When I blink my eyes open, I'm curled in the bay window, Anneri Sleeping on my chest. When I wake she stirs and blinks her eyes. "Darka! Finally your awake, it's already noon!" Noo, mom will be gone to work for a pocket of change and Dad'll be out drinking it away. Anneri climbs over me and I sit up warily. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a deck of cards. I laugh softly, Anneri was a wiz at cards mostly, poker. She smiles and opens the deck pulling out a peice of paperwork it and unfolds it. "Well Darka you better get playing cuz after yesterday's terrible failure it's Anneri 35 and Darka 24," she raised her eyebrow and I jumped onto the floor. "Okay deal me in then!" For hours we play away at poker and laugh at how badly I fail. Anneri's eyes smile as we play on and when the score is 26 to 45 she smirks.
"Well Darka I'll tell you one thing you get better everyday!" i smile
"Hey! And grab her around the waist tickling her until she laughs so hard her eyes start to water. And we both sit there laughing. For a moment everything is perfect. Then that moment ends as the slam of the door makes up go silent. Then boots start to walk down the hall. I remember my mom's voice remember Darka, if he knocks more then three things down, he'll be violent, more then six and he won't remember anything, he'll be inhumane, and you'll need to hide, I count as he walks down the hall, desk falls over, one, a glass breaks, two, something snaps, three, then another glass falls, four.
"Anneri stay here." I get up to walk out but Anneri grabs my arm
"No Darka don't leave me here!" her eyes water up with tears and I put my hand on her cheek.
"Hey, I'll be alright, that was only four, it wont be much worse then usual." and before she can reply I kiss her forehead walk out the door and pull out the key. The closet door clicks locked just as the bedroom door opens and dad stumbles in...

I was wrong. It was way worse then usual. Anneri dabs my arm with a cloth and I clench my teeth. Dad had smashed a beer glass on the wall and when he smashed it against my arm shards of glass penetrated the skin and blood soaked the floor. Anneri silently let's the tears roll down her face as she picks the last shard of glass out. Dad passes out from the beer and curls up in the corner of the room. I hate him. Not for beating me. For beating my mom. For making Anneri cry. For drinking away all our money as the light blacks out since we can't pay our electric bills. Hate. Hate, the one thing that makes me keep a gun hidden in the closet. Hate, the thing that makes your blood boil. Hate, the one thing that would make you kill. Hate, the only thing that could ever drown love...