Brandon
“Brandon, where is Mommy? I am scared and want Mom!” My little sister screamed.
I tried to comfort her by telling her Mommy will be home soon, but in reality, she won’t be home for a couple of days.
Among the baffled confusion, we could hear Dad in the living room yelling into his phone; I was unsure to whom he was speaking, but I assumed it was our mother.
Mom had left three days ago; it was late at night when she appeared to be gone. All I can remember is her and Dad screaming at eachother, “I need you to keep the kids for just one more weekend! It that really much to ask?” Screamed my Mother.
“I have had those damn things for two whole weeks!” Father blared.
Out of nowhere I heard my father vociferously tell my mother to shut the fuck up. Gabriela is too little to comprehend this type of situation, but we might not see our Mother for a while.
We heard Father slam the phone down on the coffee table in the other room, I could feel my heart beating in my chest; there was a subdued silence that fell over the house. I could have sworn that I heard the blood flowing through my veins. Gabriela looked up to me and said “What should we do?” I told her to stay in my room.
I left my door closed because I feared for our safety, but mainly hers. Our Father was seated on the couch facing opposite of me. He had his head in his hands sobbing; I approached him and asked him where mom was.
My Father lifted his head, and looked into my eyes with the weight of a thousand Suns hanging from his eyelids. “Son, your Mother is trying to take Gabriela and You away from the family.”
“But, Dad, I don’t understand.”He looked me dead center in the eyes and said, “Brandon, you will never even begin to fathom,” he said, “nor will you be able to compare my mistakes to yours because you will never experience such heartache and regret.”
I looked in my dads eyes and gave him a face of disgust. I didn’t know how he could be so selfish as to say that we will never go through as much heartache as him. It isn’t the most exciting when your parents are sitting here fighting over who gets to have you. The fighting isn’t because they want us, but because they both desire to get rid of us.
I had always been fond of my Mother. I had stood by her side many times more than I have my father’s; this is what divided my feelings for my Mother from my Father.
I decided that it was in mine and Gabriela’s best interest to disassociate ourselves with the situation. I lunged forward and grabbed the phone. Knowing my Father would not be understanding enough to let us leave, I grabbed the phone and ran into my room to grab Gabriela. I told her that we needed to go to Grandma’s house for a few days. Among the whirlwind of confusion, I heard my Father scream in his barely coherent voice, “Bring that phone back in here now you aggravating runt!” I pushed Gabriela into my mother’s room, followed her in and locked the door behind us.
I had already dialed my Grandmother’s phone number, she had heard all of the yelling that had transpired within our household. I started stuttering frantically trying to spit a complete sentence out. In between our Father’s screaming, Gabriela’s crying, and my sobbing; I was able to choke out that she needed to come pick us up from Dad’s house. At that point I heard the shattering of glass, and the phone went dead.
I knew exactly what had happened; our Father had thrown the phone dock out of the window. Unfortunately, Gabriela heard it too. She started screaming and wheezing. I ran to the other side of the room to grab her inhaler. She was having a panic attack; third time this week. It makes me sad to see my little sister wheezing not because of asthma, but because she was having a panic attack. She goes through so much for a 12-year-old.
It is sickening to witness such abuse that should not even be associated with ourselves. I helped Gabriela catch her breath and calmed her down “Breathe in, and breath out” I repeated. I knew that I needed to get us out of the household as fast as humanly possible. I grabbed Gabriela by the hand and said, “Don’t let go. No matter what happens, you don’t let go of my hand”. I could hear our Father hitting his fist on the door of my Mother’s room.
I had never been so uneasy in my life, I stared into Gabriela’s eyes and saw how scared she was. At that moment in my life, I knew the true person our Father was. I opened the door to my Father standing there, his fist was clenched shut, he peered me straight in the eyes and said “Where do you think you’re going, you runt?” Without an iota of regret, I shoved my father back into my room across the way; I picked Gabriela up in my arms, and ran.
I stepped outside to a brain staggering sight I saw our Grandmother standing outside of her car; beside her car was a police officer. She had called the police as she was driving to our house. Before I could disagree, I was told to get Gabriela into the car and leave. Without hesitation, both Gabriela and I rushed to our Grandmother’s car. As we approached the car, I heard a familiar sound. Our Father was coming out of our house wailing “ Once you’re gone, you are gone forever!”
The funny thing about that is, I wanted to be gone forever. I wanted to finally feel protected.; not just me, but Gabriela as well. She doesn’t deserve this. She deserves much better.
With all of my thoughts in order, I turned to Gabriela and said “Do not worry your mind, everything will be alright.” In her cute little 9-year-old voice, she turned to me and said, “Now, don’t you worry either Brandon.” This is what really makes me angry. Not the fact that I have a sweet little sister, but the fact that such a delightful little child has to go through this catastrophe.
