I had that feeling, you know that love feeling."

"That feeling that is burning deep down inside of you isn't love honey, it's just a bunch of hormones working over time."

Grace gave a disgusted sigh. "Well whatever mom, it doesn't matter."

"What doesn't matter?"

"What you think, cause he already asked me to a school dance and I already said yes."

"Grace, sometimes you can be such a brat." She smiled, she had already knew that. "And just be careful," her mother added. Grace glared at her mother, she had heard enough out of her, and she was pretty sure that her mother had said enough to her. Her mother ignored Grace's constant stare like always and continued to file the dishes into the empty cupboards. A silence hung in the air around them. Grace slouched deeper into the hard chair with a sigh, normally she would have already headed up to her room and would have avoided her mother for the rest of the night...but this night was different. She hung around in the kitchen, just watching and waiting. It felt like there was more that needed to be said.

"So, what's for dinner?" she blurted out suddenly without much thought.

The silence was broken. "I don't care, whatever you want," her mother's tone had gone from angry to upset now.

Grace pondered, something she had said had bothered her mother that was for sure. "What are you thinking about?" she asked, gently cracking her knuckles. Her hands were sweaty and slippery. She wasn't quite sure why, but they were. She didn't feel nervous or anything, or at least she didn't think she was.

"Nothing," her mother finally answered after much thought. "I'm thinking about nothing," she repeated, maybe if she said it enough times she would believe it too. Grace was quiet. She wasn't going to question her mother, even though it was quite hard to believe that she was thinking about nothing. She had to be thinking about something. But Grace didn't find it necessary to pursue her mother for the answer, if she didn't want to share then that was her business.

She heard a car door slam shut, interrupting her thoughts. Grace gasped and glanced up at the round clock hanging on the blue painted wall. Five o'clock already? she thought in disbelief. Where did all the time go? She braced herself quickly, grabbing hold of the counter with both hands; it was to late to run to her room for safety, she wouldn't have enough time. She closed her eyes tight, she was ready for the rush of negativity. Grace's mother slowly moved closer to her, gently placing her hand on top of her head, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. She had gotten used to her husband's dirty remarks, but knew that her dear, young child hadn't yet.

Grace opened her eyes, feeling her mother's warm touch. She had never spent anytime with her father and in turn he had never spent anytime with her, he hadn't ever tried to even get to know his own daughter. Grace had always managed to escape to her room in safety, but this time she wouldn't be so lucky. This time she had lost track of time and had allowed her father to sneak up on her. Damn the urge to stay and talk with her mother longer. Her eyes were fixed on the metal door handle, watching it turn in slow motion.

He stepped inside, a brown paper bag tucked under his arm. "Damn neighbor's cutting down another tree," he said, his voice harsh and dark. He closed the door behind him and lifted his eyes to search the room. "What the hell are you doing down here?" he asked when his eyes caught sight of Grace. His cold hard glare stared at Grace, who was frozen in the chair.

Don't run, don't run, he wont hit you, don't panic, she repeated continuously in her mind, as she searched for an answer. "I'm not allowed to walk around my own house?" was the only response she could gather up. He shrugged, not thinking much about it. It had just been awkward for her to be downstairs.

"How was work?" her mother quickly piped up before anyone else had time to mutter another word.

"How the hell do you think it was?" his voice was loud and obnoxious. He slowly began to make his way over to the kitchen, kicking some boxes that lay in his way. Grace's hands began to feel cold as he drew closer and closer with each step. Her palms were damp with sweat, her heart was beating frantically and her eyes were quickly searching around the room for a quick exit. He won't lash out, he won't hit you, she told herself as her father stepped in front of her. He stopped dead, his tall body towered over her. Grace flinched when he extended his arm out towards her. Her heart had skipped more then one beat. "Why the hell are you so damn jumpy child?" he asked, dropping the package of beer down on the peach counter beside her. She didn't answer, feeling the need that she didn't have to. "What's new?" he asked, this time to his wife.

"Well...let's see....Gracie made a new friend today in school. His name is Malik," she answered with the most cheerful tone. Grace bit down on her tongue, she knew that her mother was only trying to help, but that wasn't the right subject to be trying on.

"Who the hell is Malik? And, what the fuck happened to Jake?"

Grace felt cold inside. "Malik is a guy in my class, and I broke up with Jake last night," she said, trying to keep everything short and simple.

"Why the fuck did you go and do that for? I thought you liked that one." Grace shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, she hadn't quite figure out why she had done it yet. "I cant believe you!" his voice rose with anger. "We move her less then a week ago and you're already becoming the whore of the town," he said these words with disgust and hate.

"A whore is someone who sleeps around with a bunch of guys, last time I checked I was still a virgin!" she snapped back, she was sick of being treated like that.

