Keri Lock CRACKED (Excerpt 10)

I opened my eyes, images of Rob burned in my head, my cheeks flushed with shame. I’d acted so thoughtlessly with him. Neither of us had said a thing to Michele about that night. She’d broken up with him a few months later.
I could tell by the quiet that it was either late in the night or very early in the morning. Someone had dimmed the lights in my room and the soft beeping of some machine softly sounded from beside my bed. A brighter light came from the hall and the body of some medical staffer sometimes walked by.
Laying there alone, I searched my brain for any clue to how I had gotten there. The medical staff either didn’t know or wouldn’t tell me. I couldn’t remember, but my aching body told me much more than I wanted to know.
I gazed into the dark, recognizing the outline of a white tipped hat leaning in a chair close to me. Bertha.
I called to her, “Bertha. Bertha!”
I saw her thick figure slowly moving in the dark and then she was beside me, turning on the reading lamp over my head.
“Hello, dear. Are you all right? What can I do for you?”
“My face is pounding. Is it time for more drugs, yet?”
She smirked at me.
“Let me just go ask the nurse about that. I’ll be right back with you.”
A few minutes later, she returned with a night nurse who took my temperature and administered the meds. With the room fully lit, I saw that Bertha was no longer dressed in her candy striper uniform. Instead, she was wearing a violet velour track-suit and white running shoes. What I’d thought was her cap was actually a shiny, white net, intended to keep her hair styled while she slept.
I eyed her suspiciously. “Why are you here?” I asked her.
She looked at me, surprised. “It’s my job, Miss Becker.”
“Don’t call me that. My name’s Missy.”
“Okay, Missy.”
“Bertha, what time is it?” I asked her.
“Oh, clock says four-thirty am” she answered me.
“Don’t they let you go home?” I asked, forgetting, again, how much to hurt to smile.
“I told you I was going to wait with you until your kin showed up. Dr. Cohen called them. They said they were coming.”
I thought about that.
“They won’t come,” I said.
Bertha reached out and covered my hand with her big, soft one.
“Then I will stay.”

CRACKED (Excerpt 9) by Keri Lock

Don’t move,” he grunted, stepping with effort through the snow. I wobbled with his imbalance.
After several minutes, we made it over to the car, me perched precariously in the air. I was oblivious to any danger. Breathing heavily, Rob grasped my buttocks, pulling me forward in one motion and lowering me to the ground. He grunted with effort.
“Jeez, Rob,” Michele watched, shivering in the freezing wind. “She only weighs a hundred pounds.”
“Ha, ha,” he grumbled. “It’s not that, smart ass. My feet are sliding all around in the snow.” He sounded annoyed with her.
I released a drunken giggle, some part of my brain finding that humorous.
Rob and Michele were both seniors at Ohio University. He played football and she played soccer. The perfect couple.
Rob eyed me, smiling, “You are wasted, little girl.”
“I’m not a little girl!” I protested, indignant, slapping his chest with one hand.
“Whatever you say,” he winked at me.
“Brrr. I’m cold,” my teeth chattering. “Can we go home now?”
“Get your grown up ass in the car,” he said, smacking my rear as I leaned forward into the back seat.

CRACKED (Excerpt 8) by Keri Lock

“All I’m saying is if she had tried a little harder to keep him happy; fixed herself up, put away the booze, who knows? Things might be different. She never tried to make him stay.”
Venom spewed forth from my lips, “You know NOTHING! You are nothing but a stupid, senile, old hag! Get out of my room!”
“Missy, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it”.
“GET!” I leaped from the bed and shoved at her with flailing arms.
Speechless, she limped from the room, me slamming the door behind her.
I stood there, stunned. An invisible energy raced down my limbs, sapping every ounce of strength.
My knees buckled.
With a thump, I collapsed to the floor, staring at the ceiling above. Beams of light shone though the window and danced a musical game on the wall.
He was gone.
Again.

Cracked by Keri Lock (Excerpt 7)

We stood quietly, stunned. This was a first. The man was snoring, face down, body balanced on a huge belly, dimpled buttock slightly raised. The pale flesh of his middle lay in thick folds, scarred with angry, red lines. His bulk looked oddly misshapen, almost inhuman. Curious, I leaned forward, peeking over one massive shoulder to his face.
“Stop!” Michele whispered, “Don’t get any closer! He might wake up.”
“Who is he?” I asked, ignoring her request. Inching closer, I inspected the side of his pudgy face. Red cheeks swollen, hair matted with sweat, he emitted a low guttural snort, like a pig. Reflexively, I jumped back. It was the noise that had frightened me in the dark.
“Mom’s new boyfriend?” Michele guessed, curiosity, overpowering caution. She stepped closer.
“What about Joey?” I asked, glancing at her. My sister had never liked our mother’s on-again, off-again boyfriend.
“Maybe he’s out of the picture” in a hopeful voice “but I guess this isn’t any better” she motioned towards the stranger. We stared, fascinated by his mass.
As we looked, the enormous man turned his head and vomited violently onto the yellow shag of the carpet. The churned mess slowly spread, soaking the flooring with flakes of brown waste. The putrid stench of soured milk and bile filled my nostrils making me gag convulsively. I ran from the room. Michele followed me to the bathroom, wiping my face with a wet cloth when I was through being sick.

Cracked (Excerpt 6)

The air was stifling. Summoning every bit of courage in my seven-year-old body, I inched my fingers along the satin edging of the blanket, widening a tiny opening. Unsullied air wafted in and I gulped it greedily, louder than I intended.
A disturbing snivel exploded somewhere in the room, followed by a series of retching noises. Under the quilt, my body trembled and acted of its own accord. The scream emerged soundless, impeded by my suffocating circumstance.
Frenzied clawing released me from my cotton cavern. I gasped. Inhaling powerfully, sound exploded from my mouth, the volume reverberating in my ears.
“MOMMY! MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY!” my screams continued, one uninterrupted sequence.

Cracked (Excerpt 5)

His rough grip left a bruise. I noticed it forming as I ripped my arm from his hold. Frantically, I slapped out, my palms stinging as they met the boney part of his shoulder. Being several inches shorter and many pounds lighter, it was the only area of his body I could reach. Sobbing at my own vulnerability, I turned to flee.
He laughed, grabbing onto both my hands with his one and stilling them in his vise-like grip. Stepping forward, he pushed me back onto the black velour of the sofa, my back bent in an impossible position. I sank down, head tilted painfully to one side; neck feeling as though it would break.


Trying to wriggle free, I managed to become even more entangled in the fabric of the sofa and my own body. My shirt inched up, exposing my, still tan, belly. Brutally, he plowed his knee into my soft flesh, holding it there, as I struggled for air. Breathing raggedly now, I struggled against his entrapment and the control he had over me. Frustration, as I realized I was, once again, powerless.