Burned Pieces

Closed Door

When the sun had gone down and it was dark outside, they returned to their house again. It was completely quiet, and all the lights were turned off. When they stepped into the hallway, she closed the door behind him and put one finger over her mouth, signaling to him not to make any noise. She was back in her room, well aware that this plan wouldn't work. It was only a matter of time before they found out, but she didn't imagine it being so soon.

It was the shouting coming from her brother's room that woke her up. After swearing to herself and almost falling out of bed, she hurried towards his room. He sat on his bed while her parents seemed to be schooling him. When they heard her entering the room, their attention immediately switched to her, as if he wasn't there anymore.

- "You were supposed to look after him. Instead, you lied to us. For your sake, I hope this isn't anything permanent."

They had noticed his bruises, and the adrenalin in her bloodstream shot sky high within seconds. The morning tiredness disappeared without leaving a sign as the frustation rose inside of her, flooding out of her mouth.

- "He isn't my responsibility, you know that? He had already left the house before you, so you knew he wasn't at home. He is your son, and you should look after him". All the feelings that had built up inside her burst out, and all the words she wanted to say, but hadn't, flew out of her.

- "You know what he does, and instead of admitting that your son has a problem and is a drug addict, you act as if nothing is wrong. You don't talk to him or put him in rehab because how would that make you look amongst your friends?". She was suddenly screaming; the anger was unbearable for her to hold on to.

- "You are shitty parents who have raised a shitty and sick son, and now you want to blame me for your pathetic ideas". The insult flowed out of her too easily, and she knew she had crossed a line. But in all of this, they had never cared about how she was doing, never asked, or even wondered. A silence spread out in the room.

- "Out". Her mother didn't scream, she just said it in a terrifying tone. They just couldn't understand that she was also suffering. They were too busy worrying about him, or whatever reputation they tried to maintain for him, that they didn't even notice what was happening in her life. She couldn't tell if they meant in and out of shock she just stood there, also she should have left immediatly.

- "Get out of our house. Now."

Her vision began to blur when she slowly shook her head, giving up on the idea of trying to make them listen to her. Only when she sat in her car did the tears start running down her cheeks. The windshield wiper worked hard to make it possible to see through the rain that smacked down in sympathy with her. She had no idea how long she had been driving. All she knew was that time had passed when it began to get dark. It wasn't possible to go back home. It was too soon. The tears had stopped running, and she could feel nothing more. She was too drained of energy and tired to even care anymore. On the road with no other cars and driving in the darkness, she felt alone. Not alone in the sense that no one was around, but alone as in nobody cares. Then the tears returned—those she didn't think she had left.