Broken Read Online Free PDF

had caused all the trouble. “Take that!” He ripped Rocky Marciano in half. “And that! And that! And that!” When he threw the last piece down, he was sitting in a pile of shredded paper.
    Walter was yelling again. “We ain’t never gonna’ be rid of you!” Who was he talking to? Anna Mae? Did Sarah forget Anna Mae? Stanley could never understand why his father hated her so much. What did she ever do to him? He didn’t want to believe his father would hurt little Anna Mae.
    He went to the top of the stairs then crept down a few steps so he could see into the living room. His father was standing over Anna Mae. She was sitting, motionless, holding her doll.
    “Get the hell out of here!”
    Anna Mae looked terrified. Why didn’t she run away? She looked up at her uncle. Her eyes were so big. There was something strange about her expression. His father grabbed her doll and threw it into the dining doom. Anna Mae cried out. “Susie!”
    “I said, get out!”
    Stanley watched in horror as his father reached down for the little girl. When Anna Mae screamed, Stanley ran back up the steps, scurried across the room then dived under his bed.
     
    *     *     *
     
    When Sarah had fled from Walter, she had gone next door to Olga’s house. She came home an hour later. Her husband lay passed out on the couch. The angry lines in his face had softened. For the first time she noticed his torn pant leg, the scraped knee. She also saw traces of the innocent boy beneath the harsh exterior he had acquired over the years.
    Confident that nothing could wake him now, she picked up the receiving blanket at the foot of the couch. Walter grunted. She watched as he struggled to turn over and face the back of the couch. His breathing was slow and even once more.
    She righted a lamp and looked around for its shade. There it was, in the shadows of the dining room. She shoved Walter’s favorite chair back into place then went to get the shade. Her anguish, her shame was now pushed to the back of her mind. You just do what you have to do to survive.
    She stepped on something soft. “Oh my God!” Trembling, she picked up the doll. Its little nightie was pulled off at one shoulder. Its face was cracked.
    “Anna Mae,” she whispered.
    In her panic to get away from Walter, she had forgotten that Anna Mae was in the living room. Fear and guilt turned like a brick in the pit of her stomach as she ran up the steps to the second floor. The light in the hallway shone dimly into the children’s bedroom. Stepping over the pile of scraps, she went to Anna Mae’s bedside. Under the covers and curled in a fetal position, Anna Mae faced the wall, her short blond hair a mass of tangles. Sarah placed the doll beside the sleeping child.
    Anna Mae stirred. She reached out, touched the doll, gathered it into her arms, and sat up. “Auntie Sarah, you found Susie!”
    Sarah sat on the bed. “Are you okay?”
    “Susie has a boo-boo.” Anna Mae ran her finger down the crack in the doll’s cheek.
    “I know,” said Sarah. “But are you okay, Sweetie?”
    Her lower lip quivered. She pulled the nightie over the doll’s shoulder. “My Susie is crying. Poor little Susie.”
    Sarah drew back the covers. Anna Mae was still in her play clothes. Her shirt was torn and she wore only one shoe. There were big, ugly red marks on Anna Mae’s arms. A small cut on her scalp had bled into the little girl’s hair.
    Anna Mae pointed across the room. “Lookie, Auntie Sarah! Stanley’s sleeping under the bed.”
    Sarah saw one foot sticking out. She got down on her knees. He seemed to be sleeping so she shook him. Unable to get a response, she took hold of both feet and tried to pull him out. In reflex he kicked her away. Deciding to leave Stanley where he was, Sarah got up and resumed her seat on Anna Mae’s bed.
    With her tiny finger, Anna Mae touched Sarah’s face and Sarah flinched.
    “My Auntie has boo-boos!”
    “I’m okay.” She stroked Anna