I slide into the old, crooked house, trying to be as quiet as possible.
I make it through the hallway, the kitchen, and even past the living room unnoticed.
My plan quickly fails, though.
"Son," his voice is shaky, yet so violent, "is that you?"
I try to ignore him, even though it would just be a fuel to his ceaseless anger.
My foot barely hits the stairs that lead up to my bedroom when a hand grasps my hair and yanks me back.
"Where do you think you're going, boy?" His mouth comes close to my ear, and I shiver at his foul breath.
"I have to study." I manage to utter.
His other hand grips the front of my crumpled, white t-shirt.
"I thought I raised you better."
My body is shoved into the corner shelf. A picture frame falls and shatters.
His feet accidentally brush a heap of black fabric on the floor.
My backpack.
"Let's see what you're hiding from me," he practically growls.
Most kids hide their drug addictions or alcohol from their parents. Not me.
Suddenly, his face is a dark red.
"I thought I told you to stop with this garbage, you good for nothing, useless boy."
He doesn't even let his hand run across the brown leather cover before ripping it in half. He tears pages out incessantly with no thought of admiring the words on them. He yells while torn pieces of paper swirl in the air.
"Please stop."
My voice cracks and I feel weak.
"You are not some little Romeo freak writing love letters and gooey crap every time I turn my back. You are a man." He points his trembling finger at me. "You are a man, and you are not throwing your life away."
I fall to the ground, gathering up the pieces that look big enough to put back together.
"Why don't you understand?" His face comes close to mine.
I peer up at him. The black ink on the pages I hold seems to rush through my veins until a sense of bravery fills me up whole.
"I am not wasting my life, Father."
I spit the words right back into his dark, cold eyes.
"Oh, so you think since you can put some words on a sheet of notebook paper, you're automatically better than me?"
His strong arms lift me off of the floor.
"I never-"
"You think you're just so special don't you?"
"I never said that."
But my mumbles didn't come out in time.
His fist connects with my jawbone.
"Well, guess what?" He hits me again, and I can already feel the bruises forming. "You're not."
"You should be out hooking up with girls." He shoves me against the fridge. I'm not even sure how we got back in the kitchen.
"You think girls like that trash?" The stove is the next thing my back touches.
"You should be making a name for yourself." Another punch.
"You're nothing."
I feel myself being propelled into the air, but it's almost like I feel nothing at all.
Then, I am falling.
The sensation reminds me of a nail being hammered into a block of wood. Only now, the wood is my head and the nail is the corner of the stove.
Physical pains rush through my body, mixing between peace and agony, until I can feel all of my emotions slip away.
Pieces of myself escape through the cracks of my carcass until there is almost nothing left.
At the last shred of myself, I open my eyes.
Something red- blood I'm sure- surrounds me.
I think of the time I slipped and fell in a puddle of my own ice-cream at the park when I was six. I was less concerned with the stickiness that covered my clothes, and more sad about the fact I didn't even get to taste my birthday cake cone.
I cried for the longest time until my mom reached down and picked me up, uncaring about the fact that her clothes were now covered in a gooey mess too. She kissed my forehead and went back and bought me two ice-cream cones. Dad was mad because it was a waste of money, but she shrugged it off, laughed, and wiped her own mint ice-cream on the tip of my nose.
I wonder where she is now.
The smell of iron is strong.
I let my eyes shut again, too tired to think anymore.
His voice is distant. His footsteps are now just a echo.
She is still nowhere to be found.
I am alone,
and it feels okay.
This is when a new world flashes before my eyes.
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this sounds so roughly written to me lolol
(i forgot to post last saturday so here you go.)
this is the end.
there may be an epilogue coming up.
hope you've enjoyed !!
