Unwanted

The Second Father

David was finally out of my room. Just then I received a text from my master. Karate Master or Shi Fu they call him.
Shifu: Hey we'll be having training at 8pm today . Will you be able to make it? Should I reschedule?
Me: It's ok. I can make it .
This was the other part of me. Ever since my parents took me out from school I decided to do my own things. And one of that was to fight. I needed to fight. Doesn't matter if it's Karate or kick boxing. I needed to know a way to fight. This was really for self protection. Cause no one else is going to protect me. I read an advertisement about the Karate guy recruiting students. So I joined. It's a pity to find out I was the only girl in the Neighbourhood of my age who joined the karate class. Everyone else was older than me. I mean like who would have time for Karate at my age. School and commitments, they must be really busy. Shi Fu conducts separate lessons for me as I'm the youngest. He is a very understanding master who definitely understands my parents don't care about me. This is what I've to tell him when I got to his lesson on the first day.
"I'm unwanted by my parents, so I can't pay you any amount. But I still want to learn karate.."
He smiled and accepted me still. I'm like his little Daughter. So there are two people in my life whom I don't want to leave behind. My brother and Shifu.

The only time my Brother would allow me to leave this house by myself was when I had to see Shifu. But I still had to inform him before I sneak out. By now I was so lazy to get up and walk all the way to my brother's room. It was all the way at the other end. So I decided to text him .
Me: Hey bro. Need to go for karate class at 8. Be back by 10. See ya. Xoxo
That's it. I took my mini black bag-pack. I stuffed my karate outfit and my special shoes inside. I lifted the window up and jumped out on the roof. Slowly I hopped onto the tree that was just beside the roof. And slowly I climbed down that tree. Before I walked away from my house I looked inside the kitchen window. Saw my Mom preparing some food. Looks like steak. Then I just continued walking to Shifu's place. My mom never prepares dinner,lunch or breakfast for me. She calls everyone down to eat, except me. Then when everyone is done eating she calls me down to eat whatever that's left over. At least better than letting me starve. My Brother knows this stuff always happen so he eats lesser so he could save more for me. I have to say that I have the best Brother in the whole universe. Well whenever I go over to Shifu's place David can eat more. Because Shifu was sure to feed me before I leave his house. He was really my daddy. There were so many times I wished I was born as Shifu's Daughter. I even asked him once if he could adopt me. He smiled and said ,"I would if you learn karate successfully." So that was sort of my current mission . To successfully learn Karate and get adopted by Shifu. Then I don't have to go through my parents torture anymore or be a burden to anyone. Except that I will miss my Brother a lot. Maybe he could visit me whenever he's free.
Now I'm here at the entrance of Shifu's house.
"Shifu I'm here, may I come in" I knocked on his door. He opened the door slowly accompanied by some squeaky noise of the door.
"Come in child".
Shifu's house was one of the old fashioned kind. It was clean and all but you can tell it is at least twenty years old. But I liked his house better than mine. Here I can be who I am. I have so much of freedom here. Shifu conducts my lessons during night time, as he has his other classes in the morning and the afternoon. I greet Shifu the usual way I do it. Fist clenched together or punched together and a small bow. And there I started the usual training. Stretching first then the real training starts.
"Hwahhhh... Hwahh... Hwah" every time I had to shout.
After one hour of training Shifu asked me to stop. It was dinner time.
Shifu offered me a bowl of rice and had some dim sum for me. I was so thankful for the food he had to offer. It was really good.
"Shifu I need a help from you.."
"What is it?" he gave me the puzzled look. I have never asked Shifu for any help before. So it must be a little shocking when I suddenly asked.
"Uhmm.. You know it's been like two years since I quit school.. So I was thinking of working somewhere.."
"Working.. Sounds good. But why suddenly after two years you have this thought?"
" Had it earlier..but didn't feel like it. My Brother is also leaving to New York for further studies.. So I need to feed myself and buy stuffs with my own money. I don't think I can ever ask my parents.."
"Wow David is going off.. Should visit him someday. Ok well I will check for you and text you.. Any special request ?"
"No Shifu, any job would do.. Any pay"
Shifu nodded his head. I washed my bowl and Mug. I thanked Shifu for his wonderful meal and did the usual greeting. He did it back and then I left.
Before going back home I checked the time. 9.30 pm. I still had half an hour before the time I promised my Brother I will be back home. So I decided to sit under a tree. I took out a book from my bag. Its title was,'Happy Family'. Pretty much opposite to my family. Every page I read in this book it only brought about tears in my eyes. I really wished I had good parents. I yearned for their love. It may seem like as though I may not care about them or am not bothered about how much they hate me. But the truth is I've just given up trying to please them. I've given up hoping that they would change some day. So much of hope I had but I gave up. When I was six my Brother went to the shopping centre with me to buy something for Mom. It was for Mother's Day. He told me to pick my own gift for her. So I picked for her a bunch of flowers and a thank you card. I wrote a little note for her, "Mommy I love you. Always have and always will."
My Brother gave her a tiny doll that said Thank You. He gave his present to her first. She was so happy about it and was bragging about how adorable it was. She hugged him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Then it was my turn. My mom was already annoyed the minute she saw my face. I gave her the gift and said "Happy Mother's Day".
She took the flowers and walked away. I was sort of happy. After walking for a bit she went to the rubbish bin and threw it away. In front of my eyes. Tears just poured from my eyes. I won't forget that day. Even for my dad I did the same thing. My dad just threw it to the side. I picked up the flowers and kept them with me. I wondered if it was any better than what my mom did. But the point is my presents were not valued. It's the same for both of them. I tried showing my love to them but they never cared a bit.

It was getting late by now. I had to get back home. I quickly picked up my bag and rushed back home. I opened the front door of my house and entered.
"Oh you're back. So how did training go today?" My brother asked me while grabbing some scoops of ice cream as dessert.
"It went fine.. Where's Mom and dad?"
"They went for some dance night."
"Ok I'm tired I'll go and sleep."
"Did you eat?"
"Yes. Goodnight Bro."
"Goodnight sis." He smiled.
I quickly rushed up to my room. Threw my bag at the side. I took a quick shower and just zoned off in bed.