A Hope and a Chance(54)
Author: Jennifer Foor

It was Hope. She lay there on the ground with a ripped shirt and a busted lip, with her underwear down to her knees. I ran to her side.

“Hope, Jesus, are you okay?” I don’t know why I said that because it was clear that she was anything but okay.

She was shaking profusely and seemed almost incoherent. I picked her up and started carrying her toward the kitchen door. I heard the voices out front and the sounds of car doors, but I ignored it and kept walking toward the house. Hope was my first priority. Once I knew she was okay, someone would have hell to pay.

Buffy was in the kitchen cleaning up and ran to get the door for me.

“Oh my God, Chance, what happened?”

“I went outside for a smoke and heard this noise coming from the side of the house. When I ran over there they had her pushed up against the house. They left her there and ran away. I am going to fucking kill those little bastards.”

“Chance, calm down. Get her sitting down and get me the first aid kit. Where is Mark? You need to go find Mark.” Buffy frantically cried out.

Like a mad man I ran around from bathroom to bathroom until I found the kit, then I opened the front door to look for Mark. He was waving as a car pulled out of the driveway.

“Mark, you need to come in here. There is something wrong with Hope.”

He followed me into the kitchen and couldn’t believe his own eyes. His daughter who had just been fine was now beaten, shaking and bleeding.

“What the hell happened?” He ordered an explanation.

“I found them doing stuff to her beside the house. They ran away when I approached them.” I explained quickly.

Mark looked confused. “You found who?”

“Seriously? It was Mike and Trevor. Who else would it be?” I asked.

I was getting more pissed by the minute. Take care of your daughter.

“I just saw them. They were acting fine. There is no way they would do something to Hope. They have known her since they were children. Now tell me what really happened, Chance, or I will be forced to call the police.”

Buffy interrupted. “Mark, he wouldn’t lie.”

“Really, Buffy, I’m getting really tired of you taking up for him. You know what he is capable of. He probably heard all of the good things happening to those boys and got jealous.” He turned to Hope. “Hope, honey did Chance do this to you?”

“No!” She said.

“Who did this to you, sweetie?” He asked.

“Chance saved me, daddy. He always does. He wouldn’t do this.” She said before breaking down and sobbing in Buffy’s arms.

I had to look away for my own good, but I honestly couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She was in pain, and I wanted to be the one holding her.

“This is impossible. Hope, tell me what happened,” Mark demanded.

In between cries she held her bruised face up and started telling us how she was hanging up the wet towels when Mike came up and grabbed her from behind, pulling her to the side of the house. She said he held his hand over her mouth so that nobody would hear. Then she said that Trevor was there. He pulled down her shirt, ripping it, so that he could grope his dirty hands over her breasts, and then he reached between her legs and started fondling her. She said that when they heard me coming they ran away.

Mark was frozen, and I was waiting for an apology. “I wouldn’t lie to you, Mark. It was those two little assholes. You need to call the police.” I said while handing him a phone.

“I don’t want to get the police involved. There’s too much at stake here,” he admitted.

Buffy kept shaking her head, her eyes filled with tears.

“You were going to call the police on me, but you won’t call on them?” I asked, feeling so pissed. I looked over at Hope who was still in Buffy’s arms. “I’ll check on you later. I need to get the hell out of here, before I say something I might not regret,” I announced, as I looked to Mark then headed out the door.

I wanted him to feel like shit. That was his daughter and he was choosing money over her. He was as low as they were.

32

Buffy stayed the night in my room with me. She held me tight just like my mother would have. I never had a sister, but she was just as close. I didn’t care what she was to my father, I would always just think of her as my big sister.

My father came in the room several times to try and talk to Buffy, but she refused to speak to him. After time he stopped bothering us and we were able to go to sleep.

I heard my phone vibrating and Buffy got up and handed it to me. I already knew it was from Chance.

Are you okay, baby?~ C

Still shaken up. I can’t believe that happened. Buffy is sleeping with me tonight. ~ H

Tell her not to leave your side. ~ C

She won’t. ~ H

I wanted to hurt them, Hope. I still want to hurt them. ~ C

I do too. I love you, Chance. Thank you for saving me again. ~ H

I love you too, and I WILL ALWAYS SAVE YOU. See you in the morning. ~ C

I put my phone down and nestled myself back under the covers.

“Did you tell him you were okay?” Buffy whispered.

“Yeah, he knows you’re with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Hope. I’ve been attacked by guys before. I know how scary it is,” she admitted.

The next morning Buffy waited for me to get myself cleaned up before she even went to brush her own teeth. My lip was still swollen, but I wasn’t as bruised as I’d first assumed. My face had a red mark over my eye, but that was it. I had one small bruise on my abdomen, and two giant marks resembling fingers on each of my arms.

Buffy insisted on taking pictures of each mark so that if my father came around we could give the documentation to the police. When I finally dressed into something comfortable, I waited downstairs for Buffy to get changed. Once she found me in the kitchen, she started making me something to eat. I sat up at the breakfast bar, my elbows on the countertop, leaning my chin on my fist.

“So have you seen Dad?” I asked her while she was buttering my toast.

“Nope, it looks like he left for work already.”

I played with some sugar that had spilled onto the countertop, making funny shapes with my finger. “Thank you again, Buff.”

“Hope, I love you. I want what’s best for you, and I’ll always be here no matter what happens with me and your father,” she explained.

“I love you like a sister,” I blurted out. “Our relationship is important to me.

Buffy turned around with a big smile on her face. I noticed her glancing toward the door so I turned to see what she was looking at. Chance was walking into the kitchen with a bunch of flowers in his hand. They were carnations and obviously weren’t picked from someone’s garden.