I wish really that I could touch further on the romances of my parents before they had me, but I didn't learn a whole lot about them. The last I remember of my parents' lives was more arguments, fighting over trivial matters. My dad has the usual comeback of bringing up my mom's rape and accusing her of enjoying it, my mom cries in a corner.
I remember this day so well, we'd been so happy. 7 am, I wake up to my parents chatting happily while they sing together and rearrange the furniture in the living room, what little our poverty-stricken home had. It was adorable thinking back on it, I loved it when they got along this way.
I was seven at the time, I stumbled out of my bedroom and peered over the small rail of the stairs down to the living room. My father looks up and waves at me, the view of his face being blocked by the light hanging from the ceiling. I walked down the stairs and got a look at his face, bruises, purple, two of them on his cheek. I looked up, "Daddy, what happened to your face?" He didn't reply, he just waved me off as if to say "Not now".
They went back to singing together, and I sat and played in the living room, toy cars and figurines were cool, but my favorite thing by far was a train set, I had it winding the room over the coffee table, and the sofa, around the bookshelf, I was occupied for only a short time
A man in red knocks on the front door, I watch my dad open it reluctantly, on his face some expression of genuine fear as he cracks the door and sees the face of the man on the other end. A man with short and stringy blonde hair, a large mustache matching him, and pale skin. He walks into the house, "Mr.Phoenix?" He asks, my dad nods. The man continues, "I have here a letter from King Anthony Laeik informing you of £1254 in unpaid taxes, you must sign at the bottom stating that you are aware of the letter contents, the amount you owe, that you've seen the letter and intend to pay it back within the next six months before you lose your job and home, good day" the man walks out, unphased by having to break such news to another man.
My dad turns around, I continue watching. My mom was angered, furious. She didn't speak but didn't take her eyes off of him. She didn't dare start yelling till he turned and spoke to defend himself, I never even heard his full sentence before my mom started screaming. "How could you do this? You said you had the bill covered!"
My mom tosses a cup of water over him, he storms upstairs to his office just trying to de-escalate the situation. He pushes the door against her as she runs upstairs and tries to push her way in. This is violent, yes, but more usually than you'd think. My mom finally gets in "I've never even seen the inside of this room, why do you always have to cower in here?" My dad whispers, "Please, not in front of Will" My mom ignores him, and from what I assumed the noise was, starts roaming his shelves and storage bins.
My dad says "Not the drawers!", but that only pushes my mother to look quicker. I stumble upstairs to the office and look around the corner. All the noise stops, she leans against a wall and throws something unrecognizable to me. A wooden, hand-crafted, well-painted, and carefully padded red mask with gold highlights, and patterns, on the left eye and right cheek.
She throws it to the ground, cracking s piece of the chin off of the mask. "How could you, you?" My dad stays silent, not a single muscle twitching or a facial expression being made. It was well known my dad was in the DamiansTown military for some time, but the man that killed my mum's dad? We had no idea.
The door is knocked on, and another man in red, this time just some kid. He didn't make a second thought busting in when I opened the door, the interaction he'd heard was enough, knowing now he'd been abusing my mom and that he participated in the killing that wiped out 4-5 citizens of Galveston, he had no hesitation in putting my father in cuffs. I screamed to the young man who brought my father out as he cried, the soldier trembling in horror at the state of the wrecked office. I screamed for him to let my dad go, but he walked out, feeling guilty.
He'd left me there for hours, then tried to take me. I had no idea what was going on, what all this meant for me and my family. My mom had killed herself shortly after, she'd hung in the hallway to my bedroom, but that wasn't before she tried to take my life. I had gone out the window to escape her, breaking my arm and fracturing a rib.
I sprint into the town ignoring my injuries, being stopped by my uncle, Mr.Wish. He asks "Kid, what the fuck are you doing out here on your own?" He pulls me inside, showing my cousin away while trying not to look horrified over my injuries. "Mum and Dad were fighting and, and then mum was crying, and a soldier took him away" He couldn't connect the dots from the little I knew, he just couldn't figure it out. "Let me talk to the base commander, we'll see what's going, on first, however, you need a doctor, William"
The doctors were uncomfortable, but more uncomfortable was seeing him crying and hearing that his little brother was gone forever. They had no idea where my mum was at the time, they hadn't discovered her body yet. Refusing to put me into foster care, my uncle Phillipe took me in despite his already-existing daughter, my cousin Ellian.
YOU ARE READING
The Phoenix-Book 1: Farforth Martyrdom
General FictionWilliam Phoenix is born into poverty but slowly makes his way up through the ranks of society. He has all he can dream of, the girl, the friends, the money. but it all begs the question, who are you with and without challenges in your life? and he f...
