Till Death Do Us Part

The Next Move

"It's because of my mom."

A woman in her mid 30's burst through the door, causing our necks to shoot in that direction, and I jumped to my feet. Parts of her clothing were slung over her body, or half-way on, almost as if she was about to take them off, but quit. She reeked of alcohol. It was all over her breathe, and clothing causing the room to reek what she smelled like.

"Who the hell is this?" His mom asked as if my presence was the reason her life was a mess. "She's just a friend mom." He said. She began to stagger her way towards me, but Kim jumped in between us. "Leave her alone! She has nothing to do with you!" Kim said defensively. The woman looked stunned as if he never stood up against her, because I don't think he has.

"Oh where has this Kim been at?" She laughed in disbelief. "Okay since you think you're so big, and bad fight me Kim." She began to push him, taunt him, anything that would get a reaction out of him, but nothing worked. He stayed calm, and never retaliated her actions. "No. I'm not going to hurt you, but most of all I'm not stooping to your level."

The woman took off the rest of her jacket, and put two fist in front of her like she was in a boxing ring. But something caught my eye when her jacket hit the floor. A card fell out, and landed next to her jacket. It looked very familiar, and I stared down trying to figure out where in the world I have seen this card.

And like a light switch in a dark room, it hit me. That was my parent's business card. I stared back at the woman with a completely different look. Fueled by anger, she pushed Kim to ground, and stared daggers at me, a look my father would have appreciated. "Don't stare at me with pity!" She struck me across the face so hard, I fell to the ground.

My face started to throb, and tears came to my eyes, not only from the pain, but I began to think about the meeting with my mom. Everything she said, everything I said replayed in my mind so clearly. That guiltiness, sadness,.. pain was replaced with another wave of sadness, that felt like it was physically keeping me to the ground. Kim rushed to my side, and placed a hand on my back.

"Seo Yeon are you okay?" I didn't respond, but I put my hands on the floor, and lifted my upper body, so it looked like my upper body was in a push up position. "Useless." The woman said. "What is wrong with you?!" Kim yelled at her. I put my hand on his shoulder, and said. "It's okay Kim." I slowly began to stand to my feet, with the help of Kim, so I could stare her right in the eyes.

"I wonder how many times you have told yourself that?" I said with nothing but pity in my eyes, and voice. I can tell this resonated with her, but most of all it bothered her. It bothered her that I, a child was guessing how she felt, and was right. "You brat!" She raised a hand to strike me again, but I quickly grabbed it blocking her hit.

"Let go of me brat!" She struggled against my restraints, and tried to free herself, but failed each time.

I stared her deep in the eyes, and as if her deepest feeling were being displayed on her eyes I began to recite them. "Pain. Betrayal. Worthless. Useless. Nothing. Trapped." Each word I said caused tears to fill her eyes more and more, and eventually her hand became limb in my grip. "You have to stop." I let go of her wrist, and she covered her mouth with both hands to prevent loud sobs escaping her mouth.

She slid down on the floor, and little sobs turned into big ones. All that pain she kept hidden in those bottles were finally being displayed in front of us. I sighed as if I came home from a long day at work, and I headed outside, with Kim right behind me. Outside we still could hear the emotional mom inside.  "I am so sorry about all of this Seo Yeon. I didn't mean for things to turn out the way they did, and I wish I could change-."