Bad Juju by Dina Rae

but Jake knew he could fit through.  T hen came the sound he was waiting for.  Click, click, click .  Pete was delicately trying to open the door .  He now knew it was locked.
    “Jake, open up!  Let me get Rhianna and put her to bed.  Adults just having adult conversation.  Can’t a man have any privacy in his own home?”
    Ja ke pried open the sealed window.  The opening created a wind tunnel, instantly cooling off the whole trailer with a single arctic gust.  He ripped through the screen.
    “Sure got cold in here.  You open the window?  Open the door , you little shit!  Now, before I beat you to a pulp!”  Pete pound ed down the flimsy door with supernatural strength .  Jake could already see it splintering on the inside of his room.  He had both legs dangling out of the window , balancing on his torso through the opening .  He looked down and realized the jump was only four feet.  He let himself drop out, landing on a fresh snow bank.  Rhianna cried as she looked out the window.  He got up and dusted off the snow.  Thu d ! He didn’t know what hit him.  Back on the ground, he looked up and saw T.J. looming over him.
    “Pete, he’s right here!  Before you leave , your uncle has something to say to you,” T.J. replied.  Jake was confused as to why T.J. would side with his uncle after just receiving a beating from him.
    Pete thundered down the half-finished wooden deck outside of the trailer’s entrance.  “Get your fucking ass back in the house now!”  Jake could barely hear him due to the whistling of the wind.  He doubted any of his neighbors heard him ; it was so late.  Forget about the cavalry being called, he thought.  
    His uncle and T.J. carried him back inside.  T.J.’s jaw was swollen and his nose broken.  He obediently closed the window while Pete ranted.
    “You stupid son-of-a-bitch!  Where were you going?  Another shitty group home?  Police?  What are they going to do?  You need to mind your own business! ”
    “Pete, found this lying on the ground,” T.J. said as he tossed Pete the can.
    “What the fuck is this?  Running away and planning on cleaning toilets?”  Pete examined the can and began to shake it.  He heard something solid and began to twist off the top.  Pete found the cut opening.  “What the hell, you’ve got over a thousand bucks here.  Where’d you steal it from?”
    “No, I earned it from helping everyone here at the park.  I’ve been saving up for when I’m an adult,” Jake stuttered.
    “Bullshit!  You’ve been stealing from all these here old people, you thief!  This here money is now mine.  Gonna use it to pay for that window you broke!  And I’m gonna teach you a lesson that you’ll never forget!”
    Jake wondered where Leah’s unconscious body went.  The living room was now free from obstructions, giving his uncle free range of motion for his third beating of the night.  Jake could see blood splattering all over the carpet and walls.  Uncle Pete slid his belt out of his belt loops and then swung it in circles for added momentum.  There was an ornate bronze belt buckle of a cowboy at the end of the belt.  The whoosh sound that it made scared the hell out of Jake.
    “Turn around and take off your shirt!  Now!  Or it’s gonna be that much worse.  This is how my daddy, your grandpa, showed me who’s boss!   And stealing is a sin! ” 
    Jake looked over to T.J.  Refusing to return eye contact, T.J. made it clear that he was finished playing hero and stood blocking the front door.  Better me getting the beat down than him, asshole.   Rhianna stood in front of his mangled bedroom door, crying.
    Down came the bronze belt buckle, again, and again, and again until Jake couldn’t feel anymore.  His vision faded.
    By 6 a.m. Leah woke him up in his bed with a tray of cereal and juice.  Remnants of the hellish night instantly came back as the pain in his back throbbed .
    “You okay?  It’s all my fault.  I’m