The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

Dear Johnny, Scarlett began writing.

For 11 months, I refused to believe I was never coming back. I don't know why I was being so childish. I should have written this letter to you earlier, but I really thought we were staying in this house for a limited amount of time. I sorta thought it was like a mini vacation, my father wouldn't just abandon the house forever. After all, he would have wasted tons of money! And you know how greedy he is.

But I guess my grandparents helped him out. I don't think they know about the situation, but it's not like they'd care anyway. They're just as bad as my dad.

So to fill you in, we are now living in some stupid small  Minnesota town. It's a very strange place. It reminds me way too much of Cory. It's miserable, rainy, and tiny. The only difference is that we live in a house very far away from people, only having one measly little old lady and her husband as neighbors. And trust me, they aren't like you and Mrs. Marcell. They would never even dream of my "hardworking businessman" father beating me up. Or my "poor housebound" mother getting drunk and forgetting to feed me.

I hate it here. And the fact that I actually know something is wrong, that I became aware of what's happening around me, has messed me up a lot.

But still, thank you for trying. And thank your mother too. If it weren't for you guys, I'd still think that this is normal.

So I still have lots of things I want to talk about with you, but I'm going to leave it here for right now. I don't know if you've moved on or if you don't really care about me anymore. If so, I don't want to keep talking and get you annoyed.

If you don't want to be friends anymore, that's okay. I don't blame you. Either way, you still have to reply to this letter.

Thanks,

Scarlett.

Scarlett took one last look at the letter before deciding to seal it up and walk over to the post office. The mail carriers rarely came here, and it would get to Johnny quicker and she went and mailed it herself.

She wondered what he what think when he got it. Had he moved on already? Did he forget about her? Scarlett hadn't made any new friends, and doubt she would for a while. She missed Johnny and  Mrs. Marcell more than anything. They were the only people she really got along with and talked to.

She really hoped Johnny hadn't moved on.

3 days later, Scarlett noticed a mail carrier dropping something off in the mailbox. She hurriedly looked inside the minute she left, finding that the letter was from Jonathan and addressed to her.

So she sat on the porch and opened the envelope, pulling out a single sheet of paper.

It read:

Dear Scarlett,

Hey. Don't worry, I haven't forgot about you. And yes, I still would like to be friends. Honestly, I thought it was the other way around, I figured either you couldn't contact me or you didn't want to.

Either way, I was very surprised when I found this in the mail.

I'm sorry you have to go through this. I don't know what to do about your situation right now, but I'll figure something out. I'll get you out of that hellhole soon enough. Just be patient.

In the meantime, just remember you can send letters to me at any time. I'll reply. You said you wanted to talk more, right? So go ahead.

Sincerely,

Jonathan.

Wow, Scarlett thought. He got back so fast.

She honestly thought Jonathan had forgot about her. In a way, she wanted him to. As stupid and cheesy as it sounded, she felt like she was a burden to everyone. At least then, she'd have a reason to weep in self-pity.

No, She told herself. She wasn't going to be a stupid selfish little baby anymore. She was happy he had sent her that letter. She had so many things to say to him and she finally had the chance.

So, she goes inside and grabs a pen and a peice of paper.

Dear Johnny, She begins.

I'm so glad you wrote back to me. Thank you.

So, if your saying I can write anything and you'll read it, I guess I should start.

First of all, I hate this place. All the kids in school think I'm creepy and weird just because I want to be by myself and draw in peace. None of them are nice to me like you were, and I really hate it. I always blurt out random things without thinking, and people have started being weird around me because of that.

Is something wrong with me? Why do they all hate me? When I'm aggressive and make sure they don't pick on me, they seem to want to be even meaner. I'm trying to make them go away, but being tough only makes them more confrontational. I wish I could be like you. People never though of you as weak.

Second of all, I'm scared. I know that's really random to say without any context, but it's all that I've been thinking about. I'm scared to go inside our house, I'm scared to say anything to my parents, and I'm scared of what my father will do to me. When we drove here, he never said a word to me. But the second I sat down inside the new house, he got mad at me for making the floor dirty.

And then he took his belt off the chair and whipped me. It hurt, Johnny. It hurt so bad. Im not allowed to tell you this, but I don't want to hide things from you anymore.

Scarlett hadn't even noticed she was crying until she felt a small drop collect on the corner of her lip. It stung from the scratches she recently got, and the salty aftertaste was still lingering in her mouth.

But she kept writing. She wanted to tell him everything.

At first, of course I hated it. But I thought it was discipline, like my parents always told me. But I realized that I don't really trust them as much as you and Marcell. In fact, I know you guys better than my own parents. So when she started yelling all that stuff to them, I think it made me change my mindset on all this.

In way, it's worse. I know that I'm being treated bad when he hits me like that. I know I don't fully deserve it.

But you wanna know what's so terrible? I think I kind of like it. It doesn't have to do with deserving of or not. Whenever he hits me, it shows that he still knows I'm alive. It's like, someone is actually paying attention to me. I still have a father, and he still has a daughter. When he doesn't beat me, I fell like I'm dead. Non-existent. I think that in the back of my mind, I want people to confront and fight me at school for the same reason. Maybe it's not the kids at school that say mean stuff to me for no reason, maybe it's me that's making them do it.

