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Chapter 23

“Then call her! Call her right now!”

I push the pillow over my ear, forcing my other one into the mattress. That only turns screams into muffles that are hard to comprehend but still there. I sit up right. “I lent my friend the phone. I don’t know who he texted.” Matthew says, even I can hear the lie in it. That’s the same thing they’ve been saying for the past ten minutes. Just repeating the same words, going around in circles.

“Then call her! Call her in front of me!”

I wanna plug my earphones in but there’s a fear creeping that things might turn physical. I won’t be able to just sit here. The thunderous fury in her voice will not be enough to defend her from
his aggression. I don’t wanna stay here if things take a violent turn. I can’t have that right now. “Call her!”

I jump up. I’m not staying here. I text Michael to come pick me up. I don’t care how desperate the ‘please’ in the sentence makes me sound. I don’t wanna be here when things escalate. Not even half a minute later, my phone vibrates beside me. ‘Be there in a few.’

‘I’ll wait outside.’ Grabbing my jacket and phone, I head to my mum’s room. The door is wide open, she stands over Matthew while he sits on the couch with his head in his hands. “Mum, I’m
going out.” I say simply, very aware that she won’t say anything in the state of mind that she’s in. She doesn’t even turn to acknowledge me. I stomp downstairs in quick movements, not
wanting to spend another minute in here.

I find Kervin in the living room with his headphones on, forcing himself to concentrate on whatever he’s watching. It doesn’t seem to be working as he looks up at me with sad smile when
I pass by. The look on his face is just pitiful. If I had the courage to do what I’ve been wanting to do I wonder if he wouldn’t follow behind.

Now I know why kids end up doing drugs and joining the wrong groups. They just wanna be out of the house as often as possible. A black car pulls over across the street before I can even
observe my surrounding. I’m not complaining though, the sun is shining with a vengeance today, like it normally does. I check both sides before crossing “You were nearby?” I ask as I drop my
phone in the car door.

“Ya, my aunt had me run an errand. Are you alright?”

“Ya,” I lift my hair up to my shoulder so I can rest against the seat without any disturbance. He falls quiet beside me, sensing the mood that I’m in with ease. There’s a huge weight on my chest,
pressing me down, preventing air from either going in nor out. I try to relax, taking deep breaths but that just creates an untameable fire in my throat. Hot knifes piercing on my flesh. I’m so angry.

“I need to drop something off at my aunts then we can go wherever you want.” I avert my eyes with him but I know that they are soft with sadness for me. His voice itself shows the sympathy he has.

I nod. My mind is so full of anger and questions that I can’t even think straight. The only thing that’s echoing is ‘why keep yourself in that place? Why Mum?’

I’m so mad. She knows what he does and every time he gets caught, she ends up with a bruise. But yet she stays with him, she chooses to forgive him but not forget. If it was my dad he would’ve been out the house a long time ago. The one man that never cheated nor laid a finger on her is the one that gets treated the worst. The one that harms her, couldn’t care less about her,
using her just to get a roof over his head, is the one that she keeps feeding.

The rest of the ride is quiet between the two of us. The anger and fear soon turns into nothing. Just blankness. Like the quiet after the storm. This is one of the usual days that I would stay
home and lay in bed, completely useless while the world around me continues on. I don’t know if I should take this escape to Michael as a step forward or just a better way of being useless. He has a way with words but I don’t think even him can turn this day around.