He stood around the corner just out of sight. The bruises on his face and arms were too obvious, and Robert didn’t want him around. Not while the social worker was here. But it wouldn’t have mattered because it never did. Everyone saw the bruises, but Robert always had an excuse.

“Is your brother still getting into fights at school?”

The social worker, a woman, was not immune to Robert’s charm. He was laying it on heavy. A cursory peek around the corner showed that Robert was holding the woman’s hand.

“If you have any suggestions for how to reach my brother, I am all yours.”

Her pleasure at those words was as clear as the titter that preceded her reply, “don’t you mean your ears are all mine?”

“I would be remiss to allow such a beautiful opportunity to slip by if my ears were all I offered.”

With a sneer, he wondered why these kind of lines always worked with women. But even guys seemed to fall for Robert’s charm. Even their grandparents’ business partners had fallen for it. Just like his teacher did, and like the police did.

And there wasn’t anyone that ever saw him. He looked back around the corner to watch the way that Robert sat with the woman. They shared the couch now. Their hands were busy with each other. A smile lit up Robert’s face. He could only see the back of the woman’s head. Like the others, she probably thought Robert was very handsome.

Cold eyes caught him. Quickly, he pulled back to the safety of the corner. He wasn’t supposed to be here! Robert was going to hit him again. He’d only wanted to know what he was telling the social worker. He wasn’t trying to get Robert in trouble.

“I should go try to find my brother. He was supposed to be home an hour ago to do his homework. I’ll hope you excuse me?”

No! He wasn’t going to tell this lady anything. He wasn’t trying to get Robert in trouble.

“Of course, Mr. Carada.”

“Robert, I insist.”

“Robert,” she sounded very pleased. “If there’s anything that you need advice on, here is my card. And this…this is my personal number.”

“I’ll be sure that I use it,” there seemed to be something in the promise. The social worker was pleased.

But he heard something different. His brother’s attention was always a bad thing. A very bad thing. He tried to keep his steps light as he ran down the hall. The house they grew up in was big, yet never big enough to hide him. Robert always knew where he was, taking delight in seeing how scared he made him.

Bare feet paused when the front door shut. The lady was gone, so he wasn’t safe. Why didn’t anyone ever see what was happening? Why didn’t it ever matter?

His brother came around the corner. He stared, knowing that he should run. The slap Robert delivered echoed down the hall. It seemed to lead the way to the dining room. He hated it there! Really bad things happened there. And the darkness of the cabinet no longer made him feel safer. The bullet holes were still there, and they let light inside.

“Please don’t,” the words climbed out of a constricted throat.

His back hit the wall, then the back of Robert’s fist hit his cheek. Robert’s knee was in his stomach. He felt the ground under his hands, but didn’t remember hitting it. Cruel fingers were biting into his neck. The same fingers that had hurt Sammy. A rabbit wasn’t supposed to make that noise!

And he wasn’t supposed to cry.

“STOP IT,” the snarl didn’t sound human.

He was back on the ground, and immediately curled into a ball. That didn’t stop Robert from kicking him over and over again. He couldn’t see, but pain was familiar so he didn’t need to see to know what would happen next. Robert pulled him up by the arm. He fell limp, but Robert was much older and stronger than him.

As he was dragged, he looked back down the hall wishing that he hadn’t been caught. On the carpet behind them, another baby tooth lay in blood. It felt like a symbol that he knew he would carve into soft wood when the pain stopped hurting so much. The hidden mural was the only artwork of his that his family hadn’t yet destroyed.

White marble, pale wood, and golden accents. Nothing had changed from when their parents had been in their lives. Not even the stain of blood on the table legs he stared at as he was dragged past. It was best not to give Robert any fight. But the moment the cabinet door was open the stench that hit had his arms moving out to stop them. He didn’t want to go back in there! Robert punched him in the back. It caused him to double up, which was enough for Robert to shove him inside.

As the lock clicked, his small hands beat the scratched wood. But his tears didn’t matter. Not to Robert. He wished he knew why his brother hated him. He wished he knew why everyone hated him. Trembling hands touched the rough floor. Fingers moved along familiar ridges of things his nails had tried to draw. He couldn’t really tell anymore what they were, he’d drawn so many. Finding a bare spot would soon be impossible.

He was almost too large for the cabinet now, which forced his head to be at an uncomfortable angle. The first time he’d crawled in here, he had been trying to hide from his parents. They were yelling again and smelled really bad. When they were like that, they would go from hugging him so tight and kissing him with wet, slobbery kisses to throwing him against the wall without any warning. His mom would call him a demon, and then his dad would start beating his mom. They blamed him for that. And then they would both start hurting him.

So, he’d learned to run. Eventually, he discovered the cabinet in the dining room. It was small enough to hide him from them. They didn’t think to look for him there. He’d spend all night in there sometimes just to have a safe place to sleep.

But then the bad day happened. He heard them yelling, so had come to hide in here. The yelling got loud. Then it sounded like the room exploded! Remembering it made it hard to breathe. He stared into the darkness, but it wasn’t safe like it used to be. Maybe because the holes let too much light in. Because of them strangers came into their house, and Robert had found his hiding spot. Now it was never safe anymore. Now it had a lock on the outside.

Tears fell into his lap.