Colourblind

Pink/grey teapots

Screaming. The sound of ceramic shattering. Crying. And then silence.

That was usually how it was in Caine's family, his mother screaming and sobbing whilst his dad went round their small flat, smashing all the plates and ornaments in it. That was when he crept out of his room and into the attic with Jay. Poor Jay, he was too young to understand why their mum and dad were always fighting.

As usual, Caine scooped Jay off the ground and placed him on top of one of the empty boxes that remained in the attic. He flipped a switch and soft yellow beams poured over them both. Luckily, Jay's slight frame managed to stay on the boxes without them caving inwards. Caine sat down on the ancient coffee table and watched his little brother.

"Caine, look!" Jay tugged on his brother's sleeve. "Car!"
He ran the small red truck along the length of Caine's arm and across the flowery cover of the coffee table.

"C'mon, bug, go sit down and wait, alright?" Caine chuckled as Jay frowned at his old nickname. No one called him that since he was very small.

"Caine why are mummy and daddy shouting again?"

"Huh? Oh, because mummy does bad stuff and lies to daddy which makes him angry." Caine glanced at Jay's innocent, wide eyed expression, and added; "But daddy shouldn't get angry like that, either."

"Ok. Will daddy kill mummy?"

"Jay... no. Don't say that, alright?" Caine mumbled. He picked up an old, pink teapot and examined it closely whilst trying to drown out the rough voices, penetrating the silence of the attic. It was a grey/pink colour that didn't quite match the rest of the set.

Jay's red car rolled across the table, picking up dust. He pushed it more slowly than before.

"Caine, I don't like it when daddy breaks stuff." Jay mumbled.

Caine sighed and climbed over the boxes to the tiny, grimy window. He didn't know what he was supposed to say to that.

That's the problem with kids, Caine thought, they ask the question that you've been avoiding asking yourself.

Jay tottered over to Caine, stumbling on one of the boxes. Caine watched in horror as he lost his balance and came crashing down to the ground, bringing several boxes with him.
When the dust cleared, Caine ran over to Jay and thank god, he was alright. But he pricked his ears in case their parents had heard too. All he could hear was his mother's sobbing.

And then his Dad roared.

Caine heard him first, thundering up the wooden staircase with enough force to break a hole through the planks. Then, he grabbed Jay and tucked him behind the mountain of boxes, accidentally brushing past them which caused them to teeter on edge, precariously.

Caine placed a finger over Jay's quivering lips and slipped back in view. This time he didn't care if he got beat up black and blue, he had to get Jay out of this hell-hole.  As Caine stood silently, he glimpsed his father between the cracks in the floorboards, struggling with a ladder to the attic.

After much huffing and a lot more swearing, Caine's dad made a dusty appearance. He looked Caine's skinny frame up and down, sizing him up, and sneered.

"Think you're so tough, huh?" Caine drawled. "Look at yourself; ugly, old. Not really something people would take as a wife-beater."

"You fucking pussy," His dad spat, venomously. "It's her own fault, she makes me so fucking angry and now she's putting words in your mouth. I will put you in your place like your mother." He ended this by stabbing a finger at the ground.

"I would kill myself if I were ever you. How easy is it to slam your fucking fist into my mothers face? Easy? Go fuck yourself, cunt.

His dad sneered again;" where's your helpless little brother gone? Hiding again. Just like I thought."

"You fucking inbred."

His dad's face twisted in fury as he lunged for Caine. Dodging his dad, Caine desperately scanned the attic for some sort of a weapon to defend himself and Jay. His eyes landed on the disgusting pink and grey teapot.

Caine was jolted towards it, after his dad's fist narrowly missed his face, unfortunately hitting his shoulder. Caine aimed a kick at his dad's crotch and he went down almost at once.

Grabbing the horrible pot, Caine smashed it against the coffee table, to shards of ceramic flew everywhere. He ran at his dad and brought it down onto his head. Caine's dad spluttered as blood seeped through his fingers. Once again, he made a grab for Caine, this time latching onto his neck. Caine heard his mother gasp as she ran upstairs to discover the scene.

"Get off him! Get off him!" She screamed, grabbing his fathers neck instead. Caine tried to tell his mother to get Jay and run, but he could feel himself slowly losing consciousness. His dad had a malicious grin plastered onto his face, as he watched Caine's face turn blue.

Finally, his mother realised she was doing no good, and scratched at his dad's hands, ripping the skin. His grip slacked and Caine gulped down mouthfuls of air, running his throat.

"Jay, run... Police..." He commanded.

Jay obeyed, and practically jumped down the ladder. His father slammed his pudgy fist into Caine's mums stomach. She doubled over and Caine threw the teapot at his back. Reaching into one of the boxes, Caine's mum withdrew a small black gun which she pointed at his dad, shakily cocking it. A gigantic arm restricted Caine from moving, thus he could not stop his mother.

"Put him down, Ben!" She demanded, motioning with the gun to put Caine aside.

His father did nothing, as Caine struggled against him, his face going a deeper shade of purple than before.

"Or what? You'll shoot me?" He sneered. "Everyone knows you're too fucking weak to do that. I'm all you have!"

"No... You're nothing to me. Nothing." She spat. His dad's face drained of colour, as though someone had pulled a plug inside of him, as he realised she meant it this time.

"All these fucking years I've put up with you. Just about tolerated you. But I have to do what I have to do to protect my fucking sons, Ben." She said, her voice quivering. "See you in hell, you cunt faced shit."

Caine, realising what was about to happen, squeezed his eyes shut. 
BANG.

Immediately, his fathers grip slackened with a howl, that was cut off by a sharp and slightly sickening crunch. Something wet splattered Caine's face, as he heard a thump beside him.

Silence seeped into the dusty attic, as Caine clutched his throat. He refused to look at the scene that lay before him. Instead, he cracked an eye open at his mother, not wanting to believe this had just happened.

Her bottle green eyes sparkled manically at him, the gun still raised.

"You...killed him..."Caine stuttered. His body started to shake.

"Caine, you're such a good boy. So handsome... You get it off your grandfather..." His mother  giggled. "Look after Jay for me, tell him I love him." She held the gun under her jaw, Caine felt his knees collapse as he attempted to lurch forwards.

"Mum...no, please."

"Be safe." She whispered, blowing him a kiss.

And then she pulled the trigger.

==============================