Beautifully Broken (4 page)

“The skeletons will break free from the closet and get cha!”
The old man yelled at her. He watched Cali as he cackled
like a witch and then he walked out of the restaurant.

His words crept into Cali’s soul and shook her from the
inside out.

“Don’t worry about him, he is harmless, just the town
drunk always talking nonsense,” said the waitress. “Can I
get you anything else?” She was a young girl maybe 18.
Her hair net covered up her red hair. She had hazel eyes
and freckles on her face. She looked very tired and she
must have been close to 8 months pregnant.

“No thanks I am fine, but I noticed a
Help Wanted
sign in
the window. Who do I talk to about working here?” Cali
asked.

“Oh, are you sure this is what you want?” the girl asked,
looking at Cali with helpless eyes as she unconsciously
rubbed her belly.

“I just need something for now until I can figure out my
next move,” Cali said looking up at the young girl.

“Ya I ran away from home when I was sixteen and this is
where I ended up. Staying wasn’t my plan and now look at
me, pregnant at 18. All alone, the father left me and now I
am living in a motel. I still don’t know what I am doing yet
either,” the girl said with tears in her eyes. “Sorry there
aren’t many people to talk to around here.”

“You don’t have to apologize, it’s nice to have a friend,”
Cali smiled. “If I stayed and worked here I could help you
out. I could use a friend too,” Cali said as she smiled at the
young girl.

“I am Grace,” the waitress said, shaking Cali’s hand.

 

“I am Cali; it’s nice to meet you.” she smiled at the girl and
couldn’t help but notice that her hands were ice cold.

 

Grace picked Cali up and hugged her; she turned around
and looked towards the kitchen through a window.

 

“Hey Chuck, I found our new waitress,” Grace yelled at the
guy cooking with a big smile on her face.

 

“Great, take the sign out of the window,” the man said.
“What’s your name girl?”

 

“Oh hello I am Cali,” she said smiling nervously.

“Ok well its $8.00 an hour I pay you cash on Fridays, you
always have to wear your hair up and you have to wear a
uniform,” Chuck said and Cali agreed.

“I am getting my lunch break in 20 minutes,” Grace said
smiling she was happy to have a friend. “Why don’t you
wait for me and we’ll go next door to the motel and get you
a room. It’s the cheapest place to live and it’s close to
work.”

Cali had another cup of coffee and waited for her new
friend Grace.

Cali drove her new car over to the motel and checked
herself in. Cali paid up front for two weeks. She didn’t
know how long she would be sticking around for. Cali
walked into her new motel room which was right beside
Grace’s room.

“So this is home for now,” Cali said looking around the
room, Grace was right it was convenient and cheap, and it
had everything she needed.

Well I guess it’s betterthan the last motelIstayedat.
Cali
thought to herself and she let out a little laugh.

 

“So what do you think of the place?” Grace asked with a
hopeful look on her face.

The room was blue and the carpet was brown. Cali didn’t
know if that was the color the carpet always was, or if it
had turned brown from the dirt. The room was sectioned
off the bed on one side of the room and a living area on
the other side. There was a small brown couch, a little TV
and a table with two chairs. A small fridge, a hot plate and
a few cupboards for food made up the kitchen. A double
bed sat on the other side of the room with blue and brown
bedding a night stand by the bed and a small dresser
against the wall. There was a small closet beside the
bathroom. Cali looked around the room checking
everything out. It was better than a jail cell or the choky in
her father’s bedroom.

“It’s not too bad at all, I can make this work for me,” Cali
said smiling and shaking her head.

“This is the best part,” Grace said showing Cali a door that
connected their two rooms. “Don’t worry its locked from
both sides but we can unlock it if we want to.”

“Well thank you for all your help, it’s nice to have a
friend,” Cali said smiling at Grace.

They sat down at the little table; Grace ate her lunch while
they talked for a while. Grace went back to work and Cali
was left alone with all of Veronica’s thoughts.

Cali unpacked her car and brought all her stuff in to the
motel room. She put her stuff away and hung her clothes
in the closest. Cali rearranged the room around a little and
she cleaned the place up. She then went out for a drive.
Cali wanted to check out the town and to pick up a couple
of things.

