I Was Hoping For A Quiet Life, But You Gave Me So Much More

He Doesn't Know What's Coming

They never told anyone. Not a soul.

Not until the last few months. They wanted to, God they wanted to. Everytime one of them would fall asleep in class, and a teacher would ask them why they weren't paying attention they just wanted to yell, "because my father hasn't fed me in days, and the bruises on my arms hurt so much I couldn't fall asleep." They wanted to tell the world of the torment they faced. They wanted to get out. Not just so they could forget about him, but so the world could learn. They could learn that not every father is kind. That not every cop is a saint. That just because he stayed he could do no wrong.

They never told anyone. But they tried.

When their mother first passed people had been sympathetic. Teachers understood their silence in class, they were able to look past the late or unfinished assignments. However, after a year the sympathetic window seemed to fade. One of Isaac's fourth grade teachers had told him he needed to call home about all of the work he was missing. She was an old, insensitive woman. Isaac guessed she was probably long dead by now. Isaac had begged her not to, he told her that his father would be angry, that he'd punish him. To her ears that must have sounded normal, to punish a misbehaving child. But to most, punishing your children meant taking away their electronics, or making them do chores. In Isaac's case it meant he would be wearing long sleeves in 80° weather for a few weeks.

When they were older Liam had wanted to try. He was 14. High School meant a new building, and a lot of new people. People who weren't desensitized to Liam's silence. One of the teachers, who Liam actually liked, was his history teacher. He was a kind, energetic man. He was what sparked Liam's interest in the subject, and to some degree became the only reason Liam mildly tolerated going to school. The other reason being that getting good grades and going to college meant an inevitable escape from their father. The teacher, being new to Liam's demeanor, had started trying to encourage Liam to talk to him, or the school counselor. He had tried to convey his worry in the nicest way possible, and Liam had appreciated it. Another teacher took a less kind approach, and instead just called the office telling them that she thought he was 'possibly a danger to others.' Liam hadn't known where the hell that had come from. He'd never hurt anyone, never even raised his voice to a student or a teacher, he got all his work done, and well. His apparent silence somehow translated into inevitable violence. He had been dumbfounded when the counselor had told him the reason the teacher had called. He was angry about the wording she had chosen and he guessed that was what worried the counselor. He assumed the anger was from being 'found out' or something, when in reality he was just pissed off that the women had pegged him as violent just because he didn't behave the way she expected. Liam was about to just stay quiet, not wanting to make things worse, but then the words left his mouth.

"I have called your father, he should be here shortly."

Liam had frozen. It was one thing for him to get a call later in the day about your kids homework when they were 9. It was another to pull him out of work to come down to the school and talk about your kid being an 'issue.' Liam wasn't sure how long he had been paralyzed. He tried, when he came to, to tell him. He told him that his father was mean, that he would drink sometimes. Liam realized later that using the word 'sometimes' probably threw off his evidence. A lot of adults drank 'sometimes.' He just didn't have enough time. Just as he had gotten the first sentence out the door behind him opened and his father stepped in, wearing his work uniform. The uniform had always charmed people. And, of course, the man seated in front of Liam was no exception. Somehow he had convinced the counselor that, not only was Liam lying about him being 'mean' and that he was just upset that he took away his phone, but also that it was 'his own fault' for being busy at work every day, and that he had just wanted attention. The sorry excuse for a therapist had smiled and sent them on their way, suggesting that Liam not go back to last period.