The Broken by Ker Dukey Page A

phone.”
    I’m shaking;
the phone is rattling in my hand.
    “You need to
quit fucking dancing if it’s going to consume all your time. You
know I worry, and you didn’t even think to text me or call me? Do
you even miss me?” I exhale, but don’t answer fast enough for him.
“Tell me you fucking love me, River, now!” I flinch and stare into
the phone as he continues, “I know you’ve been out and not dancing.
I called Blaydon and he told me you didn’t come home today after
work.”
    The tremble in
my hand is making holding the phone impossible, so I put him on
speaker and close my bedroom door. “I was at the studio dancing,
Danny, I swear. I have missed you.”
    He’s panting
down the phone. “You’d better not be lying to me, River. So help me
God if I find out you’ve been living it up while I’m away working,
trying to build a future for us. I will fucking kill us both! You
belong to me in this life and the next, do you understand me?”
    A cry breaks
from my chest. I’m so conflicted, a part of me just wants an end to
this façade. Can no one see I’m not here? I’m not breathing: I’m
not living? I’m a puppet and Danny holds my strings. Most days no
one resides inside me. I’m lost, my soul broken and weak drifting
on memories of a time I was free.
    “Tell me you
love me, River. I fucking miss you so much, and the thought of what
you’re doing is making me crazy. I just love you so much,
beautiful.”
    I full on sob.
I’m so broken, how can I escape this nightmare?
    “Don’t cry,
baby. I know it’s because you’re missing me. I love you, beautiful.
I love you.”
    I suck in a
breath. “I have to go shower now, Danny.”
    “Okay, then go
get some sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow, my beautiful girl.”
    I end the call
and for the first time, I didn’t tell him I loved him. I notice a
text alert and my heartbeat crashes violently against my chest. I’m
terrified it’s Danny, threatening me for not saying the words back
to him, but it’s not, it’s from Sammy.
     
    You shot out
of the car pretty quickly. Wtf? Can I come over?
     
    I quickly
reply:
     
    Meet you out
the back in ten minutes?
     
    OK.

    I take the
quickest shower of my life, throw on some sweats and a tank top,
and head out to the back of the house. Sammy is already there
waiting for me, sitting on the wooden dance platform Blay built me.
I walk to him and lower my body so I’m lying down, facing the sky.
Sammy copies my pose, his hand reaching for mine, linking our
fingers.
    “Do you
remember when we first met?” he asks.
    A smile tilts
my lips. “Of course. You were crying,” I murmur.
    He holds up a
finger. “I was brooding, not crying. Guys don’t cry.”
    “Broken guys
do.”
    He stares at me
for the longest time. “You know why I was upset?”
    I shake my
head, taking in the bright stars. “No, you didn’t talk to me when I
asked. You poked me in the eye through the fence.”
    “That’s what
boys do when they see the prettiest thing on this Earth. You’re a
girl, it’s gross for a boy to think a girl is anything but
cootie-ridden.”
    We both laugh,
then his voice drops and I feel pain radiating from him. My soul
hurts when he hurts. I stroke my finger over his as his hold
tightens on my hand.
    “My mother was
hitting on your dad, while my dad brought boxes into the
house. She showed no fucking shame, even when your mom came out to
greet her. It was embarrassing for my dad. This was meant to be
their fresh start from her cheating ways. We didn’t even get the
boxes in the house before she was back to acting like a whore.”
    I roll to face
him. “I’m sorry you have her as a mother.”
    “I was born
from a womb of a hateful whore. All I can do is make sure I protect
Jase from her venom as much as possible. I wish he had a mother who
loves him.” He scrubs his hands down his face. “It’s a hollow
feeling, not being loved by anyone. I know my dad cared about me,
but he didn’t show me