Trouble At Home

Pearl draws a line down her arm - in her fingers is a razor and it cuts her arm deep. She breathes in as a film of blood seeps onto her skin - her arm is pale, the blood is red, it is beauty; Pearl sighs and then she shakily puts the razor into the sink. Even the white porcelain sink is stained with her blood. Pearl smiles, and then with a skip she walks out of the bathroom and down the hall. Reg sees her. Pearl tries to smile, but in her dazed state she fails to feel her arm and the blood that stains the carpet. Reg narrows his eyes at Pearl, and then he steps in her way to stop her. Reg looks at her arm and then at her face - her face is smiling but her arm is dribbling blood. "How was your day?" asks Reg. "My day?' asks Pearl as she lifts her eye-brows. "Yeah, was it a good day or a bad day?" asks Reg as he grows impatient. Pearl rolls her eyes up to the ceiling as she thinks. She wonders what time the sun started shining that morning, and then she feels tingles on her body. Pearl notices a throb and as she looks down at her arm her face grows white at the blood flowing from it. Pearl screams, and right away she is smacked hard in the face! She screams again! "Are you on drugs or something?" asks Reg as he squeezes her shoulders. Pearl narrows her eyes, and then she shivers as she feels cold. "Because you're whacked out!" tells Reg before her smacks her so hard she ends up stumbling onto the bloodied carpet. Pearl feels weak. She hears Reg mutter but only in the distance. Pearl closes her eyes and almost feels peace as she drifts in a world of darkness for a short while. When Pearl opens her eyes again she is in a room - there are no beds, there no furniture, just plain carpet; it is the spare room. "What happened?" asks Pearl as she looks in her arm and finds it bandaged tight. Pearl sighs. Reg must have mended her cut and left her in the room before moving on to clean the sink in the bathroom. Pearl sighs. She closes her eyes and laughs as a tear runs down her face - Reg has helped her, and when he has finished cleaning he will come to her to tell her that she must be good. Pearl waits an hour before Reg enters the room. He looks clean - like he has showered - and she smiles. "Hello;" she greets with a smile on her face. "You've helped me;" she adds. "That's the third time this month!" scolds Reg. "Your arm had almost healed!" he wars. "So?" asks Pearl as she grows a sore inside of her heart that stings like it has been pricked. "So... what's up? You think it's fun?" asks Reg as he grows a tint of tense that makes his words tremble. "Maybe;" retorts Pearl as she shrugs. "Well you do it again and I'll have to send you to a special place;" tells Reg as he grows cross. "You don't do these things and get away with it!" he adds. "You're sick!" Pearl shrugs as her mouth remains limp - she is hanging on to hear a good word, but all Reg can do is call out ugly words. Why doesn't he ask her if she wants burgers or pizza? Pearl feels her heart sink. He just wants to scold her like she is a child, and she just wants to tell him that she wants more. "I love you;" tells Pearl as she lifts her eye brows. Reg shakes his head and looks away; he doesn't feel as though he is making progress, he just feels as though she will break out again. "Stop doing it;" he adds in a quieter tone. Pearl shrugs. She can't promise - all she wants to do is take a razor to her arm so that he can race to help her; it's beauty, it's drama, it's love, the way he goes out of his way to mend her. If she didn't do it he would not look at anything but the newspaper and the news on television. She gets his full attention when she harms herself, and she falls in love when she wakes up out of her dark spot. "Promise me you will stop doing it;" tells Reg. Pearl looks at him - she finally sees that there are tears in his eyes; maybe he is tired, maybe he is worried, maybe he loves her, maybe she scared him. "Give me a hug!" she adds as though she has just woken up from a dream. Reg smiles, then he leans in close and gives her a hug. Pearl sighs. She likes it when he holds her, it reminds her of when she was young and he used to give her a hug when watching television; she enjoyed it. "That's enough;" mutters Reg as he pulls her arms down from his shoulders. "Is it?" asks Pearl as she raises her brows. "Maybe I want more of it, more of you;" Reg shakes his head. "That's all the love I can give you right now;" he mutters before he moves away. "Then you don't love me!" snaps Pearl as she crosses her arms. Reg looks at Pearl and then he rolls his eyes - she is already battling him, and all he wants to do is leave her alone. "Of course I do;" he mutters as he grows red in the face from the strain of trying to guess what Pearl actually wants. "Then hug me again!" tells Pearl as she opens her arms. Reg stands still for a moment with his head turned to her and his feet half-way turned towards the door. He sees Pearl and he wonders why she is so set on greed. He thinks of her upbringing - a bottle calmed her from any bout of emotion, even if it was fed to her every hour. Maybe she was just crying out in greed, maybe he had been too soft, maybe he should have left her to starve! Reg looks at Pearl whose fingers shake as she holds her arms out waiting for him to come to her - she wants to be fed her bottle, and if he refuses she might cut herself again. "Why not?" asks Reg as he raises his brows and heads back for another hug. Reg kneels down and he holds Pearl again. She hugs him back as her head rests on his shoulder - she is comfortable, and