141Oh my god he was the one who killed my mother in the drive by shooting! I would never have known! He was so different before she died, though her death is what had changed him.
"Dad, please. Don't do this." I quivered from my spot on the floor where I had landed at the impact of the gun to my face. This man wouldn't listen to my plead. He doesn't care about me, he killed my mother so why wouldn't he do the same to me? I have to wait for Ian to come upstairs.
"Shut up! Don't talk or that friend of yours might come up here. Kendra just let me do this quick and then it will be over. It will be like you were never here." His words did sting because he was after all my blood, My father.
He walked up to me, with one swift move he kicked me in the gut, over and over, and all I could do was yelp. I needed to take a deep breath so I could scream but every time I tried another kick would inflect itself on me. I lay on the floor breathing hard and as he went to cock the gun, the door opened, and a shocked Ian appeared.
"Get the hell away from her!" he yelled. I know he was scared and trying not to show it. Tears started to pour down my face from the pain and fear of Ian's life now.
"Leave the room, boy. No need for you to be here."
"I said get away from her." Ian was walking over to me slowly with no knowledge there was a gun.
"Ian no stop he has a-" I tried to warn him but there was a shot heard in the air. I screamed and covered my head. Noticing that I wasn't shot, my head snapped to Ian's figure on the ground. He had gotten hit, his head hitting the dresser.
"What the hell did you do to him?!" I screamed trying to get up. It was no use, my rib seemed to be broken and I couldn't move.
"Shut up! God Kendra look what you did to the poor boy. If you hadn't fought all this time he might still be alive." My father pretended to look sad but a cruel smirk was growing on his face.
Dead? He couldn't be dead! It would e my entire fault!
"Ian! Get up! Please! Get up…" I started to cry harder now as he was not responding.
"Now, now Kendra you are better than to cry over boys. Haven't I taught you anything?" erg if I could I would kill him!
The gun was directed at me, my father had an evil look in his eyes. He cocked the gun once more however, the bedroom door swung open again. Standing there were cops.
"Drop the gun and step away! I'll shoot you! Now drop it!" a young officer yelled holding his gun high in the air.
More cops were filling in the room and I let out a sigh. Oh no. Ian! I crawled over to him as the police cuffed my father. Sounds of protest were heard but I didn't care I needed to see if Ian was okay. I need to know that he was alive. When I got to Ian, he was breathing. I cupped his cheek in my hand as I leaned over him, his eyes flickered open slowly.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." He whispered as if he was leaving. Like he was saying sorry for the last time he could. Tears fell freely down my face.
"Stop, you did protect me. Look you took a bullet for me. Ian don't go, I can't live without you. You're my only family!" I cried loudly.
"I could never leave you. And I never will." I lent down and kissed his cold lips.
"Mama, we need to get you both to the hospital. The both of you are bleeding very badly." After that I blacked out. I had no clue if Ian was going to make it. I had to have faith in god for my prayers to be answered.
When I woke up I was in a white room. It felt like last time but this time there was no Ian waiting at my bed side. I peered over to the left and saw my Uncle there looking down at me.
"Hey hunny, how you feeling?" I just groaned, but it caused a sharp pain to go through me. I let out a sharp breath.
"You have a broken rib. Just take it easy. Your aunt is talking to the police. They caught him, everything is almost over." I let out a sigh of relief. But, my mind wasn't thinking about my father right now. I was only thinking about Ian.
"Uncle Phil, where is Ian?"
"Kendra, he lost a lot of blood. Right now he's in the room next to ours. He should be okay."
Wow this is my entire fault. It's my dad that did this to him. No one can take the blame but my father or me. Seeing as my father is not here I have to take it.
"Look I have to go talk to the police with your aunt, they want to go to court so we need to settle a few things. I'll be in the waiting room with them. If you need anything press that red button to call a nurse." He kissed my head and left.
Okay I need to find a way to get to the next room. But how can I do that with a broken rib?! I gently lifted the blanket off my body and then relaxed. Taking a few deep breaths, I built myself up to be ready to get to the next room. I slowly swung my leg to the side and got out of the bed. Pain was going through me, but I needed to get to the next room. Checking the hallway, I made sure no one was coming, and went as fast as I could to the room Ian was in. Looking at him from the doorway, he seemed so peaceful. When I made it to his bed, I saw he was awake.
"Ian are you okay?!" I bent down next to his bed, and kissed his forehead. Brushing some hair out of his eyes, he smiled up at me.
"I'm okay. How are you doing?"
"Well I have a broken rib and that's pretty much it." I sighed. Ian moved over in the bed slowly giving me some room.
"Here lay down with me. I need to hold you." I obeyed and rested my head on his folded arm as his other went over my mid section.
"I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. This is my entire fault, look at you. You were shot." His eyes meet with mine and I felt a tear slide down my cheek.
"This was not your fault okay? Nothing that happened over the past few months has been. You need to relax. Your father is caught. Things are over." I just hope he's right.
