Jimmy the Birthday Boi

👁️‍🗨️ Chapter 5

Jimmy woke up. Today was his birthday. That meant he was allowed to speak. He left his room and slowly walked down the stairs.

— "Look who's come to play."

Jimmy froze in place . The sight of his father terrified him. His heart was pumping. His breathing got heavier. Please leave. Please, please leave.

— "So? Cat's got your tongue? You ain't even gonna say hi?"

— "H....Hi..."

— "Little shit."

On these words, Jimmy's father left the room. Shaking, sweating, Jimmy mentally thanked whatever made his father decide not to push further. He waited there for a moment, trying to calm down, then slowly, very slowly, headed towards the kitchen.

— "Whotcha want, shit-hed?"

Aunt Mary was in the pantry, eating anything she got her hands on. Food was splashing on her face, her clothes, the floor, but she didn't care. It was like watching a pig.

— "I—I would like...i—it's my birthday...is it ok if I have some food from the p—pantry today...please?"

Jimmy was shaking to his bone. His breathing was heavy. He was ready to run out of the room at any sign of hostility.

She turned towards him.

— "Fud? Ye pessufshet went eet sum fud frum pentrey? From our pentrey? Our pentrey thet we herdwurkin pessufshet citizen ye want the our FUD?! Furst yer stealin teyk bedrum in hous nao yer went our to taken our FUCKIN FUD YA PESSUFSHET?! IM GUNNA FUCKIN KILL YA DED LITTLE CACKROACH

Jimmy knew this would happen. Aunt Mary had been acting like that since the

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He had left the room long before she finished. He had run to the garden, knowing they wouldn't look for him there.

Out of breath, he closed the garden door and sat, his back against the wall. He closed his eyes. How is he gonna deal with this? They will find him eventually. It's gonna happen again. He's going to—

— "...zzzzzzz..."

Jimmy jolted up and let out a shout before realizing what happened. Leary'Ma was, once again, sleeping in the garden. And his shout—

The window on the door behind him broke into a thousand pieces.

— "CAM HEER LETTLE PESSUFSHIT GUNNA KILL YE!"

There was only one thing to do. For the first time in his life, Jimmy ran through the grass. The same tall grass he had always been terrified of.

He whimpered in pain as he ran through. The plants were rough and kept scratching his skin off. His arms, his legs, even his face, were bleeding from all corners.

He emerged out of the grass so fast he didn't see the metal structure in front of him.

The broken table hit him straight in the stomach.

Pain overtook his entire body. His eyes and mouth were wide opened. Time froze. Everything was pain. In slow motion, he fell on his knees, then lay on his face, unable to control his body anymore. His open wounds were burning, and his stomach was screaming in pain. He could barely breathe. His eyes teared up as his body convulsed with the pain. He cried. Everything hurt. Aunt Mary was going to find him. That was the end of Jimmy. He was gonna die in this house. Alone. Everything was lost.

— "Everything is lost."

Saying it out loud did something.

— "Everything is lost. Everything is lost. Everything...I...I've lost everything."

It was as if saying it shattered something and made the fact more...real. As he was going through this process, he suddenly remembered what to do.

Jimmy closed his eyes. That's right. He had to be brave. He knew how to be brave. Eyes closed, he counted to 10. While still throbbing, the pain didn't feel so bad after all. Aunt Mary, the loneliness, the loss, he could deal with all of it. In his own way, he had been dealing with it for years. He knew how to be brave. He knew how to be—

— "A hero."

No. That wasn't quite right. It was more like...

— "A hero."