Under the Peach Tree by Charlay Marie Page A

to see the disappointment in his eyes. I quickly glanced at Faith, who had puffy, tired eyes from crying. She didn’t look up at me. She was angry as well. Momma pushed me up against the wall.
    â€œThe police showed up at my house at three in the morning with your sister, handcuffed and crying,” Momma began. “Said they found her sitting on the couch at a house party. They tested her for alcohol and questioned her motives. Said she started crying about getting dragged to a party she didn’t want to go to and that she was just waiting for her chance to get home. The police took pity on her and brought her home. They said next time it happens, she’s going to jail.
    â€œI didn’t need to hear anything else from Faith. I already knew who put her up to it. Her sister, the devil himself.” Momma smacked me across the face. “You think you grown now? You think just because your birthday is tomorrow, you get to go party and be wild?” She grabbed me by my throat and began choking me. “You ain’t grown! You a little girl, but since you wanna act grown, I’m gonna whoop your butt like you grown!” She turned her head toward Faith and John. “Faith, go in your room.”
    â€œBut, Momma—” Faith started.
    â€œFaith!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, startling Faith. “Go. Now!”
    Faith slowly stood up and sulked to her room. At least she didn’t hate me enough to want my momma to beat me. I looked over at John, who stared back, impassive. I tried to plead with him through my eyes, but if he noticed, he said nothing.
    â€œWench!” Momma punched me to the ground before I could even see it coming. I felt her forceful kick connect with my stomach, making me spit blood. She grabbed my head and banged it twice on the ground while cursing at me. I thought I heard John shout in the background. I thought Momma shouted back at him as she punched me again and again. I thought. I couldn’t hear anything over the loud ringing in my ears. All I knew what that Momma had stopped hitting me. But it was too late. I felt myself starting to pass out from the head blow and I welcomed the escape.

Chapter 6
    I can always sense a storm without looking into the sky. Nature has a way of warning us before a catastrophe, kind of like our own instincts. We can just feel the tension in the air, a black omen waiting to claim its prize. If we’re smart and listen to warnings of a storm, we can take shelter before the worst hits. I never had the kind of shelter that protected me whenever life’s storm passed. I just stood there, getting drenched by my own sin and tears, and waited for the worst to pass.
    When Faith’s and my birthday rolled around, I didn’t even expect a happy birthday. Too many birthdays passed by without even the slightest acknowledgment from my mother. Faith, on the other hand, was showered with gifts. A pretty new dress, a new comforter set for her bedroom, and sometimes jewelry. Whenever I asked Momma where my gift was, she’d say I didn’t deserve one, that I’d done something bad that week. I’d try to remember what I’d done to make Momma so mad that she wouldn’t get me a gift, but I couldn’t think of anything. By the time I was twelve, I just stopped asking. I stopped expecting anything from her. I suspected she finally had a reason on our sixteenth birthday.
    I limped out of my room, still black and blue from the beating of my life. Faith had told me that Momma would’ve killed me had John not stopped her. She said Momma tried to fight John but he locked her in her bedroom while he and Faith carried me to my room. I had woken up covered in a light salve with a rag over my head. John had fallen asleep on the floor beside me with a bag of melted ice in his hands. I felt loved. Faith told me that she grew more respect for John after that situation. I loved him even more for it.
    I limped