Falling Back #wattys2017

Chapter Ten

The next morning, I woke up late because it was a Saturday. Today happened to be my dad's birthday and this was supposed to be a joyous occasion. But I couldn't stop thinking about whathappened last night.

Mike and I were sitting on the porch step of the orphanage last night. The crickets were chirping loudly and the porch was a huge light comparing to the darkness. And then, Mike shocked me when he said

"I was a victim of child abuse"

At that moment, I didn't know what to think. I felt like that was just too bad to be true. Did Mike really just say that?

"Are you serious?" I asked

"You think I would lie about something like that?" asked Mike "When I was a little boy, my birth mom abused my birth dad. I would have to watch her whip my dad and kick him. I was just a little boy, watching the father I loved so much be abused by my mom. It was scary. When I was seven, my dad died because the pain was so bad"

"That's horrible" I said "I'm so sorry"

"It gets worse. Once my dad died, my mom started abusing me. For three years, she would hit me with a whip and kick me, just like she did to my dad. It was very painful and I have many scars because of her"

Then, Mike pulled up his sweatshirt sleeve and I saw a huge ten inch scar on his left arm that was in a straight line.

"That was from your mom?" I asked

Mike shook his head sullenly. I felt so awful. I would never think that Mike's life was this bad. I thought that he was going through a divorce or something but this? This is a hundred times worse. How could any woman be so cruel that they would abuse their family? The thought was so sickening and scary. And yet, Mike went through it.

"There would be some times when my mom wouldn't feed me for several days because she was too overdosed by drugs. Finally when I was eleven years old, a neighbor reported everything to social services and they put me in this orphanage. I was here for six years"

I felt so bad for Mike. It's not right that a kid had to experience all that abuse growing up. He deserved to have a nice family and a normal childhood. No wonder why Mike was always depressed all the time. Any person would be like that if they were abused that badly. It must have been so painful, I didn't even know what to think.

"Mike, I-"

"You don't need to bother" interrupted Mike "I'm fine now. Penny is like a mother and Aaron, Lola, Bob, and Kit, there orphans too. Even though it's like a family, it doesn't feel permit because my biggest fear is that someone will adopt me"

"Why would that be a problem?"

"Because, I don't want a family. I just want to wait until I'm eighteen so that I could have my own life" said Mike "Penny has really been there for me though. She helped me and took care of me. However, she's not my permanent mother. I wish she was"

So on top of Mike having an awful childhood, he also has to worry about being adopted?! I felt so awful for him. I could understand why Mike didn't want to go into a new home. It would be awkward at his age and he probably feels like he can't even trust a new family.

"I know you probably think that you don't want to hang out with a guy who has a horrible past and-"

I interrupted Mikes rambling by pulling him into a tight hug. He didn't expect the hug but I hugged him tight and cried on his shoulder. The story was so sad that even I couldn't help but cry hysterically.

I didn't know what to say that could make things better but I guess a hug was a good start. After the hug ended, I held onto his shoulders and told him "I'm so sorry, I don't know what to do to make things better but I do care about you and you could always cry on my shoulder"