Author's Notes
Italics - Personal thoughts from Liam
Today (08/07/2014) I just decided to start writing, and this is the end product of about 3 hours of writing. As of right now, including these words I'm writing, the word total is 4,220.
*****
I recently moved to Washington from Texas, getting a place of my own that wasn't too big and wasn't as small as my Dad's apartment. I moved from inner city Dallas, to a rural-ish town. I develop software for widgets on websites, so I'm at home a lot. Which has been a good thing for me, since I'm a rather introverted 23 year old and I don't like leaving my house.
My first reaction of coming to Washington from Texas was how much nicer it is here, the weather is fantastic compared to the humid hot or extremely cold Texas. Everyone has told me that since I moved here in the summer I won't experience the rainy side of Washington for a little while, which is fine with me; I don't care for storms, in fact I would prefer having rainstorms so it seems like I have a reason to stay indoors.
I wouldn't consider myself attractive, although I get complimented on my looks all the time. I don't work out, but I do have a little more physical activity than most guys in my position get. Since I spend lots of time indoors, I'm rather light but I've spent enough time in my life outside to have a nice slightly darker skin tone compared to, again, other guys in my shoes. My dark brown hair is between being long and short, and has always been curly. I got my hazel eyes from my mother, and my need to wear glasses from my father. All in all, I would say I'm not the worst looking guy in the world.
It being only my second week living here, I've pretty much settled into a nice routine; get up about 10, work for 2-3 hours, and play games for the rest of the day. One would assume that in this part of the country you'd still have those neighbors that'd come by with a plate of cookies, but I've yet to have any neighbors come by; which is fine, living in the apartment I lived in and everything, you realize no one really gives a shit that you have entered their complex.
I'm awoken from my sleep with the sound of my 9:30 alarm, telling me to get up and take a shower.
Why do I get up so fucking early?
I think to myself as I get up and move to the shower. As I let the warm water run over my body, I think about my school days and how I used to get up much earlier and I count my blessings. After my shower I shave myself, then walk out and get something to eat. At least it was Saturday, I didn't have to spend any time working on some bullshit widget some shitty company contracted me to do.
Just as I sit down to eat my bowl of cereal a knock comes from my front door.
Oh god, who could it be? I don't want to deal with anyone...
I get up and walk over to the door, I look through the peephole and see a tall blonde and a rather portly gentleman standing before my door. They look to be holding a plate with cookies on it.
I'll be fucking damned...
I put on the best smile I can, and I open the door. First I notice the blonde, a tall slender woman with beautiful blonde hair the just reaches her shoulders; her expression is happy and cheerful, although she has bags under her eyes. Next I notice what she's wearing, it's not something I'd expect someone with her physique to wear in this kind of weather; a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Moving onto the large gentleman, the first thing I notice is his balding; I've never been good with guessing age but he didn't seem old enough to have such a big bald spot. He was wearing a white shirt that, thankfully, covered his large stomach; albeit the shirt had grease and beer stains.
The blonde spoke "Hi there, I'm Natasha. This is my husband Dereck, we're the Overturfs. We live in the house right behind yours, the two story." Natasha smiled as she spoke, and Dereck appeared annoyed and like he didn't want to be here.
I guess she must have dragged him along
.
"Nice to meet you both, I'm Liam Fredrick." I smiled and replied.
Oh god...I hate introductions...
They've always been awkward to me, and I just don't know what to say.
"The wife made you some cookies, and insisted we introduce ourselves. Right honey?" He said, glancing at her out the corner of his eyes. His attitude seemed like he was upset more than one would be for this sort of thing, I mean I understand it being the way I am but he was giving off a weird vibe.
"Yes...Uh, where did you move here from, Liam?" Natasha asked.
"Natasha, don't bug the poor boy with your questions." Dereck seemingly snapped at her.
"Oh it's no problem, I'm here from Texas. I wanted to get out of the city and get somewhere quieter." I replied regardless.
"Oh, do you like it here?" She asked back.
