NANOWRIMO 24 Day 4

 

Prompt: Write a story that includes a reoccurring sound 

 

You’re a liar. 

The clerk frowned. “You okay?”

Looking up from my inky fingers, I nodded. Deep breath. “I will be. I hope.”

“You’ve got a little ink on your face. Here.” He pointed to my cheek. 

“It’s a bruise,” I said.  

The clerk winced. 

I had a bunch of matching ones on my inner thighs, but the clerk didn’t need to know that. 

 

You’re a liar. 

Clicking the pen, I scrawled my signature and handed over the paperwork. The restraining order was one page. One flimsy page. It weighed nothing but the words on it, crammed, tiny, splattered with tears, spilling into margins, carried universes of memories, some good once but overshadowed by anger, denial, acceptance, self-hate, which was the worst. That last one would take a while to recover from. 

 

“No one will believe you. You’re a liar.”  Him, my in-laws. He’d enlisted all of them:  father, mother, brothers, sisters. They all said it. Phone calls, voice mails, emails. As if repeating their words over and over would make them true. But I knew better. 

 

The clerk directed me to the courtroom, which was two flights up. The elevator was convenient, but I opted for the stairs. I ascended slowly, each painful step reminding me. 

I’m not a liar.