The Reaper

Chapter 2: The Godmother

"Daryl?"

"Ugh..." I moan after waking from someone calling my name upstairs.

"Y'down here, hon?"

"Ah!" My face! This excruciating pain on the left side of my face!

"Daryl!" a woman shouts in shock once she finds me lying here on this concrete floor, running to me. "Oh, my goodness!"

"Pam?" I groan.

"Yes, baby, it's me! Come on, I need you to sit up! Let me get a good look at you!"

Pam is here...thank goodness...

"Hon, don't tell me your father did this to you! Jun-Seok..." Pam exhales furiously. "Okay, come on, get up. Let's head upstairs!"

Pam is not exactly a family – at least not by blood. For a well-fit African American woman with dreadlocks tied in a ponytail, how could she be? But she takes care of us like our second mother of a sort...a far better mother.

"Lay on the couch, hon, I'll go get an icepack!" she quickly says, running to the freezer and then comes back. "Put this on your face!"

"Ah...!"

"Oh – I'm sorry, hon, I know it hurts!" she tenderheartedly says, placing the icepack back on my face more gently. "There you go...now, Daryl, I need you to tell me...did your father train you too hard again?"

I tell Pam everything from when Dad yelled at us after we arrived from school to when he beat me up. And after putting as much detail into the story as I could, Pam is already looking very angry.

"...And your mother didn't even help you, did she?"

Must I answer this obvious question, Pam? No. And you sure look furious after knowing the answer without even telling you. And now, you're going to take your cell phone out from your purse, head outside, call them, and start arguing again.

"Wait here, hon. I'll be right back – and keep that icepack on."

...

Several minutes have gone by already, and I'm still sitting here with the ice pack on the side of my head while Pam is outside, arguing with Mom and Dad. However, I do not hear any shouting or frustrations from her, which is extremely weird because that's how they'd always do. And right now, it's just inside voices. Like, I can hear her talking to someone, but not in an arguing way –

Someone's coming downstairs. Lauren must be up and is heading this way.

"Oppa!" she loudly shrieks, running up to me, realizing that I'm hurt. "What happened?! Are you okay?!"

"I'm alright, Lauren," I mumble.

She asks concerningly, "Are you sure?!"

"Yes. I'm fine," I say, slightly irritated with her concern, "don't worry."

Somehow, that didn't convince her. She's running to the kitchen and pours a glass of milk, probably thinking it might help me feel better.

"Here, Oppa," she hands the cup to me.

"Thanks, Lauren," I mumble, sipping from the glass, "I feel better already." Even though I'm not. At least it makes Lauren feel relieved. She sits right next to me and turns on the TV.

Pam just finished her phone call and walked inside, "Oh – Lauren!"

"Pam!" Lauren happily shouts as she runs up and hugs her.

"Oh...hohoho...I missed you too, baby!"

"Are you going to stay here for a long time, Pam?" Lauren asks, being very hopeful.