Speak & Listen

SERENITY IN WAR

SERENITY IN WAR...

To be quite honest, I could feel from the tension in, from bone to marrow, that this was the part of the story when the protagonist's life began falling apart. I was now thee protagonist of my story, who began as a naive boy who didn't understand his very own mind, who felt isolated from his own mind and body. Now I feel the burden of being human, the burden of sweat and sensation, the heaviness of my skin.

Now, everything wasn't a secret. I had spent my entire summer vacation in conflict with my abuser who happened to be my mother, Cynthia. Then, after her disappearances and relapses, a man who I considered to be a loyal, loving man took me in. An acrimonious man who had a fire set, ready to burn me in it as he rejected me because of his insecurities after killing a boy we all wanted dead. Before that, I was a witness in the death of five victims from my school who four of them were my well-known rapists.

I, later on, was first-hand responsible for the death of my fifth rapist, Niall Johnson who happened to be the half-brother of who I considered being not just a friend, but an embodiment of my father...Gabriel Greene. The Judas of the story, who sold the protagonist for financial benefit. Understandably, I would have done the same as well if it was an attempt to escape excessive abuse from Cynthia.

After thinking everything is over when dad took me in, more secrets unravelled. Things got more complicated when Alejandro finally told him that the man who helped him escape Egypt was Charles Greene, who he worked for for months. The story was still true, that he was homeless before being found by David. However, the money he stole from Gabriel's father didn't last him for up to 22 years from 16 years of age. By 20, he lived on the streets of Alex and apparently stole purses or wallets to survive, sometimes he involved himself in hacking jobs as a discreet incognito on the internet to help other people steal money so he could be paid money.

When David found him, Alejandro Mostafa, he worked for him when it came to highly sophisticated technological stuff which involves hacking and other various online illicit methods of getting money. David does not feel at all apologetic for this, for she managed to maintain financial balance and best quality of life intended for his then-wife and son. I have to admit, I was not mad at him for the kind of business he and Alejandro were involved in. Maybe I had lost the ability to be shocked or astonished by any news concerning illicitness and crime. Besides, even if Cynthia was to kick me out, I would have lived comfortably in a private motel for a while til I get a job. I had a car too that David bought for me, and not Cynthia.

Alejandro was most of the summer in and out of the house, as David's tail and trail of footsteps. He followed where Dad went. The shy character he had at first was a facade to me commanded by my father until I understand the whole story. Yup, it's fucked up as it sounds.

I was always left with Gabriel in the house, who made sure I did not exit the house. This was a few days after Benjamin's death and everyone thought I was crazy, except Alejandro Mostafa and David, my father. My friends, on the other hand, Gabriel included, was instructed to make sure I do not leave the house. They were planning something David had promised to tell me about once verified and through; it had something to do with diverging attention away from me but to someone else, who I still am not informed about. Between Walter from Bellington, who I knew, and Sophia...I couldn't guess otherwise.

My father now HATED Sophia the more Alejandro informed him about everything. All I knew, which opinionatedly was nothing more than stupidity, was that she was back with Matthew, the unhygienic bastard who not only cheated on her for a less obese woman but embarrassed her in front of Ryan Hunter, involving her in a dangerous world of crime and later on, throwing her away like a used condom. I was there. I saw the misery and heartbreak and the apathy she had.