The Limelight Lust

The Abused

The Abused

Kirby's PoV

Lia and I were taken aback when we saw the facade of Callie's shanty house. How could an angel live in such a place? It has no gate or at least a fence for security purposes. Their tiny house was made of cardboard and had a rusty roof. There was a broken glass window pane where you could peep through. We moved into this area just two months ago. Lia and I do not socialize with kids our age or play outside, so we didn't know this house existed in our neighborhood. Or is it even a house?

"Callie! Callie!"

We heard a deep baritone voice of a man shouting Callie's name repeatedly.

The three of us trembled in fear, especially Callie. I could see in her eyes how frightened she was. She quickly went inside and didn't look back to say goodbye.

"You worthless child! Where the freaking hell did you go? No rice, no food, no alcohol? fvck this damn house!"

We heard the man shouting in a rage. Lia squeezed my hand when she heard Callie scream. We were horrified and held our breath for a second. Callie was getting beaten. I removed Lia's hand from mine. I should step up and save Callie. But Lia pulled my forearm to stop me.

"No, Kirby," Lia said sadly. She's worried but also terrified.

I couldn't stand hearing the rage of that man and doing nothing. I knocked on the door despite my racing heartbeat.

"Kirby! I said 'no'--"

Lia and I fell silent as the door opened, showing a tall and hefty man with a serious face.

"What's the fuzz? What do you want, kid?"

"You--"

"Ah, we're lost, Sir. Sorry, just an honest mistake." Lia interrupted and hid me behind her back.

The man gave us a dreadful gaze. I swallowed to clear my throat. I was going to yell at him, but he shut the door. There was nothing that Lia and I could do, so we returned home with a heavy heart, hoping that Callie would be all right.

Lia wiped her tears when we got home. She felt sorry for Callie. If she hadn't invited her for a snack and karaoke, she wouldn't have been late. Her father would not be furious. But that's so sickening. Whose parents in their right mind would hurt their child?

Even at night, I'm still thinking of Callie. More than her pretty face and angelic voice, I'm more concerned about her welfare. I hope her parents treat her well. I went to sleep very late that night, so I woke up late the next day.

"Good morning, sleepy head." My mom greeted me when I saw her in the kitchen, busy preparing meals for our breakfast and packed lunch for school. It surprised me that Lia had already dressed up and was preparing another set of meals.