I don't want to think about this. I want to run away. I want to be with you and Mrs. Marcell again, I don't want to feel dead anymore.

Should I run away? I don't know how I'm going to do it. But maybe if I did, I could be with you guys again. I'm just so sad, I don't know what else to do. I know you told me to be patient, but it's so hard.

Please respond to this.

From,

Scarlett K.

She sounded desperate, and she didn't like it.

But without anyone to go to anymore, she felt so alone. Trapped and helpless.

She once saw a movie about a girl running away. She was a lot older than her, and had a totally different situation. The girl was famous, and had too many people bothering her. She didn't want to deal with it anymore, so she ran away to the countryside and made a new life.

She wondered why anyone who had so much attention would want to abandon it. But she knew it didn't really matter as long as they both had similar scenarios.

Maybe she could be just like that girl. She didn't have a car or a fancy suitcase like her, but she knew she could find a way.

Apparently, though, Jonathan did not think that way.

Scarlett, the letter had said. Do not run away. I'm not joking. Please, DON'T RUN AWAY.

You're 11 years old. Your not capable of taking buses, trains, and cabs. You said you lived it Montana, right? Well, if your planning on coming back here, it would take you at least 5 days. At least 1,500 miles, depending what town you live in. You know how far that is? You know how many dirty cities you'd have to go through to get here? People are evil. If they saw a vulnerable girl all by herself in the middle of a big city, theyd have a chance of doing some really nasty deeds.

You're scared of your father, right? These people are worse. They aren't connected to you in any way, and no one would know if they kidnapped you, beat you, or tortured you in any way shape or form. Your father is terrible, but if he did something so bad, people would find out sooner than they would with some fucking junkie that just came off the streets.

They could kill you. Do you really want that? In fact, they could do even worse crap than killing you. You probably don't even think that's possible, but it is. Try imagining something worse than death, and I can assure you it's possible. And could happen to you at any moment.

Jonathan knew Scarlett's biggest weakness was her imagination. Instead of stating everything that could happen, it would affect her much more if he left it

Or, you could get lost. Or you could get in an accident. People wouldn't see you as easy because your so tiny, which means you have a greater chance of getting hit by a car, trampled over, or getting pushed around and ending up falling into traffic or off a building.

Scarlett had nearly shit her pants. Why was Johnny being so scary? Could all of this really happen to her?

Gosh. She could feel her fingers trembling and noticed that the paper was shaking. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down, before making herself finish the letter. She flips to the second page and begins reading the rest of Johnny's sloppy handwriting.

I know by now you've probably shit your pants, but this is the only way I can keep you from running away now.

I have a plan.

Wait 5 years. Wait until your 16 and you can do things legally. At 15, I suggest you get a job or try to earn money in some way. Work hard, and don't be stupid with what you've earned. Save all of it up for transportation and food. If something goes wrong on your trip, you'll have enough money to get back here. Don't steal your parents credit card, because they can track you with it, and it'll give your dad a reason to get mad. Which means he may purposely try to track you because he's mad.

Your dad doesn't seem like the type of person to lure you back home and try to keep you around with fancy gifts and heart wrenching pleas after he beats you. In fact, many abusers do that because they love their wives/ children in sick, messed up ways. But I don't think your dad really gives a shit about you. 

I'm sorry that came across as harsh.

But it's true. This can work to your advantage. The only problem is he's so damn unpredictable and impulsive. If you steal anything of his and give him a reason to get mad, he'll go to really far extremes to get revenge. He's very greedy and honestly, pretty wealthy. The government loves rich people.

The government loves powerful people.

Including something as simple at the relationship between a father and daughter. They'd much rather listen to him then you, and his wealth just makes it worse.

So keep that in mind. Make sure you are on somewhat good terms with him before you leave, try your absolute hardest not to piss him off.

Also, when you leave, get pepper spray or some shit. Just have something in case someone tries to hurt you. I know your also not half bad at fighting, so keep that skill in handy.

Maybe in a year or so, I'll send you a map with a route planned out. I'm not going to do that now, because I don't know if your actually stupid enough to ignore my warnings and still run away.

I know how silly this sounds. Wait 5 whole years and prepare all this stuff in advance just for some dumbass road trip?

Well it's not. I already made a mistake. I didn't think your father would just leave like this. And look where that got us.

Those years will go by quicker than you think. Just stay strong. Write to me if you want.

It'll all be worth it in the end when you don't have to be scared to step foot in that house ever again.

If you decide to ignore me and do it anyway, remember this.

From,

Johnny

That was the most Johnny had said to her in a very long time. There was so much information here, she couldn't believe he went through all this trouble.

She was no longer scared. Nor sad. In fact, she could feel her head getting hot and a burning rage swelling through her.

What the hell did Johnny think she was going to do? Wait 5 years like he said and stay in this house? With her father?

It wouldn't be worth it in the end. She was capable of leaving now.

Although, those images stemmed from Johnny's warnings still lingered in her mind.

She was having second thoughts about her descision.