Time Goes On
by Chelle

~ CHAPTER 27 ~

"I can't believe this! I ought to go upstairs and beat the shit out of him!" Isaac said as he stood by the kitchen sink looking out the window. It was late the next morning, most everyone asleep, Zac still passed out, except Ike and me. Diana had taken Zoe to the doctor for a checkup, they were gone before anyone else was awake, and both Mack and Avery had spent the night with friends. I was sitting at the table, sipping coffee and had told Ike everything about the night before. He turned and leaned against the counter. "Keep that ice on," he said as he took a sip of the coffee in his cup. "Isaac, it was like he was possessed. I've never seen that look in his eyes before. God, it was like he wasn't even here, just some monster in his body." I slowly rested the ice pack on my face, letting it touch my cheek, eye and lip all. Isaac walked over and sit next to me. "I know, he gets angry and it's like some kind of animal takes him over or something. But still, he can't go unpunished for this. He's gonna kill you. This has to stop." I looked at him and saw tears in his eyes. Suddenly,with a drop of the ice pack on the table, we embraced, hugging tighter than ever before. The phone caused us to pull apart though. He answered on the third ring. "Hello...? Oh hey mom..."
I went upstairs to get dressed. Looking in the mirror just after getting out of the shower, I got a look at myself for the first time. I had a swollen cheek that was bruised, a black eye, my lip was puffy and busted, I had a cut on my forehead that had discoloring around it, my jaw was bruised, both arms had his hand prints in purple on them and my wrist were still sore and red. My back was bruised on the back of my shoulder and one on the lower side. I was sore and my eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying. When I had finished dressing I went downstairs to find Diana at the table with Ike and Walker standing next to the patio door. Jessica was sitting at the table as well with a tear stained face. It was obvious that she had told them too and that Ike had repeated everything I'd told him.
"Oh my Lord!" was all Diana could say as she hugged me. Walker turned at the sound of his wife's cry, and when Diana let go of me he just shook his head and said "I'm gonna beat the crap outta that brat! He knows better than this. He wasn't raised to do this! Dammit!" Diana sighed and said quietly "Walker, please don't swear honey." We all walked into the living room. Diana had dropped Zoe off to spend the rest of day with her aunt and cousin. Jessica sat on the couch and when I sat beside her she fell into my arms. I soothed her for a minute then took her face in my hands and lifted her head toward me. "Are you alright?" I asked. She nodded and said "I was so scared." Diana brought out some ice tea and sat in the chair next to the couch. Walker looked at Isaac and said "Son, I'd like to talk to you in private." Ike nodded and said "OK dad." The three of us watched as the two of them walked down the hall to the office and closed the door. I instantly got a terrible tightening in my chest and Diana's face took on a look of worry but a bit of satisfaction as well.
About 45 minutes later, Ike walked out and came to kneel in front of me and Jess. "Did either of you mention anything to the younger ones after we got home?" We both shook our head and then he asked "What about Karen and Tori? Have either of you told them what happened last night?" Again, both of us shook our heads 'no.' He nodded and then stood. He crossed his arms and said "Dad, neither of them told anyone." We turned to see Walker walking into the living room. He sighed and said "Someone has to tell Tori and Karen. We'll need their help. "Suddenly we all turned when we heard him. "Tell what? What do you need help with?" Diana looked away as Walker turned to face his son. "Good afternoon. Glad you are awake. How do you feel?" Zac just shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and yawned. Then he answered "Like shit." Walker put his hands on his hips and walked into the kitchen saying "Have a seat," to Zac. Diana immediately stood and held out her hand saying "C'mon girls. Let's go upstairs." Jessica and I stood and Zac grabbed my arm. When I gasped, he let go right away and we stood looking at each other. He ran a finger, gently, down my face and then glanced at Jessica. "Oh Jess, I..." he was cut off though by Isaac jerking him away from us and pulling him onto the couch saying "Sit down Zac and don't you ever think about touching them again. Got it?!" Zac looked confused "Ike what are you talking about?" Just then Walker came back into the room and sit a cup of coffee down in front of Zac. "He's talking about your display last night and the fact that it's over. Do you hear me? It's over Zac, done, finished. We've had it and we are going to make sure that you never hurt anyone in this family, including Melissa, ever again in any way." Diana's arm slid around my back and she said "Jess, Melissa, come on now." I let her lead us out of the room and up the stairs. In the hall we were met by Taylor. "That son of a bitch!" he asked as he looked at me. "Taylor, don't