30 Days To Paradise // COMPLETED

Day 07

                Today is the last day of exams and I'm so excited for this shit to be over. I can finally have some sleep. And later, we will be meeting Joe, the mayor and Josh's father. Josh already informed him about what had happened and saying that he is angry is an understatement.

Josh told me that his father almost broke his grandma's antique vase because of what my parents said to Josh and what they did to me. If what my dad was saying about Joe, about how corrupt he is, then maybe he is better than my father in some ways. Because that corrupt man that he is accusing is better at being a father than him.

"I know you'll do well, my love. See me after your exams then we'll head home." Josh's words send butterflies all over my body. We'll head home. Those words seemed to be so simple but so true. My house has always been just a house because of how dysfunctional we are, even how my parents pretended that we aren't. They've prioritize their church before their very own child which pretty much explains all these things.

I can remember that I was with a nanny most of my life because my parents were too busy at church to take care of me. I would only appear on Sunday service or church functions as if I'm a trophy to whatever competition my parents are playing.

Soon I realized that I'm on my own and that they, these people who call themselves my parents, are just egg and sperm donor to my biological existence. Then when the nanny got married, the beatings started. First it was just a harmless kick, and then it turned into a slap then a full-blown abuse. My mother was just looking throughout as if a spectator for all the show. I never dared to ask for help since I know they can cover well. And who would believe that a pastor and his wife are beating their only child? no one. And so that's where the silence came in for I learned that it's the best thing to do.

It was my first time to see Sophia crying, not because of Josh's misbehavior or infidelity from her husband. It was because of me. I made Sophia cry. When we went to Josh's house to ask for help, I also showed them the bruises, which sent the poor Sophia into a series of evident sobs. My heart aches for her and for me too, that for the first time in years, I felt how to be cared for by a mother.

Joe then preceded into his office, frantic as he can be, making calls. I was more than nervous. This is me breaking my silence, reporting the guilty and acknowledging the truth that I've been abused physically. Then there is was, it's like the weight off my shoulder has been lifted. Like my body just ascended from a deep slumber, like waking up from a long awful nightmare.

Before I knew it, I was crying, like a madman. Josh rushed to my side and hugged me as if keeping me from falling apart, not that he knew he's keeping me together.

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