Silent Cry (BoyxBoy)

Fifteen

Sometimes, people are beautiful, not in how they look or from what they say; just in who they are. This was how Mitchell saw the woman Karla as she sat opposite him, telling him the story about how she became who she was. Mitchell was mesmerized, to say the least. He never thought he would ever meet someone whom he had so much in common with. It was intriguing.

Mitchell had never said a thing to anyone about the reason why he moved to Angel Falls. Of course, no one had asked either, well, with the exception of the woman who sat before him, and even if they had asked, he wouldn't have been able to say it. Mitchell had had enough of the pity stares that people gave him when he was at the home. He didn't want that here. Angel Falls was supposed to be a fresh start for him, as his therapist said. And it actually was. So he was definitely not going to ruin that by telling everyone why he was there.

The story of how Mitchell came to be who he was or where he was was not something to be tampered with. People who went through what Mitchell went through, always had to deal with pitiful stares from strangers even. After everything, Mitchell did not want to see himself as a victim. Of course, he was still going through the pain and heartbreak that his own father could do that to him. However, talking about it to a stranger no less, was not something he wanted to do. He wasn't about to relive the worst parts of his life.

***
It was raining. His father was not back from work yet. Knowing the kind of work that his father did, he wasn't surprised that he was late home again. For every other child his age, a father not being home for a few hours after work meant freedom. A father not being home a day when he should have been, meant freedom with a little worry. A father not being home after three days meant a little freedom and full blown worry. For him though, this meant absolute liberation. It was the best moment in his life.

Could he celebrate it though? No. Of course not. Doing that would probably jinx the only moment of emancipation the boy will ever have. So he stood in the living room and kept staring at the driveway through the window waiting for the man to get back. If anyone knew what went on behind those doors whenever the man was home, they would probably think the boy was a fool for doing this.

He could have run away, taken the train to a far away place, basically anywhere other than home but he knew it would be foolish to do so. If your father worked with the FBI, you probably wouldn't run away from him knowing he would find you in a matter of seconds.

He had learnt this the hard way as he had tried to do this before. So never again, the boy thought. He sighed as a black Toyota Yaris came into the driveway. He quickly went to the door and opened it so as to prevent the man from knocking and waiting.

It was then that he turned around and realized the mess he had made in the living room.

He had eaten cereal in the morning, and due to how hungry he was, the boy had finished everything in the box. He quickly run to the table and picked up the empty box of cereal. He only hoped that he would be able to throw it away before his father came in.

Just as he took a step towards the kitchen, the door handle jiggled. Quickly, the boy raised the sofa cushion with his tiny hand and stuffed the box under it before sitting on it to make it look as though it hadn't been tampered with. And just as quickly, he got down on his knees right there in front of the sofa once the door opened, dreading the face of the man who tormented him day in, day out.

"Welcome home, father" he whispered.

***

"I-I just wanted a ch-change of scenery," he mustered to Karla once he came back to reality. It wasn't a complete lie, because he did want that change of scenery. However, he just didn't elaborate on it. Karla only smiled at him though and began to tell him about when she moved into the town. She said that it was Angel Falls that made her who she was, and not just the serene atmosphere the town provided, but the loving people that also lived there.