Page 7

Dominic, Age 7

Making himself a bowl of Fruity Pebbles, he accidentally splashed some of the milk on the counter, too excited to get back to the western he heard coming back on TV after the commercial break. It was a Saturday, and his twin brothers were passed out in their room after their lunch, so he could actually watch his show without keeping an eye on Matthias to see if he was about to do something that would get him in trouble.

Plopping himself onto the dingy, green plaid couch, he took a ginormous bite of the sugary candy-like cereal that caused some milk to drip down the corner of his mouth. He wiped it off using the back of his hand before picking up the spoon to take another huge bite.

The front door opening didn’t even have him looking away from Clint Eastwood on the fuzzy screen.

“Go to your room,” his father ordered after shutting the door behind him.

Dominic looked over to see that his father had brought his new girlfriend over.

Girlfriend was what the kids at school said, but that wasn’t what he’d call the women who came over to see his father. You were supposed to like your girlfriends, and Lucifer didn’t like anyone. Not even his own children.

Lucifer slightly raised his voice for him to hurry. “Go on.”

“It’s almost over. Can I please watch the end and finish my cere—”

“I said, get your ass to your room now.”

He didn’t understand. They always went upstairs to his father’s room, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t been around Lucia the past month. She wasn’t the nicest woman who had hung around his father, but she definitely wasn’t the worst.

Taking one last, huge, sweet bite, he was about to jump off the couch when Lucifer crossed the room in a flash, snatching him up off the couch and spilling his bowl of cereal everywhere.

“I was just taking one more bite! I was going to get up!” Dominic yelled when his father started dragging him across the floor, first by his hand, then he stopped to grab him by the neck of his oversized T-shirt.

“Lucia, clean this shit up,” he told her over his son’s wails.

Quickly, a terrified Lucia jumped to pick up the mess.

Seeing her face right before being dragged down the hallway, Dominic realized something was different. He had never seen Lucia like that. He had seen her jump once when Lucifer had raised his voice at her, but she had never looked scared. She had the same look Carla did before she left for the hospital to give birth to his brothers.

He wanted to scream at her to run, but he was scared himself. Not for his sake, but for Angel’s and Matthias’s. If anything happened to him, he wouldn’t be able to protect them.

It clicked for him then. Putting on a brave face, he no longer fought his father as he was dragged into a bedroom, then dropped. Closing his eyes, he waited for his father to hit him. Instead, he heard a door creak open.

Opening his eyes, he saw Lucifer throwing out old, dusty suits from a closet and onto the floor. When he stalked toward him again, Dominic was sure he was going to hit him now, but then he was shocked when Lucifer dragged him into the closet by his shirt.

“By the time you get out of here, boy, you’ll be asking me how high when I tell your ass to jump.”

When the closet door slammed shut and the darkness enclosed, the sound of the lock pushing into the doorknob surrounded him, echoing off the walls in the tiny space.

He guessed he was supposed to be scared, but he wasn’t. Darkness didn’t scare him. It was peaceful, a gift that kept you from seeing the horrors of the world. Small spaces didn’t scare him, either. It was cozy, and the best part about it was, if he was in here, then that meant his father was out there, unable to touch him.

“A girl!” He heard his father roar so loud it came all the way from the living room.

Quickly, Dom put his ear up to the thin wall, trying to hear better. There was some shuffling, and then Lucia screamed something at him, but he couldn’t make out what she said through her tears.

“You either get rid of it, or I’ll help get rid of it for you.”

Dominic pulled his ear from the wall, knowing what was going to come next, before the gunshot even rang throughout the house. It was quiet for a split-second, and then the fear finally set in for Dominic when he heard the twins crying from their bedroom.

Lucifer hated when they cried. Angel had learned quickly, like Dom had, after having their little legs pinched. Poor Matthias, it only made him cry harder. His boney legs were covered in purple and blue bruises.