his heart murmur tells him that he is uncomfortable. Reg wants to cry out somewhere inside of his mind that he dislikes returning to Pearl, she is abusing him. Reg feels his spine tingle as Pearl holds onto him - she has him, he has given in and she is using him to keep her warm. Reg narrows his eyes as he tries to pull away, but her hold is firm and she just keeps him close. Reg gulps - Pearl is at war with him even when she is just hugging him, and he feels as though he is being used. "We can't keep hugging like this;" he mutters in Pearls ear. "You have to let go;" But an hour later and Pearl is still holding Reg as his sweat-stained shirt sticks to his body. "Come on, this hug has turned into a joke!" he gasps. May walks into the room and she smiles at Pearl and Reg. May claps her hands. "Dinner!" she calls. Reg tries to move away, but Pearl keeps him close. Reg looks to May as a husbund who needs help. "She wants to hug;" he mutters. May nods. "Well I'll keep dinner in the oven;" she mutters before she leaves. Reg rolls his eyes and then he keeps holding Pearl as time drifts on. Pearl lasts one hour more before she falls asleep, it is then Reg is able to let her go. Reg rubs his neck as he enters the kitchen. It is late, May is in bed, and he has just put Pearl into bed. He feels sour as he opens the oven and finds cold roast. With complaints in the back of his mind he serves himself a cold meal before he moves on to watch television. His mind is busy with thoughts on what to do about Pearl. He knows she is crying for attention, but he can't put up with her mood swings any more - he needs to get her help. He knows he will have to consult a doctor to see what they can advise. He can't spend hours with Pearl again, she has pushed him to the limit, she needs help. Reg phones up four doctors and all advise he see a family councillor or a psychologist. Reg rubs his neck. He feels tense. He wants to help Pearl, but all the fuss makes him want to push his fears back into the dark; so he stuffs the phone numbers he has written down in the back of his drawer as he tells himself to ignore Pearl. But at home Reg finds Pearl drunk and stumbling all over the place. She has broken three dishes as she has drunk his expensive liquor. Reg follows Pearl like a hunter eyeing down prey, and then he catches her as she walks into a corner and has trouble getting out of it. "You are trouble;" he mutters as he looks at her eyes. Pearl has swallowed his medication - he can see by the redness in her eyes that she has. He has seen that look before, and he knows there is an orange vial without pills inside of his bathroom sink. "How about we go to your room;" he suggests. Pearl shrugs. "Why not yours?" she asks. Reg laughs and then ignoring her he takes her to her room. Inside of her bedroom Reg tensely watches Pearl walk around in a circle before she faints on the carpet. Reg sighs; he looks at her on the carpet and he thinks about his heart which is struggling to beat - he feels so stressed out he knows he could break it and have a stroke. Reg crawls over to Pearl to make sure she is okay - she is breathing steady and he is able to stop his worries from climbing. Pearl has just been taken down by whatever she has taken and he rushes to his room to find out what she has digested. Reg looks at three empty vials of medication - all extra drowsy formulas. Reg sneers, and then he pushes the empty vials in the bin. "The brat!" he mutters as he cleans up the sink until it is clear and sparking white. "I should spank her when she wakes up!" he scolds before he leaves the room. Reg looks at May as she comes home. May feels his tense energy and it creeps her out. "Have you been drinking?" she asks. "A bit;" mutters Reg. "Pearl is out of control;" he tells her. "She was drunk and popping pills when we were at work;" May loses her smile as she shrugs. "Teens like to party for attention;" she tells Reg. "It's nothing to worry about;" "She made me hug her for over an hour;" tells Reg as he raises his brows. "How do you think I feel when she turns a cold shoulder to try and harm herself just because we are not here to stare at her?" he asks. "She's just wanting attention;" shrugs May before she moves away from Reg. "Don't let it get you down; if she actually hurts herself we'll just take her to the hospital;" Reg looks away - even May is drunk and walking on clouds; he feels ashamed that she cannot see that Pearl is harming herself on purpose. Reg sighs and he leans over a table to look at a picture of the whole family - they look so happy, he can't believe all the smiles are fakes. "Whatever happened to the perfect life?" he asks as he feels a chill. "This is far from it;" he mutters. "Very far;" The next day Reg knots paperclips at work. Every hour is a rake against nails, and he cringes as he waits for the day to pass. Reg then drives home. He picks up burgers on the way home and nibbles on chips during the drive. He then parks, enters the house, and he waits for Pearl's ghost to jump out to greet him - but Pearl is being good for once as she sits in the lounge watching television; Reg sighs. "Hello;" he greets happy to have a normal moment. Pearl looks to him - she doesn't smile. "Hi;" she mutters as though unhappy to see him. "Burgers and fries?" asks Reg as he places two paper bags onto the table. Pearl brightens and she reaches for a burger and a packet of fries. Reg sits next to Pearl. He leans away to look at her, and when staring he finds himself unable to look away. Pearl has none of her attention on him, and he likes it. He