Jubilee finished cleaning the kitchen, her mother inspected it, and then started cursing at Jubilee for taking so long. Jubilee just hung her head and wait for the tirade of words and curses to stop. "WHY ARE YOU STILL STANDING HERE YOU LAZY, GOOD FOR NOTHING SCUM?!" her mother screamed in Jubilee's face, Jubilee could feel her mother's spit on her face. "GET CLEANING!" her mother shouted. Jubilee turned and started to walk out to the dinning room so she could clean it when her mother kicked her in the back, Jubilee fell forward her hands and knees slamming hard into the tile floor of the kitchen. "I'll teach you to be disrespectful and turn your back on me! You disrespectful oaf!" her mother growled, her mother left the kitchen, Jubilee stayed where she was, on her hands and knees, afraid she get punished even more if she moved. Her mother came back a minute later with Jubilee's father's old belt, a leather one with a big metal buckle. She swung the belt and started hitting Jubilee, who was still on her hands and knees withe buckle and leather part of the belt. Jubilee felt tears streaming down her face faster than before, she didn't make a sound though, she didn't try to protect herself either she just let the belt hit her over and over again while her mother cursed at Jubilee and called her awful names.

Ashley slammed Lydia continuosly in the face and itno the locker.. "This is your punishment! I told you not to be late!" she snarled. Lydia looked around and called out in releif, "Good morning, Mr. Johnson!" to the principal. Ashley stepped back and gave a sickly sweet smarmy smile. Lydia rolled her eyes. Mr. Johnson looked at her closely and saw the black eye and the blood streaming down her face.



"Ms. Simons! What happened?" he exclaimed.



"Sir, she fell into a locker!" Ashley said quickly.



"I think I'll dismiss you from classes for the day." Mr. Johnson said firmly to Lydia. She breathed a sigh of relief.


"Thank you sir." she said. She ran all the way home and opened the door to hear sounds of a belt striking skin. She ran into the living room and yelled "WHAT THE H*LL ARE YOU DOING?"

Jubilee collapsed onto her stomach, pain shook her body, she heard her sister come in and yell something, but her mother kept hitting Jubilee with the belt and cursing at Jubilee. Blood started flow from where the skin had been broken from being hit so many times, Jubilee curled up into a tight ball, and wished she'd never been born, the buckle of the belt hit her in the side of the head. Jubilee couldn't hold it in anymore, sobs were wrenched from her pale lips, bleeding lips.

Lydia wrenched the belt from her mother and slammed her mother into the wall. "STOP IT!" she screamed. She turned around and picked Jubilee up tenderly. Her mother tried to hit her, but Lydia kicked out. She was in a rage that her sister had to go through beatings as well. She carried her upstairs and set her on the bed. She dived under her own bed, rummaging around for her first aid kit.

Jubilee whimpered when her sister picked her up and placed her on her bed, after taking her upstairs. "Don't hurt me, please, please don't hurt me." she mumbled through her swelling and lleding lips. She moved her arms up to protect her head, she didn't understand why her sister was here in the first place, it was a school day wasn't it? Jubilee had her eyes shut tightly, she'd shut them when her mother had started hitting her with the belt. Jubilee thought of opening them, but didn't life was nicer when it was dark she decided.

Lydia's face hardened. "I'm not going to hurt you Jules." she muttered. She found the first aid kit and walked over to her little sister, humming a sad lullaby. She began to rub a salve on her bruises, but it was the old scars, not the new ones, that made her blood boil. "How long have they been doing this to you?" Lydia asked her sister quietly.

Jubilee heard Lydia say she wouldn't hurt her, and calmed down she moved her hands from protecting her head, revealing an ugly bruise the size of the belt buckle that from her right temple to her right cheek. She felt her sister rub a cool salve on to her fresh bruises and cuts.
"How long have they been doing this to you?" Lydia asked. Jubilee tried to remember when it started, "It's been happening as far back as I can remember...maybe longer." Jubilee whispered, she opened her light gray eyes and looked at her older sister, Jubilee squinted at Lydia's face, there was blood on it, and she had a black eye. "What happened to you, Lydia?" Jubilee asked softly.

Lydia averted her eyes. "I fell into a locker," she muttered. Then she noticed her notebook was open on the bed. "Jubilee, did you read my notebook?" Lydia asked in a panicked voice.

Jubilee averted her eyes from her sister, and looked at the blanket on her bed, "I-it..." she started off, "It was open..." she murmured, afraid her sister would get mad at her, "I'm sorry," she whispered, her eyes still averted from Lydia's face.

Lydia took a deep breath. "It's fine. Did you just read that page?" she asked calmly.

Jubilee nodded, her gray eyes were sad, "Lydia, who hurts you?" she asked quietly, she guessed from that single poem she'd read that her sister was being hurt by someone or more than one someone. Jubilee still lay one her side, curled up, she was afraid moving would hurt.

Lydia sighed. "Julie, it's nothing worse than what you go through. Trust me, you don't want to know. Just rest now." She turned and gently shut her book and hid it under her pillow. Julibee had enough on her case than her older sister's problems.

Jubilee was about to protest and say she wanted to help Lydia, when she heard footsteps come up the stairs towards their bedroom. Jubilee shut her mouth, and stared wide eyed at the door, she scared, what if her mother came in and started hurting her again. The fear in Jubilee's heart grew as teh steps came closer.

The door slammed open and both their mother and father were there. Lydia stepped in front of Jubilee. "You will not hurt her anymore!" Lydia growled. Her mother stepped forward.



"NOw, Lydia, honey, you know she needs to be punished for crying-"


"YOU'RE GOING TO PUNISH THE POOR GIRL FOR CRYING?! WHAT KIND OF PARENTS ARE YOU? I COULD HAVE YOU THROWN IN PRISON FOR THAT! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" screamed Lydia. They were about to protest, but Lydia glared at them with such a threatening look in her dark eyes, that they turned and left. Lydia slammed the door closed and put a chair under hte door handle. "That should fix it," she muttered. Then she turned back to Jubilee.

Jubilee had closed her eyes again when her parents had come into the room, she'd also moved her hands up to protect herself again. She heard her mother explain that she. Jubilee needed to be punished for crying. Jubilee's body tensed, preparing in case she hit. She heard Lydia yell at her parents, and then she heard teh door slam, Lydia mubled something that Jubilee couldn't hear, and push something over near the door. Jubilee didn't open her eyes or untense though, "Are they gone?" whispered so quietly that she was afraid Lydia hadn't heard what she said.

Lydia nodded and sat down on her bed. "Do you want to hear a song I wrote to calm you down?" she asked soothingly.

Jubilee nodded, she slowly moved her arms away from her face, and reopened her eyes and looked up into her sister's eyes, "Yes I would." she murmured, she allowed her body to uncurl a bit, but she wrapped her arms around her chest, hugging herself. Jubilee would sometimes sing to herself when she thought n one was looking, or listening, but she'd never heard Lydia sing.

Lydia smiled and pulled out an old guitar. She began strumming and humming, and soon she started to sing.



"I'm fighting back my tears



Like I've been doing for all these years



I swear I never knew



What they did to you



If I had known



We could have flown



Away from this place



A smile might finally light your face



We can do this together



We'll be together forever



I'll protect you every day



Remember, no matter what they say



You are special to me


Sleep, little sister, sleep." Lydia stopped and shyly ducked her head. "How did I do?" she asked.