When Smiles Fade by Paige Dearth

living in some fantasy world that you made up. What the hell is wrong with you? We hated Dad! He was a total dickhead that beat us for no good reason.”
    Valerie chose to ignore her accusations. Instead, she warned her older daughter a second time against leaving home. Emma disregarded her as she finished packing their clothes. As the girls made their way for the door, Valerie moved to block it. Emma forced her way past her mother, holding fast to Gracie’s hand.
    “Really, Mom,” was her parting shot, “you are a sorry excuse of a person!”
    The moment they were out of the house, Jake confronted Valerie upstairs in her bedroom.
    “What’s your problem, woman?” he sneered. “You just let your kids shit all over you!”
    He inched closer to her, making Valerie uneasy. Then, taking her by surprise, he backhanded her, sending her crashing to the floor. The moment she was down, he pounced on top of her.
    “You dense half-wit!” he yelled, punching her in the face and upper torso. “I uprooted my whole life to come and live here with you and those rotten kids of yours! I did it so that I could have a real family. And now you’ve gone and chased them away!” Grasping a fistful of her hair, he yanked her head up and banged it on the floor. “You get those two back here tomorrow or you’ll see how ugly I can be!” he ranted through clenched teeth.
    Valerie lay still on the floor. It was the first time any man had ever hit her so hard. She didn’t like it, but she didn’t know what to do about it. She waited until morning to give Jake time to calm down. Then she called 911 and reported her children missing.
    “I know where they are,” she said to the person who answered her call. “They’re living with a prostitute across the street. It’s my older daughter that’s to blame. She took my younger one along with her. I need you to send an officer over right now, so he can help me bring them back.”
    Valerie hung up the phone and walked into the bathroom to cover her fresh bruises with makeup before the police arrived. Jake had reminded her that all the guys on the Norristown Police Force were his friends and he wanted her to make a good first impression. As she slathered on makeup, she thought, this will never happen again. My daughters will come home and give Jake whatever he wants. He will love me again .

Chapter Fifteen
    Within thirty minutes, the police were knocking at Brianna’s door. Roused from sleep and only half-awake, she opened it and stopped short. Her eyes widened with shock when she saw the police standing on the porch.
    Pam hurried up to the door and peered out from behind her daughter. “Yes, Officer,” she said politely to the first man, “how can I help you?”
    The larger of the two officers sized them up before answering, “We received a call that two young girls from the house across the street are staying with you. Is that true?”
    Pam looked at Brianna questioningly. Shit-faced drunk the night before, she had no recollection of who the hell was still sleeping in her own bed. She had no idea if one of her daughter’s friends had slept over.
    “Yeah, Emma and Gracie are here,” Brianna acknowledged. “Why?”
    “Well, they have been reported as runaways. We want to come in and talk to them,” the officer said with authority.
    By then the two sisters had come out into the hallway that led to the front door. The moment she saw the police, Emma realized that Jake had bullied her spineless mother into calling them. Putting a protective arm around Gracie, she led her into the living room with the policemen following.
    “You’re Emma and Gracie, right?” the burly officer asked.
    “Yeah, that’s us,” Emma replied in a voice that did not hide her resentment.
    “Your mother has reported you missing,” the officer told her. “In fact, she said you were a runaway and that you had taken Gracie with you. I want you to understand that’s considered kidnapping. Now, I doubt your