If you’d ask about me around town, people would say I’m a tough guy. I get into fight, but win, never make me angry. I smoke and drink and like to party, I got some charms and girls dangle around me, none of them good enough to get home with. Even if I could.
Those people who would answer like this, are the ones I fooled. It’s the shield they see, not the real me. They think I got that bruise from a fight, but I never even stood up against the guy who planted his fist against my face. I smoke and drink to forget, not to be tough. And the girls, they are animals searching for a weak pray, they can sense it, I know.
Tonight Luke came by to play videogames, my dad was gone and I was home alone. Luke knew what happened with my parents, he’s been by my side when it all happened. Every time my parent fought, I went over to his place and we just played videogames until somewhat later and I would return. There were days I didn’t want to go back and stayed overnight.
One day I returned after another sudden sleepover at Luke’s and mom was gone. I found my father upstairs in my parent’s room with a bottle of whiskey. I wanted to know where mom was, but I didn’t dare to ask it, I could read if from his face, she was gone and wouldn’t return. As much as I hated hearing my parents yell and fight, I still didn’t want my mom to leave. She was my mom, with leaving my dad behind she left me behind too!
My dad noticed me in the door.
“She’s gone, kid.” He said as he looked at me with his teary eyes. “She run of with that filthy little bastard she met at work.” Anger was present in his voice. “They even been screwing around since then.” He growled.
“Dad, calm down.” I whispered.
“Didn’t you hear me?” He raised his voice and his teary eyes shot fire. “Your mother is a filthy whore.” With the last word he threw down the bottle against the wall, glass and liquor splashed all over the room. I ran away, because I’d never been this afraid of my own dad. It was like my dad was replaced by a demon I didn’t know. Once we would go get outside and built tree houses, but that was before my parents fought.
After an evening of playing videogames with Luke, he went home and I was just finishing my game. I preferred to avoid my dad, so I hurried. I usually wanted to be in bed at the time my dad came home. This way he wouldn’t see me, when I was out of sight everything remained quiet. That’s the reason I liked to stay away from home. When my dad is drunk and I’m still here, my dad turns into that demon I saw those years ago. The one in my dad’s bedroom with the bottle of whiskey. I wonder if I’d ever get to see my real father again.
I only have a few meters to go until the finishing point when I hear the backdoor slam shut. I was too late. I wish I got upstairs when Luke left, I would have avoided my dad. I heard him stumbling across the kitchen and into the living room, he clearly drunk more than he could handle.
“Hey, kid. Still not sleeping, it’s long over your bed time.” He let out a short chuckle and smacked the back of my head as some kind of greeting. As he did, I felt glass hit my head and knew he got his alcohol home. I decided it was best just to stay low, not to be tricked by his kind talking.
“Doing this bullshit again.” He said waving to the TV with the brown bottle and finishing his move with the bottle against his mouth. Still I didn’t react, it wasn’t like he wanted me to say anything.
“So, I heard some news about your mother.” He continued. All of an sudden he got my attention, news about my mom wouldn’t mean anything good to my dad, I braced myself. “That whore is going to marry that shitface from work.” He spit out and drunk the remaining content of the brown bottle. Still I didn’t response to anything he said, but deep down I was boiling. I hated my mother, too. Not for running away, but for leaving me behind. And now she was starting a new and better life, without me. I felt sick, I hated I had to hear about it this way. It wasn’t even my mom herself who announced it, it was one of the drunkards at the bar.
“But you know, I’ve got a nice surprise for her.” My father grinned, which means that surprise wouldn’t be nice or anything near nice. He grins when the most awful ideas come to mind, I braced myself. “You’re mothers gonna see some old friends. She probably just forgot to invite us to the wedding, so we invited ourselves.” He laughed out loud. “Buddy is gonna be there and Hank and Peter. We’re gonna show her how we’re used to be.” Is he serious? He is going to crash my mother’s wedding? I certainly didn’t like her, but that was going too far. My father’s friends are quite the tough guys and like drinking as much as my dad. I choose to be tactic.
“Just leave her be.” I mumbled. “She’s not worth your attention.” Like this I was still on my dad’s side, but refused the idea of trashing a wedding. I still didn’t make eye contact and focused on the TV.
“Your mother doesn’t deserve a beautiful wedding. They’re both rotten people, they deserve they wedding to be wrecked.” My father hissed at me.
“Please don’t just drag here back into our lives, we can do so much better without her.” I clearly lied. This house was empty and I had to feed myself for so many years. I just didn’t want my dad to bother my mom and most of it, I didn’t want my problems to go public.
That’s when I spotted the beer bottle nearing me from out of the corner of my eye. I was just able to dodged it and the bottle broke into pieces against the wall. When I looked up again my father was coming closer, I knew what was going to happen next. The demon had appeared.
Next day at school I’m the man. They see my black eye and hear the story I made up when I couldn’t sleep that night. I’ve got hit but won’t lose. Girls are all over me, they want to nurse the amazing guy who never loses a fight, but I lose every night. It’s the demon I want to fight, not the man he possesses. People in this school are blind, the see my walls, not me. They think I enjoy being in high school and being popular, but all I want to do is leave this place and help my father from that demon who possesses him.