As I nodded, Dereck said "Just give him the cookies and lets go." Natasha meekly nodded and handed the plate over. The expression on her face said to me "Please, I don't really want to go." I thanked her and took the cookies. As soon as the plate left her hands, Dereck seemed to rush them both off.
As I set the plate of cookies on my table, I thought about the scene I had just been a part of. I couldn't imagine what their relationship was like, but I'm sure it wasn't a healthy one. I dwelled on it for a bit as I ate my breakfast, but my thoughts drifted from it as I watched television and eventually moved onto playing some Call of Duty with a few friends on Xbox Live.
The weekend passed by normally like most weekends do, I didn't accomplish anything and I was perfectly content with it. Soon it was Monday and I found myself working at my table in the kitchen, bored beyond all belief. I gazed through my kitchen window, and out at my backyard. You can easily see into the Overturfs house from my side, since we both had low mesh fences. However, if they were to look back they wouldn't be able to see because my shrubbery created a sort of makeshift screen; which was one of the things I liked about the place.
There yard looked nice and they had a small flower garden going in the backyard, which made the house look nicer. Since I hadn't really seen the front yet, I couldn't tell if it made the whole house look nicer. Regardless, I sat and watched both the yards for a moment before I went back to work.
It was about noon by the time I looked up again, and this time I could see Natasha in their backyard. She was wearing something that actually did fit her this time, a neon green tank top and yoga pants. A mat was laid before her; I guessed it was for yoga. She began to stretch facing my house, I wondered if she could see me through the shrubbery. I waved my hand and she didn't respond. I waved a little faster and more exaggerated, which yielded the same result.
I watched her and began to note her body type; like before I could see her slender and sleek appearance; no doubt she was a healthy skinny. With the tank top I was able to more accurately judge her bust, which was borderline C cup from my guess. Her legs looked strong and were evenly muscular throughout, thanks to the yoga pants grip on them I was able to tell. All in all she was 7/10 and she didn't even have makeup on.
As I studied her, I could see something I didn't see before. She had a few dark colored circles around her stomach, and a few on her arms.
Bruises...that can only mean...
I didn't want to think about it, but my mind instantly went to spousal abuse.
How much of a scum asshole do you need to be to beat your wife?
I felt a deep settled anger well inside me, my mom's first husband had beaten her and continued to threaten her even when she lived with my dad.
I continued to watch her for a little while, she stretched and stretched. Soon, I returned to my work, boring and tedious as it is it pays my bills. At about 1 I finished my goals for the day as far as work went, and I glanced out the window again; Natasha was gone. I sighed and walked over to my pantry, I pulled out a box of brownie mix and began to make it.
Once they had finished and cooled, they were placed on a plate and I found myself walking over to the Overturf's. As I rounded the corner of my street and entered theirs, I could see the front of the house. It looked like nothing compared to the back. The grass was spotty, and there was beer cans littered all over. On the porch was a torn up couch, probably used a lot for sitting and drinking. Next to it was an ashtray half full,
yuck, cigarettes...
I knocked on the door, and waited. It took almost 5 minutes, but the door opened to reveal Natasha holding a towel around herself. I felt my face get hot and I looked away "Hi there Natsha, I brought some brownies as thanks for the cookies; they were good." I said.
I heard her giggle and she said "You're very welcome, come in and set them down for me? I don't want to drop my towel."
I nodded and she held the door open and I walked in.
Yeah, he abuses her...
I thought as I looked around the house, it was a wreck. Not the, oh I didn't have time to clean it wreck; the perpetual violence and breaking stuff kind of wreck. I felt a pang of pity and sadness for Natasha come over me as she led me to the kitchen.
I looked around, and she could tell I was studying the household "Sorry it's a mess, I just get so busy...Dereck says I should make more time to clean it..." Natasha said, adding in the last part meekly.
"Don't be, it's fine." I set the cookies down on the table "Listen, Natasha...I don't know what happens here...but I...I want you to know that if you ever need to get away, you can stay at my place while you get other arrangements together." I said and finally made eye contact with her.
My heart sank as I saw tears welling in her eyes. I blushed and felt like I had said something wrong, I was about to explain things but with my mouth just opening, Natasha said "Thank you...really...thank you..."