"I'm sorry...slut then." Grace tried to block out his words, they hurt. He was always so childish and immature, who fought with their daughters this way? All the alcohol had messed up his brain. She stared cold and hard at him. She hated him with passion. "I forbid you to see him," he said, his eyes seemed to burn with hatred.

"What?!" Grace screamed out with outrage. "You can't do that!" She could feel her blood boiled deep inside of her. What gave him the right to tell her who she could or couldn't see? "I will do as I please, and see him if I wish."

His firm hand suddenly swept across her face, leaving a red mark on her cheek. She quickly lifted her hand and touched the point of contact with her fingertips. It felt moist. Small droplets of dark red blood spotted the side of her face, those damn rings that he was always wearing. "Now listen here bitch!" he yelled, grabbing hold of her forearm. He jerked her roughly so that her arm was slightly twisted. "You never talk back to me," his voice was cold and hateful. "You will do as I say." He gave a powerful shove, and she crashed into the wall.

Grace grunted and grabbed the back of her head, which had hit the wall pretty hard. Grace, unable to keep her balance, slid down to the floor. She shot a quick glance over in her mother's direction, hoping that she would stop her husband. Her mother, with her hand covering her mouth, slowly disappeared into another room, instead of becoming her daughter's only reinforcement. Grace was going to have to take care of herself...again. A hand grasped hers firmly and yanked her to a standing position. "You stupid girl," his words were threatening. Grace knew that another he was going to strike her again unless she did something. She tried to pull away, to run like she had always done before, but this time his grip was too tight. He squeezed her wrist and gave one good twist. A shocking pain transferred up her arm, Grace let out a gasping scream. Attempting to pull away was a bad mistake. "Don't fucking walk away when I'm yelling at you girl."

"You bloody bastard!" she screamed, the words echoed through the small house. She heard her mother gasp from the other room, she hated it when Grace used such words. But Grace didn't care what her mother hated anymore, because she hated her mother; hating her for marrying her father and hating her for leaving her in times like these. Grace kicked out her right foot in anger, catching her father in the shin. He released her with a curse. She stumbled backwards but quickly gathered herself. "I will do as I please," she said with one last cold stare.

Before he could say anything she fled, ran up to her room as fast as she could. Tears streamed her face. She hated him. She tightly locked her door behind her, locking the rest if the world out, she couldn't handle dealing with it anymore. She could hear her father's annoying voice, she knew he was talking about her, complaining about her. She wasn't what he wanted, she could never be what he wanted, she could never be perfect like he had wanted her to be...she couldn't be her brother. Grace turned on the radio, attempting to drown out his hurtful and arrogant words. The music didn't work well, but it helped. She felt the tears drip off of her chin, why did he have to be like that? Why did he have to be so mean? Why did he have to hate her so much? Her knees gave in and she dropped to the floor. Her hands covered her face as she cried softly. Life was so unfair. She had determined that this was a fact, that no matter what there was no fixing life. Life is broken, especially hers. Once you screw life up there's no fixing it. Grace wasn't sure how or when she had screwed it up, but she had, and now she was living with the after math.

She slowly managed to climb into her soft, warm bed. She buried her face in the pillows and let out a loud sigh. Life had been going so good for a while, everything had seemed okay. And then the headaches and the sickness, then the move, everything just went down hill...so quickly...she just couldn't keep up with things anymore. Her tears dampened the baby blue pillows and blankets, where had all the happiness gone? She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She had been happy once...hadn't she? She wasn't quite sure if she remembered what happiness felt like, she wasn't sure what it was like to be happy. She took a deep breath and stared at the panted swirls on her ceiling...she knew what she had to do.

Grace slowly reached for her nightstand beside her bed and quietly pulled the top drawer open. Without looking she reached inside and moved over an old, worn out looking notebook and picked up a small pocketknife that lay beneath it. She held the knife firmly in her hand. Her cure. She held it up to the light, looking at it with adoring eyes. The dim light shimmered off the metal blade. It had been so long since she had last used it. She lowered it to her wrist with ease, she wasn't afraid of the pain. The sharp blade dug into her skin as she applied pressure. Warm dark red blood flowed from the newly formed opening, staining her pale ivory skin. She smiled. It felt good to cut. It felt good to be able to physically see the pain that she felt. She slowly lifted the knife and watched the blood run down her forearm. It was such a beautiful sight. Tears fell from her cheeks and mingled in with the thick blood that had gathered on her arm. She laughed softly to herself as she placed the knife back down in its place. She rested her head back down on the soft pillows and closed her eyes. She wasn't happy, but at least she was satisfied.

Authors note: Okay sorry it took me so long to update...again...I've been kinda busy and just never had the chance to finish this part up till like a few days ago...so I hope you guys enjoy it, cause I think I like this part...its kinda dark or whatever...I think? I dunno...but yeah umm I don't own YuGiOh and all that good stuff all I own is Grace and the plot so yeah...hope you all enjoy it and next part should be up soon if all goes well....