What money can't buy

Chapter 4: Reminiscence

As the train trundled on, Swaha leaned back and rested her tired head on the headrest. She looked out of the window and stared into the blackness outside.
'Is this what I am destined for?' she thought to herself  'Will there ever be light waiting for me at the end of the road?' Swaha shifted uncomfortably chiding herself.

 'What is wrong with me? Can I ever forget that dreadful day? Can anything be darker than that?' 

 Have I forgotten how I used to press my headphones closer to my ears to drown out the voices of my parents fighting in the floor below. I used to tune in to my favourite song but I was hardly listening. My mind kept wandering back downstairs no matter how hard I tried not to. I always used humour to fight off my demons even though I knew that they were never really gone, but at least I would get some respite from it. Now it seemed like nothing could help.' Swaha thought to herself, diving back into her past yet again, even after swearing she wouldn't do it.

                                                                                           ****

2 months later....

My phone's screen lit up. It was a message from Dev. It was a picture of us together during the acting school. A smile danced on my lips. We both looked so happy like we were having the time of our lives. Dev had a huge goofy smile plastered on his face like always and a coffee stain on his shirt from the time when he had tripped over a prop and dropped his drink on himself. We had laughed so hard that day. It was the first time when I had actually smiled a real smile. 

I guess Dev has that power over people. When you look at his eyes, it's like you are looking into two shining stars. His eminent smile reaches your heart and no matter how dark it may be down there, his smile brightens it up. 

I felt so lucky to have a friend like him beside me, and I wish I still had him by my side. 

The last day there had been horrible. When my mother showed up looking crazed and blaming everyone for kidnapping her beloved daughter. I was terrified of her even more after that. She had never done something like that, bringing the officials into her messed up acts. 

I had had no choice but to leave with her and avoid further questioning. My mom had been charged with wrongly accusing someone and driving while being intoxicated, but as usual that didn't stop her from continuing her normal life like usual.

The loud sound of glass smashing into a million pieces, brought me back to the present. I quickly pulled my headphones out of my ears and rushed downstairs. 

To say that it was a mess, was an understatement. Pieces of cutlery were everywhere, even my mother's favourite china glass vase lay broken in one corner of the room. 

"Swaha!" I whipped my head up to meet the deathly glaring eyes of my mother. 

"What are you doing here?!" she asked. 

"I-I came to-"

"Go back to your room!" she shouted. When I don't move from my place she yells again, "Now!" 

I turned around on my heel and hurried back towards the staircase.

"So this is it? You're just going to leave with Swaha and destroy her life?" I heard my mom shout from the hall. I stopped in my tracks. My dad was leaving? When? And where was he taking me? I decided to hide in the cupboard under the stairs. My parents never let me listen to their discussions, even when they concerned me the most. But I had taken a vow when my parents turned their back on me and decided that a substance that would eventually destroy them was more important than me, I wasn't going to surrender. 

I crouched down to fit my tall figure into the tiny supply closet and put my ear to the door to hear their conversation. 

"She deserves it. She deserves to live a life that she can enjoy." my dad's voice said.

"Oh and you think you can give her that? You're barely even there in her life when she needs you!" My mom shouted. From the way her voice slurred at the end I could tell she was heavily drunk. 

"Neither can you! You don't let her do what she wants either! At least I can try to be a good father...You don't even try to be a decent mother." There was complete silence and I feared at how it would end. 

My dad scoffed, breaking the uncomfortable tension in the room. 

"I should have known you wouldn't be able to be a good mother. It's surprising Swaha hasn't run away and not returned yet." 

I cracked the door to the closet open just an inch to see the reactions on my parents' faces. I could not believe what happened in the next few seconds . My father turned away from my mother, running a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. I saw my mother's fingers inch closer to the waistband of her jeans. Just when I thought nothing was going to happen, she pulled out a dark object and pointed it straight at my father's back. I didn't know what it was, until I saw her pull the trigger. My father tumbled to his knees, gasping. The thick, dark liquid started oozing from the small of his back.

I quickly shut the door, covering my ears to stop the incessant ringing. My back slammed against the other side of the cupboard as I tried to crawl away from the sight that I had just witnessed. I didn't take my hands off my ears until I heard the faint sound of the sirens approaching our house. Soon the door to the closet was broken down after a lot of banging and loud voices speaking in rough tones. I didn't know who these people were but somehow I knew my entire life was about to change....maybe for the worse.