Cali got into her new car. She noticed that it had a funny
guy smell to it, so she plugged her nose and took a deep
breath as she rolled down the window and started the car.
She drove into the little town of Pity. It was a very small
town one of those places that are not even on the map you
could drive by and totally miss it. Which meant you
wouldn’t be missing much of anything. The town was so
small; it was all on one street. There was a gas station, two
little clothing shops, a church, a Doctor’s office, a bank
and a supermarket. Cali felt like everyone was watching as
she pulled into the supermarket parking lot. She got out of
the car; it didn’t really bother her that people were looking
at her. The Burns sisters were used to having people stare
at them. The supermarket was small and almost empty,
they were playing horrible music on the radio and the
speaker sounded like it was broken. Cali pulled out a cart
and made her way through the store. She picked up what
she needed and then went to the check out. The girl at the
cash counter was young she should have been in school,
not working. She was a short girl with chubby cheeks and
black hair with green highlights. She had black make up on
her eyes, it was a little heavy. But if she wasn’t trying so
hard to hide herself, she would actually have been pretty.

“Hello, did you find everything you were looking for
today?” the girl asked with a funny accent. Cali couldn’t
make out where the girl was from and she wasn’t going to
ask. The girl had such an unhappy sour look on her face.

“
I wonder what’s going on in her life to make her so
unhappy. Nomatterwhat has ever happenedtome. I
alwaysmade a consciouseffort toput on a happy face out
in public,
” Cali thought to herself as she looked at the girl

she found herself feeling sorry for her.

“Yes I found everything I need, thank you,” Cali answered
as she smiled at the sad girl.
She put her groceries on the counter and the girl rang her
through. Three bag boys came over to help. Cali felt like
she was famous. Everyone in the store was watching her.
She only bought a few things; she surely didn’t need three
bag boys helping her.

“Your total comes to $33.48,” the checkout girl said as Cali
handed her the money. “I haven’t seen you around here
before, are you just passing through?”

“Well I was going to, but I think I am going to stay around
for a while. I am staying at Larry’s motel and got a job
working at Chuck’s diner,” Cali replied. The boys bagging
her food started to laugh and the checkout girl looked
puzzled.

“Honestly you don’t want to stay here there is nothing in
this town. People just get stuck here, there is a reason this
town is called Pity, all the people here are pitiful.” the
checkout girl said looking at Cali with big sad eyes.

“Well something is only as bad as we let it be; maybe you
just have to look a little harder to see the good. I don’t see
pitiful, I see a pretty girl and three good looking boys who
are just bored. Every sad story has bright moments.” Cali
said in a sweet voice with a soft smile.

“You think I’m pretty?” The girl said touching her hair and
smiling.

“Well you’re new in town so if you need a friend I am Julie,
welcome.” said the checkout girl in a more friendly voice.
“I’m Kenneth,” said the boy packing her food with shaggy
light brown hair and brown eyes, he couldn’t have been
much older than 15.

“I am Chris Heights, if you need a tour I’m your guy, and
this kid is Johnny P,” said the boy with blond hair and blue
eyes putting his arm around a kid with a shaved head and
hazel eyes.

“Well thanks I’m Ver I mean I’m Cali. Well I better get going,
but I guess I’ll see you guys around.” Cali said taking her
bags and leaving the store.

Cali got into her car and drove back to her motel room to
put her things away. She put flowers on the table in a vase
and set a couple of candles out. Then she lay down on her
bed and pulled out her sister’s phone from her bag and
looked at it for the first time in days.

There was only one message from Natasha sent the night
Veronica left.

Po
lice are here investigating the house andquestioning
usone on one. We are scared but at least we have each
other.Ihope youare alright, remember we all love you.

Love Natasha

Cali put the phone back in her bag and she started crying.
What was she doing walking around telling people life is
only as hard as they let it be? Life is uncontrollably hard,
unbelievably bad and she was telling that girl to look a
little harder to find the good. But she didn’t know what that
girl’s life was like. Cali had no right to be giving anybody
advice on life. She was broken down by her life so badly
that she killed her own father.
“Oh my God, I killed my own father what kind of person
does that?” Cali screamed out loud, tears pouring down
her face and pain in her heart.

