♰ᕈᒪᗩﬡTᓰﬡᘐ ᔕᙓᙓᖙᔕ

Broken Glass and Broken Hearts

As I was heading back to my car, I suddenly felt extremely tired. Maybe when I get home I'll take a nap.

I got in the drivers seat and drove towards the elementary parking lot. Once I pulled in, I got out and walked to the front doors. Hayes wasn't there yet so I leaned against the wall and watched the rest of the children getting picked up by their own parents. I enjoyed watching them. The children excited to go home, showing large smiles at their mothers and fathers. The parents taking their child's hand in theirs, holding the precious fingers tightly. As if they would never let go. They all seemed to joyful. I remember when father would pick me up everyday from school right after his work to get home early. He'd have his suit on and pick me up thrillingly, both of us excited to get home and see mother and Hayes. I miss seeing this. Nowadays father is terrified to come home because he hates seeing mother being hateful and he tries to avoid conflicts with her in front of me and Hayes.

I smiled as I turned my head and saw Hayes opening the heavy door with the help of his friend Damien. He looked at me and smiled showing a toothless smile.
"Hello Adrian," Damien said sweetly.
"Hello! How was school today??" I asked in return.
"It was great. We had a magician come to school today and look what he gave me!" He shoved what looked like a magician hat in my face. He looked so proud of it, it was so adorable.
"Wow that's really special you know? I'm sure you could pull a rabbit out of it if you tried." I told him teasing. He laughed and put it on top of his head covered with wild red hair. I looked down at Hayes who was just looking at the ground playing with a pebble with his foot. Was he still upset about this morning?
"What did you think about it bud? Was it cool?" I asked him patting his head.
"Yeah it was okay," he answered still looking down.
"He's been a little quiet all day today," Damien whispered. Damien's older brother suddenly popped up and waved at me and took him to his car. It was just me and Hayes left. I bent down in front of him and put my hands on his shoulders. "How about we stop by the gas station and I can get you snack?" I asked him with enthusiasm. He was silent. "I'll buy you whatever you want...," I added grinning. He looked up at me and gave me an approving smile. There's the Hayes I know.
"Alright let's go!" We ran to the car and took off towards the nearest gas station. When we got there, I unbuckled his seatbelt and we walked into the building together. "How about you take a look at the candy aisle while I use the restroom quickly," I told him and skidded to the girls restroom.

When I was finished I walked back out and adjusted my skirt. I saw Hayes pacing the aisles silently choosing wisely on what to get. He takes these kind of choices seriously. He ended up getting a bag of his favorite chips, a box of M&Ms, and a bottle of cherry soda. He carried all of the snacks himself and placed them on top of the counter that he could barely reach. I chuckled at the sight. I payed for the food and we left.

After the long drive home we were both tired. We didn't get much sleep last night. We got out of the car and I helped him carry his stuff. He hopped up the stairs to the porch and he suddenly stopped at the top. He was looking straight forward and he didn't move a muscle. I looked up to see what he was looking at and it was mother, rocking back and forth lazily in a rocking chair. She was drinking a large bottle of whiskey. "This is going to be a fun night," I thought to myself sarcastically.

She stopped rocking and looked at us as if we were prey. She looked awful. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair looked ratty, and she was dressed in dirty jeans with a holy T-shirt.
"H-hello mother," I bowed at her nervously. Hayes just hid behind my legs and looked the other way.
She took a swig of the whiskey and looked up at the orange sky.
"Uhh aren't you cold mom? You want me to bring you out a jacket?" I asked her trying to break the awkwardness. She continued to look up at the sky.
She suddenly sighed dramatically.
"Ever think to yourself that you could just live in a perfect place? A place where absolutely no people live. It's just you. And you can do whatever you want. Live wherever you want. Eat whatever you want. Sleep whenever you want." She quickly took another drink of her whiskey. She slowly lowered her head down and looked at us with a questioning look. I stared at her blankly. She narrowed her eyes toward the snacks I held.
"Did you buy those for Hayes?" she asked abruptly. I nodded my head.
"You know he's not supposed to have food like that!" she said with a stern look on her face.
"I-I'm sorry mom. He had a bad day at school. I just wanted to cheer him up," I told her trying to keep my voice calm.
"Because I slapped that little brat!?" She screamed now looking at terrified Hayes. I hesitated before I shook my head yes. I'm afraid now. I just want to go inside and lock myself in my room.
"Oh so now I'm the bad guy??" She said standing up now. She swayed dizzily.
"Mother listen. I think you need to put down the bottle and relax for a while," I told her trying to approach her. But she backed away and stomped back inside the house, cursing out load. I turned around and looked at Hayes. He gulped and I carried him inside. I ran up the stairs and I locked Hayes and I safely in my room. I sighed and weakly smiled at him. "She'll get over it," I told him reassuringly. "How about I turn on a movie and we can eat the snacks together?" I asked him trying to get thoughts of mother out of his brain.
"Yeah let's do it!" He happily answered.
So I lined up the snacks on my coffee table and then turned on Netflix. I played a Disney movie and hopped up on the bed. I grabbed little Hayes from behind and placed him on top of my lap. I kissed the top of his head and held him tightly. He leaned back against my chest. He seemed relieved that mother was out of the way for a little bit and it was just me and him now.