swear," Diana said as we passed. Then she added "Go into the living room. You're dad and Isaac are in there with Zac." Taylor walked toward the stairs saying "I'm gonna kill that jerk. God help that worthless liar if I ever get my hands around his neck..." his voice faded as he walked down the stairs and then we jumped when we heard him shout suddenly "WHAT THE FUCK ZAC?!! YOU JUST CAN'T STOP BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF HER!!" Diana sighed heavily and then led us on down the hall. She stopped and knocked on the bedroom door and Tori opened it. "Hi honey. Listen, we've got a situation so go get Karen and you two come into my room," Diana said. Tori said "Well Karen heard some yelling and we were just trying to figure out what happened and we..."she gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth and she got tears in her eyes when she finally noticed me. Diana took her hand and said "Tori, you and Karen come into my room." With that, Diana led Jessica and I down the hall and around the corner to hers and Walker's room.
The next hour was spent with Jessica and I telling everything that had happened the night before and once in a while we'd hear a lot of yelling from downstairs. We all sat on the bed crying. Suddenly Zac burst through the door and fell to his knees in front of me. Walker came in a moment later, followed by Ike and Taylor. Zac looked at me and said "Baby, baby you know I don't mean to hurt you. You tell them that. Tell everyone that. Melissa, you tell them that I don't mean it. Tell them everything is OK with us." He had one hand on each side of my face and had tears in his eyes. I looked around and realized that they knew everything. Everybody already knew everything and I couldn't have lied to them if I'd wanted to. I just looked down at Zac and said "I know you don't mean to, but this has to stop. I can't go through this anymore." Zac just fell at my feet and sobbed. I saw a look of guilt, anger and relief on everyone's faces. Walker stepped over and said "Zac, you need help son. Now do this and things will be better but none of us can deal with this anymore." I looked at ike and said "Do what? What's going to happen?" Walker led Zac out of the room as I stood up. "Isaac, what's going on?" Taylor and Diana led Karen and Tori out of the room and were soon followed by Jessica. I turned back to Ike and saw him taking out a booklet from Diana and Walker's dresser drawer. "Ike?" I asked quietly as he turned to face me. "Melissa," he sighed before continuing. "Zac needs help. This isn't normal. Now, we've looked into it and mom and dad have found a place close to here. He'd have to stay there for two weeks with no visitors or phone calls for 48 hours. Then he can talk on the phone for 2 hours everyday. After the first week, if everything goes well, we can visit for an hour each day. After the two weeks are up, he can come back home but he'd have to go to a group meeting once a week for a couple of hours and to a one-on-one session for an hour twice a week." I sat back down on the bed. I tried to let what Ike was saying sink in. "Does anyone else know?" I asked. Isaac sat next to me. "Well, mom and dad are going to tell Jessica and Taylor is probably telling Tori and Karen right now. Zac just found out and of course mom and dad and I know. But that's it and we are going to keep it that way. There's no need in the press getting word of this. Especially not now." I nodded as tears fell down my face. "What about the kids?" I asked, aware that they didn't know anything about what had been going on. Ike sighed again. "Mom and dad are going to tell them he went to visit a friend. That way, they can talk to him on the phone. They won't be able to see him though and they can't know that we've been to see him on the days we go." Again I nodded. "Melissa, this is the only way. He can get help and things will change but not until he stops. He has to control himself. We've just run out of ideas and we all think this is a good solution. Just look over this. Come downstairs whenever you're ready." He stood and placed a hand on my shoulder as he leaned down and gently touched his lips to my forehead. Then he walked out closing the door.
I took a moment to compose myself and then leaned back on the bed and started flipping through the booklet. I read success stories and descriptions of the center itself and of the staff. "A Cry For Help Treatment Center." I read out loud from the cover. "Rehab for drug and alcohol dependency and treatment for anger management issues." I once again thumbed through the book and re-read the facts and signs of anger management issues. It was like reading a description of Zac. I said to myself as I rolled off of the bed and looked at my reflection in the full length mirror in the corner, "Well, this is a situation to cry for help." As tears began to roll down my face again Jessica stepped in and wrapped her arms tightly around me. We hugged for a minute and cried. Then wiped our faces and walked out into a house now full of hope for a much brighter future. If only we had known then the price we'd have to pay for it.

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