Okay, so Ian said things were over but right now I'm sitting in court. Talk about not being over! Everyone is here for me, family and close friends. I don't know how I will be able to see my father but I have to stray strong. They want to talk to my father so they called him up to the stand. My lawyer that my uncle hired is pretty good and I hope that we can put away my dad for as long as possible. But I know him,he wont go down without a fight.
"Mr. Patterson, can you explain the bruises that are on your daughter's body?"
"I don't know."
GET THE HELL UP TO YOUR ROOM!
"She has been a klutz since she was a child."
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" a piece of paper was thrown at my face and I lifted a shaky hand to inspect the paper. Oh shit. It was my progress report and there was an F on it.
"I don't know why you would think that I did this to her."
"I ASK YOU ONE THING! TO DO GOOD IN SCHOOL AND WHAT DO YOU DO? GET AN F! An F! HOW WILL THIS MAKE ME LOOK?
"I am a good father. I have been since Kendra's mother was killed; I was the one there for her."
"What are you doing having boys sleep over!? That is against my rules!"
"That's all. Kendra will you take the stand." I walked over to where the lawyer wanted me to. "Can you explain some things that have happened with your father acting abusive?" I nodded my head and started my story, trying to stop the thoughts that kept entering my mind. They were like flash backs and I was reliving hell.
"Shut up and take your punishment!"
"Everything I did was wrong. No matter how hard I tried, he found something wrong."
"I hate you!"
"Well I feel the same way about you!" with one last punch in the face I fell into a dark slumber.
"Something as little as a bad grade would send him over the edge, he would hit me for no reason sometimes. He was drunk most of the time, but then sometimes he was sober, realizing his actions. I would plead for him to stop but he wouldn't listen."
"Ple-please stop!"
"He didn't care if I was feeling the worst pain. He kept hitting me."
I was stopped mid sentence by a hand colliding with my cheek. My father grabbed my hair in his fist and threw me to the floor. He then continued to kick me in the stomach.
"That man is lying. He did hurt me more times then one. There are people that have seen it, even a teacher. That man knows nothing about being a father. He stopped when He killed my mother with the same gun he shot Ian with." That caused people to gasp in the crowd. There had to be some evidence that could put him away longer for killing my mother. The pale look on my father's face might be answering my question. Now all I have to do is wait for the judge to make her decision,then I can sleep peacefully at night.
"Hey Kendra, are you okay?"
"Yeah Ian. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Your dad just got sentenced to life in prison. And yeah I know what he did to you but you are still his daughter. I want to make sure you doing okay." He said sitting next to me on the couch in his family room.
"You know what he wasn't even a father. If he died right now I wouldn't even care. Some people say that they would cry because he was still their dad. But the truth is a person isn't a father because they made you. A parent is someone that loves the person that is in their care that shows guidance. So that man wasn't even my father, he was just a roommate."
"You know what Kendra, you're going to be just fine." Ian sighed and kissed my head. I leaned into him, resting my head into his shoulder. I was going to be fine. People might know me as the girl that got abused now, but I am more then that. I'm someone that survived.
"Do you think things are going to change now? School is almost over and were almost eighteen, adults. College is just around the corner."
"I know, I'm scared in a way. I don't know where life is taking me. And if I fail I have no one to lean back on. Like I was thinking of taking a year off college, but I decided that I'm going to go through with it. If I'm no good at this whole college thing, I have no where to go from there." I sighed. Right now I just wanted to stay in Ian's arms and for him to tell me everything is going to be okay.
"I will never let you fail Kendra. And if you do by any chance fail, then you have me to lean back on. I'm your family now and family sticks together. You just have to be strong, look at Cody. He came here not to long ago and is living with people he hasn't even known for long. Both of you are going through one hell of a time. But you have to make it through. "
"Your right Ian, like always." I laughed.
"Well thank you." He joked.
We sat there in silence for a little. Now I could finally breathe without being scared that someone was going to hurt me. Oh and if your wondering about Dan, Cody's dad, he was found dead in an alley. They think my dad killed him. There was not enough evidence to prove that my dad killed my mother though. That is something that I am going to have to live with knowing. The fact that I know who the killer is makes me feel more at rest about her death.
Something that I can look forward to is starting college. My cousins tell me that it's hard work but really fun. I want to go to a college away from home, I think I need to leave this town. I can start fresh in a new place. Michelle wants me to go to the same college as her and I probably will. That means no doubt that dumb and dumber will follow us there, Ian and Cody. Those guys are my back bone. Without them and Michelle I might as well not be living.
Life is now officially good. Not to mention, there is the prom to be excited about. Everything that girls look forward to in their high school senior year. I will be going with none other then Ian and I have no problem with that.
Now for Ian, I don't know how long we will last, or even if we will be together in a month from now. I hope we are. One thing I do know is that first loves never die. So I'm going to try my hardest to hold onto this one.