We both ended up falling asleep in the middle of the movie. When I woke up it was already starting to get dark. I looked at my watch and it was already 7:00. Geez we slept for three hours straight. I shook Hayes and he sat up from his position on my chest. His eyes were still closed. He started to make zombie noises. "Arggg me too tired. Need more sleep," he said roughly like a corpse would. I played along and placed my hands on his head. "Ehhh me too hungry. Need brains!" I exclaimed shaking his head as he laughed at me. All of a sudden I heard the front door from downstairs open and close. I got up from the bed and peeked outside my bedroom door. It was father! He came home earlier than usual. I ran down the wooden steps and Hayes was following behind me. I ran up to him and gave him a warm hug. He smelled fresh, wearing the same working suit as he did when I was younger. Hayes joined in on the group hug and we all giggled.
"Hey buddy! How was your day at school?" He asked eagerly. I looked up at him. He was smiling so big. His perfect pearly white teeth shining at us. There's the daddy I know. The one who never fails to make us happy again. Every time I see his handsome face, my moods lightens up by 100%. He makes me feel at ease.

He picked up Hayes from the ground and kissed his face all over. Hayes was annoyed and messed up his light brown wavy hair. Father pouted at him and pinched his nose. "Ah stop it please! I can't breathe!" Hayes yelped and father stopped, laughing and pointed his slender finger at his now reddened nose. He put Hayes down and winked at me. "I'm really sorry about this morning Adrian. It must've been hard for you two. Father looked down but then I lifted his chin up and told him that I forgave him. We never usually have moments like these anymore. I'm glad he came home early. He probably feels really bad about this morning. Ah I feel sorry for him.
Suddenly mother walked in and dads beautiful smile vanished. "Oh hello dear," he bowed at mother and tried to steal a kiss. But she pushed him away and frowned at him. He rubbed the back of his head and rushed past me and Hayes and went to the kitchen.

Me and Hayes went into the living room and turned on the television. I picked up a stack of cards on the little table in front of us and asked Hayes if he wanted to play Go Fish with me. He nodded his head and we starting playing.

A few minutes later father came over to us quietly making sure mother wasn't around. "I found this on the kitchen table," he held up the empty whiskey bottle. I gulped thinking of what father might do, knowing that she had drank that whole thing. She must be completely drunk! He looked at us furiously. "Did you see her drinking this whole thing?" We both nodded together and father set it down on the table and rubbed his head. He looked so stressed. I knew what he was thinking. He had to lecture her about it and that would cause an epic fight. He knows it's going to last all night. Speak of the devil, mother came walking in looking dizzy. She looked as if she would fall over in any moment. She took a seat at the counter and put her head down. Father cautiously approaches her and set the bottle down in front of her. She looked up at it and turned to him. Her eyes were full of hatred. Then out of nowhere she punched his face so hard, that he fell back against the wall. He groaned in pain while he wiped off the blood that was coming out of his lip. He stood up straight and firm. He looked at mother fiercely in the eyes.
"Jane what is wrong with you! Why are you like this? Where is the Jane I used to know. The sweet and innocent Jane that I loved since high school. The one who stole my heart. Huh? And who is this person who replaced the fragile flower I used to know. Replaced by something repulsive and just so...so evil!?" His eyes started to well up. He tried to hold in his tears. She was speechless.
"Please Jane, please just tell me why you are doing these things and trying to hurt your loved ones. You are scaring our children. And you're even starting to scare me. Now I know the real Jane is still there. I know you still have that passionate heart and kind soul that we love. Honey, I think you need some time to relax and just put down the dang alcohol for once! And realize what you are doing is horrific and it needs to stop now." I could tell she did not like this at all. She didn't speak. What she did next was unbelievable. She took the empty whiskey bottle from the counter and threw it as hard as she could at the wall right next to where father was standing. Glass shattered all over him and the floor and cut him in some spots. I dropped my mouth and couldn't believe what she just did. I can't take it anymore. I've had enough. I took Hayes by the arm and I stomped up to my room furiously. I could feel tears starting to well up in my eyes, thinking about what I'm about to do. I never thought that I would have to do this but I can't accept this any longer. I've tried my hardest these past 5 years. I have tried to make things better. But I can't help. Not even father. It's time that I've called the cops...
I told Hayes to lock himself in his room and I did the same in my room. I didn't want to tell him that I was going to call the cops. Then I remembered my phone is still missing. So I started searching and searching and searching...