I walked into the classroom ignoring the hushed whispers,glares and distasteful remarks thrown my way, I got to my seat and sat down
waiting for class to begin.
The instructor entered and class started, halfway through the the lesson I drifted off to dream Land and the rest of the school day passed away in a blur .
As soon as the final Bell rang I immediately left school, I didn't have any friends ( not that I wanted any) , I was hated and in isolation for a reason I did not know about , I don't have any reason to stay back.
I made my way to an abandoned three story building a bit far from school in deserted area ;this building was my safe haven.
I walked upstairs on the barely stable staircase listening to the echoes of my footsteps, reaching my destination I entered a room that was a bit well maintained and furnished unlike the rest of the rundown building.
I dumped my bag and shoes by the door after taking out a book, loosen my tie and tossed it somewhere , I turned on a lamp since this place lacked electricity, I opened the window to let in some fresh air , walking to a cooler I brought out a can of Coke and went to lie on the bean bag and drank away my bitterness.
I didn't realize I had slept off with silent tears , I was rudely woken up by my alarm , sitting up straight I looked at my phone to see it was almost ten pm , My eyes widened in shock
"Shit , I'm in deep trouble!"
I clumsily wore my shoes , took my bag and dashed out of the building, I ran as fast as I could, the last train was about to leave and I had 14 minutes left and a distance of 35 minutes walk to the train station .
I ran at full speed, not stopping for any reason , ' Thank God ', I successfully made it in time.
But still I wasn't safe , when I finally got home (yes I do have a home), I quietly snuck in, thankfully I wasn't caught, I quickly dashed to my room, closing my door quietly, I immediately fell face flat on my bed and slept off.
-Next Morning-
Beep beep
The annoying sound of my alarm clock disrupted my sleep .
Turning it off I groggily sat up with a yawn and ran my hand through my hair , I looked around in a daze and got of the bed , I took my bath and headed down to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone.
While prepping the vegetables for the final touch, I heard someone greet
" Good morning"
I turned to see my elder brother fully dressed for work
" Morning, please set up the table, breakfast is ready, Thank you"
" mmm "
And he proceeded to do so , I Filled up four bento box with food, one for me , one for my brother, one for my Mom and one for Dad and kept them aside .
We both sat at the dinning table in depressing silence ,
"You came home late, where were you?"
My elder brother asked out of nowhere.
" none of your business" I curtly replied feeling guilty,
Silence*
' Oh God, why did I say that?' I felt like banging my head ,
"I'm moving out" He suddenly said causing me to pause my movement,
' Did I hear correctly?'
"What do you mean?" I stared straight into his eyes
"Exactly what I said" He shrugged
" I can't stand this craziness any longer and I've come of age to live on my own, it's not like mom and dad care about us, you can come live with me if you want"
" So you're just going to leave us like she did ? " I clenched my fist and gritted,
" Hey!, don't get mad at least I informed you " He laughed with an undertone of sadness and regret.
" What about Mom and Dad, did you tell them ?" I lost my appetite and pushed the plate away , I took a deep breath.
" I did, Mom said I could do whatever I want, she doesn't really care , as for Dad he didn't say a word nor did he give a reaction " Brother smiled softly while playing with his food.
" I'm sorry but I don't want you to leave" I bowed my head ,my lips quivered ,
" Hey look at me "
I raised my head slowly,
" we can't fix things nor can we let them remain the same but we can surely move forward to a better future" He gently held my hand
" But –"
" I know how you feel, just support me and be happy for me that's all I asked, after all you're free to come live with me " He said lovingly.
" when will you move out ?"
" This Saturday, so help me pack Okay? "
" I'll really miss you " I said in a low tone,
" I know you will " He let out a hearty laugh that was infectious, I couldn't stop a smile from gracing my face.
"Now let's eat before the food gets cold".
Still I wish he would stay, I wanted to scream stay , this felt like when she left , I felt useless,I was confused, I was torn between leaving with him or staying with my parents,I was in pain,I wanted to direct my anger at him ,at his decision...
How can I be mad at him?, if I were in his shoes I would have left a long time ago.
Our family is one toxic place, our sister , his twin left us nine years ago.
I was heart broken when she left because she was the closest to me.
She and My Mom blindly fought over a Man , who played both of them, this went on for a while, my Mom and Sister would always come up with ways to frustrate each other ( which I never understood the point).
Things turned for the worst when they got into a physical fight that left them both seriously wounded , My sister in the dead of the night, packed her belongings and left without anyone knowing, we waited and waited but we never even saw her shadow.
We have no idea if she's dead or alive, where she is, how she's doing, no idea at all.
As for my dad he stayed uninvolved in all this dog drama, He caught my Mom cheating several times till the point she didn't even hide it any more but my Dad tolerated it all , one faithful evening they fought, Mom in anger stabbed my Dad and yelled somethings she shouldn't have and something in my Dad shattered, he stopped caring, he stopped carrying out his fatherly duties,he wasn't active , he became a motionless doll that would sit by the balcony and do nothing, he would sometimes starve himself if no one forces him to eat, drowning in sorrow he would drink like no tomorrow , he lost his job and probably his reason to be happy with life,If this house didn't belong to us I was sure we would be wandering the cold streets , My Mom making things worst would be so bold enough to bring her 'boyfriends' home and perform some 18 and above scenes, if you reprimand her she would say
" The house was bought with parts of my hard earned money,so it's my property too" ,
My Dad gave no reaction and turned a blind eye to this ,for some reason he didn't file for a divorce or move out, Mom also did the same. My siblings and I were left to fend for ourselves , I didn't know how it happened but my sister at the young age of fifteen worked at a club to get money.
When my brother found out about this ,blinded by anger ,they fought ,since then they never spoke to each other .
My brother carried the burden and worked several part time jobs to provide for our basic necessities while still going to school , it was tough but he persevered .
I was in charge of cooking and house chores since it was the only way I could contribute as my brother wouldn't let me take up a part time job, he wanted me to focus on school and enjoy my teenage life (which was almost impossible)
We were just living together in beautiful chaos .
°°°°°°°°