Page 36 of Beautiful Venom
Violet.
She always steals the keys when they’re asleep and brings me a sandwich. Usually, she’ll hug me and tell me to stop rebelling so I won’t get hurt again.
This time is different.
She’s dressed in leggings and a coat, with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder. But that’s not what makes me jump up and run to her.
It’s the black bruise around her left eye. Big, ugly, and so swollen, she can barely open it.
“Vi, what happened? That looks bad.”
She strokes my face. “You have a blue bruise, too.”
“I’m gonna kill them.”
She smiles and it’s the widest, most genuine smile I’ve ever seen on her face. “Want to get out of here, Dahl? Just you and me?”
It’s been some time since we both wanted to get the hell out. Tonight is as good as any.
I nod, inspecting her face.
The bruise looks worse up close, and there’s a small cut on her lower lip. “Who did this? It was that asshole Gerald, wasn’t it?”
“Forget it. I’m fine.” She caresses my cheek, and I wince at the sting of pain. “Your face looks worse, by the way.”
We both burst out laughing and we have to cover each other’s mouths so as not to be discovered.
As we sneak out of that horrible place where yet another couple is using the foster care system to act like God to helpless children, we’re still laughing.
Hysterically.
For both Violet and me, this is the first time in a long time, maybe ever, that we finally feel free.
Alive.
Like we can do whatever we want without creepy foster parents breathing down our necks, using us as a venting outlet for their unremarkable lives.
We stop by a bridge to catch our breaths.
The snow trickles down, covering our shoulders and shoes. But I still spin around under the lamppost and scream into the silent night, “We’re free!”
Violet grabs my shoulders, looking as if she has a halo under the dim light and the falling snow. “Dahlia?”
“Yeah?”
“From now on, we’re each other’s only family.”
“You’ll never leave me alone?”
She hugs me and whispers the word that gives me new hope, “Never.”
Sitting up, I stare at Violet’s face and hold her hand between my trembling ones. “You said we were each other’s only family. How could you leave me? Why didn’t you tell me about the man who was threatening to kill you instead of writing about it in your journal?”
Actually, I might have an idea as to why.
Violet has been soft-spoken and sort of a people pleaser ever since I met her. She never raises her voice and finds it hard to say no to anyone who’s in authority or who yells at her. However, she’s always been a mama bear when it comes to me, quickly transforming into a vicious protective girl if anyone hurts me or says anything negative about me.
I don’t doubt that she wanted to protect me from the man whose identity she probably uncovered. She’d rather die than have me implicated.