doesn't feel captured, he feels at ease as he spends some time with her. Pearl ignores his company as she eats bite after bite of her meal. She spends many minutes in vacancy, until her belly becomes so full that she has to lean back in the chair with a cringe. Reg laughs and leans closer to give her a hug - however as he stretches out his arm Pearl jumps. "What are you doing?" she asks. "Just giving you a hug;" tells Reg a little startled by the question. Reg immediately wonders if he is doing anything wrong? His fingers shake as he experiences doubt; however he scolds his mind to not think, and then he wraps his arm around Pearl. Pearl looks at Reg with adhesive on her face, she glares as though he is a stranger who has just stalked her to her front door. "Don't you like hugs?" mutters Reg before he pulls her closer against his body. Pearl shudders, and then she grows rigid as he keeps her close. Reg rubs her shoulder, he strokes her hair - at each move he feels like a child molester who has just found live bait; however he knows he is anything but - he is just offering her a hug. A tightness in his chest makes Reg feel uncomfortable, and he blinks tears from his eyes. Reg feels as though he is doing something wrong, and he leans over the arm of the chair to sob. Pearl looks at Reg and she rubs his shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asks. However Reg ignores her; he doesn't want to tell her of the war in his mind, so he stays silent. Pearl also stays silent as the afternoon turns into night, then the night into day. Reg wakes up from his sleep; he is alone on the couch and it is morning - time to drive to work. Reg rolls his eyes as he quickly puts on his jacket and leaves without breakfast. Reg spends a lengthy day caught up in meetings and then at days end he races out of the building to check on Pearl. At home he stalks her bedroom door and opens it, but he gasps when he finds her room empty! "Pearl!" shouts Reg as he races around the house. Reg checks every room, every spot of yard, the garage - she is not home. Reg races to his car and drives to her school. Reg runs into the building and checks out the school rooms looking for Pearl. Reg finds her. Pearl is in an empty school room waiting out her detention - she has written a load of naughty words on her paper, and the teacher has looked over her shoulder to read it. The teacher pats her arm and gives it a squeeze. "You have a way with words;" he tells her. Pearl pushes the paper away. "Can I go?" she asks as she refuses to look at him. "Not for fifteen more minutes;" the teacher mutters as he moves one searching hand to one of her breasts to give it a squeeze. Pearl cringes as she looks at the clock and sees that the second hand is missing. The teacher blows in her ear to get her back to reality, and then he puts a finger up to her lips and traces her mouth with it. "Stop it!" gasps Pearl as she sharply turns her head to him. The teacher smiles, before he traces a hand to her thighs to give her underwear a rub. "Don't you worry, you're safe with me;" he drawls. "Get your hands off my daughter!" yells Reg as he storms into the room. Pearl gasps and hurries to push the teachers hands off her. Then she looks down as Reg storms up to the teacher to give him a mighty push that makes him stumble to the wall. Reg offers the teacher one good punch before he rushes back to Pearl who cringes as the teacher licks blood off his teeth. "Come on!" urges Reg as he picks up Pearl's bag. Pearl grows scared as she looks at the teacher shaking his head. She then blinks her eyes and lets herself be dragged away by Reg whose body has been super-charged by anger Pearl sits in the car looking out the window as Reg drives - she doesn't want to talk, and every time Reg looks to her she knows he wants her to tell him if she has been hurt by the teacher. She closes her throat as she refuses to swallow. She can't talk. She needs to disappear. At home Reg keeps her glued to his body. Pearl feels as though she has been raped and he has picked her up to rescue her. Pearl looks away as Reg stares at her - he wants to know more about her, but she doesn't want to tell him. "I've never slept with him;" she confesses. "That was the first time;" she adds. "Okay;" mutters Reg as he winces. Reg doesn't want to tell her to walk away from the school - he had paid the full tuition fees at the beginning of the year, and he does not want to pay any more. "You tell me if it happens again and then we can talk about moving you to another school;" he mutters. Reg crosses his fingers that the day won't happen, and he puts a note on his brain to call the school and ensure that the teacher is threatened to stop hitting on his daughter - that might keep her and his bank account safe. Reg sighs. "Let's have dinner;" he mutters as he feels exhaustion fill his mind. "Okay;" tells Pearl before she leaves with him to check out the pizza in the freezer. That night Pearl and Reg fall asleep watching television. When Reg wakes it is with Pearls feet over his lap. He moves away from her and then he walks out of the house. He feels tingles on his spine, and he knows that he won't stop being stressed out until he knows Pearl is safe. Later that day Reg returns home and Pearl is doing homework. He picks up a beer and drinks it slowly as he tells himself to relax. He has had a long week, and he has been stressed to the limit; finally the house feels calm, and he is able to relax and enjoy his afternoon as though he lives in a normal trouble-free home. Reg feels happy - this is how life should be.