“Hey God up there in Heaven and you too Angels, I am
sorry for my sins please help now,” Cali cried so much
she could barely breathe. “I should have just let him kill
me, what more do I need to live for, my life has just been
one horrible nightmare after nightmare, when do I get to
wake up and be free from all this sorrow?”

Cali thought about Veronica’s life and the first thoughts
she had were not bad ones. She was right, some where in
the dark, lives the light and in her life it was her sisters.
They were her reason to be strong and to not just give up
and die. Her sisters were her strength and her happy
memories. Not everything was always bad at every
moment. Maybe that’s why Cali can see the good in so
many ways that other people don’t bother to look for.
When you experience so much pain and suffering the
littlest moments can make your life worthwhile.

During the day her father was the mayor and number one
lawyer in the county. He was good to his girls in front of
people. Her father had his moments when he was sweet
and kind to Veronica it made her feel loved, she always
hung on to those moments.
Cali looked around her room and saw her sketch book
sitting on the table; she walked over and picked it up. She
sat back down on her bed and looked through her book.
Her sketch book was one thing about Veronica that Cali
couldn’t let go of. Even though she knew her world would
be over if anyone saw what was inside the book. She
couldn’t part with her sketches, it was a piece of Veronica
that she couldn’t let go of, a piece of her that was so pure
and natural; her art. It was Veronica’s way of escaping
from the pain, it was her release, and it kept her sane.
Drawing her pictures and writing her poems, her sketch
book was her journal.

Chapter 4

Cali flipped through the pages of the torture and of her
father the monster, and she came to the pictures of her
sisters. She cried thinking about them, she missed them so
much and she was worried for them. Cali flipped the pages
of her sketch book until she came to a sketch of her sister
Lila. Cali ran her fingers over the picture and cried.

Lila was 21 years old, had long black hair and big black
eyes. Lila was shy and sweet but she played the piano
beautifully. She was tall, about 5’7”; she could be a super
model. Whenever Lila would play the piano in their house
it always made Veronica cry. The beauty and the passion
Lila had when she played was amazing. Playing the piano
was Lila’s escape, but it helped all of them. Her music gave
them all hope in some way that life could be beautiful. Lila
was her dad’s little doll, he liked to bathe her and feed her,
he would do her hair and her make up. He liked to control
her, he decided what she did and when. If she didn’t follow
his instructions correctly then it would be bed time with
daddy.

Cali flipped the page to Natasha and she thought about
Natasha for a moment. The two of them were always very
close. Veronica always took care of all of her sister but
Natasha was the one who looked after Veronica. They
shared a special connection. Natasha had a strength that
Veronica envied. Cali cried. She missed Natasha so much.

Natasha was beyond beautiful. Her father never broke
Natasha down like he did the others. Natasha was 20
years old; she had long dark almost black brown hair and
big brown eyes that were shaped like almonds. Natasha
was tall, about 5’9” and she was very curvy and
voluptuous. She had beautiful dark sun kissed skin.
Natasha’s strength was her art. She was a beautiful
dancer. She danced with passion and grace. When
Natasha danced she escaped from her life to a beautiful
place full of peace. The only part that was sad about her
dancing was when she stopped and opened her eyes.
Natasha was her father’s entertainer. She would dance for
him exotically. Then she would tie him up and beat him. In
some sick and twisted way Natasha liked that part as
much as her father did. Each one of the girls had their role
to play in their father’s house of torture.

Cali came to her sketch of her sister Amanda and it made
her smile and think back to her sweet little sister.
Amanda; so sweet and innocent. Even though their father
broke them all, Amanda refused to lose her hope for a
better life. Amanda was so angelic, her beauty within
shone out. She had almost white blonde hair and hazel
eyes that often change from a soft green to a light blue
with specks of yellow. Her skin was soft and pale, she had
such delicate features and her body was so slender and
perfect. Amanda was about 5’6” tall; her strength came
from her beautiful singing voice. She had such a strong,
passionate voice, so unsuspecting from a girl of her
stature. Amanda would sing for her father while she
bathed him; she would sing to him as she fed him and
changed him. Amanda created an imaginary world and
she pretended that she really was just caring for a baby.
That’s what she had to do to get through the days.