Trapped Life

The Trauma Begins

The next day, before Syahrul went to school, his parents gave him some food for him to eat at school instead of giving him his regular lunch money. Syahrul is very clueless about their actions and questions why they're doing that since they never prepare him lunch for school. He approached his mother who was cleaning up in the kitchen.

"Mom, why didn't you give me any lunch money?" Syahrul questioned with a puzzled face.

"We want to ease your burden so you don't need to stand in the long line to buy food during your recess," his mother responded to his question with a smile.

Although he was suspicious about his mother's reply, he chose not to think too much. He quickly changed into his school uniform and left his house.

After Syahrul went to school, his parents were discussing with each other about avoiding Syahrul being bullied and discovering everything. They were worried that their selfish actions will put their son in misery.

"It should at least reduce the chances of him being bullied, I suppose," said Syahrul's mother to his father.

"Are you sure about it? What if they force him to give them his money and harm him? We definitely can't afford to put him in such a situation," answered Syahrul's father with a worried look.

"Well, let's see how his day goes and we'll think about how to solve it. I hope we're able to get him out of this when it's all our fault," replied Syahrul's mother in an attempt to calm her husband.

When Syahrul arrived at school, he encountered those two guys waiting at the corner like usual to ask for his money. Syahrul quickly tried to escape from being asked for his money. However, he still ended up being caught by them.

"Where do you think you're going to? I'm pretty sure you know what to do," said Dhani in a fierce tone to Syahrul. David held his hands tightly so he couldn't escape.

"Argh... let go of me! I don't have your money. I'm already running late to class," shouted Syahrul angrily with hopes they'll let him get away.

"Hmm, would you look at that? Did you bring lunch for us? That's so sweet of you,"  Dhani said with an evil glare while Syahrul was struggling to escape.

David laughed while saying, "I'll let go of him before he cries and tell his parents."

Syahrul got pushed away by David. Although, he felt very grateful that he wasn't harmed badly like before. All Syahrul could do during his entire day was conserve his energy since he didn't have any food with him. Luckily, he managed to endure until the last lesson. When he was on his way back home, he, unfortunately, encountered them again.

"Well, who do we got here? Our little sunshine?" Dhani said teasingly.

"What do you want? Haven't you guys had enough of making me starve for the entire day?" Syahrul replied with frustration.

"Wow, no need to be that mad. We are here just to warn you to get ready to bring your money tomorrow," Dhani said with a smiley face.

Later, David and his twin, Dhani left Syahrul alone. Syahrul felt very furious. He hoped to make ends meet as he isn't able to cope with the pressure anymore. Syahrul also wanted to know all the incidents that happened between those two twins and his parents.

"I can't tolerate it... it feels so suffering... I don't even have a chance to have a meal at school... not only my money was taken but also my lunch and I'll get beaten up by them almost every day... I need to know everything that caused all of this so I'll know what's happening," Syahrul thought while bursting into tears in his bedroom.

There was nothing Syahrul could do. He could only hope that his parents would find a solution even though they were silent about it. He lay on his bed while gazing out the window to watch the rainy evening.

When his mother called him to the dinner table to eat, he rushed there and ate as if he didn't eat for a whole day. His parents were perplexed because they thought that the food they gave him wasn't enough.

"Syahrul, why were you eating like a homeless guy that hasn't eaten anything for ages?" questioned his mother with a confused look.

"I'm probably exhausted and starving after Physical Education lessons so that's why I'm very hungry," Syahrul responded to his mother with an awkward grin.

"Oh no... I lost the lunch box... they took it from me. Hopefully, mom wouldn't check my bag or ask for it," Syahrul thought to himself feeling worried.

"Syahrul, where's your lunch box? Did you already lose it on your first day?" asked his mother.

"Sorry, I lost it," Syahrul answered with a suspicious look.

After Syahrul finished his dinner, he immediately went to his room and tried to solve the mystery of the debt.

"Hmm, probably the debt isn't about them because, for the past two years, my family was living a wealthy life," Syahrul thought to himself as he tries to get answers.

As Syahrul pondered in his room, he remembers that his parents keep all their important receipts in a drawer beside their bed. As it was already nighttime, he couldn't enter his parent's room since they were sleeping. Thus, he made a plan to enter their room tomorrow since it'll be a weekend.

After midnight, when it was already past Syahrul's bedtime, his mom told his father that she thinks that his lunch food was taken by those twins.

"Hey honey, I think Syahrul's lunch was taken by them." Syahrul's mother said with an anxious look.

"How did you know? Did Syahrul tell you when I wasn't around?" questioned Syahrul's father.

"Well, he didn't tell me whatsoever but when he got back home, he was starving and to add insult to injury, his lunch box had gone missing which makes me think that his lunch was taken," replied Syahrul's mother.

"If we don't act soon, things will get worse and Syahrul might know everything, which is very harmful to our relationship," said Syahrul's father with a serious look.

"We don't have to worry since tomorrow is a Saturday. We can keep Syahrul safe inside the house and also we can cheer him up," said Syahrul's mother in an attempt to calm her husband.

"Yeah, just make sure to keep the drawer inside of our room safe so he wouldn't be able to read the receipt that he shouldn't be reading. Let's get some rest since it's already past midnight. This has been the most stressful week," Syahrul's father responded.