"Mom! I'm going!!"
"Take care on the way."
I was in elementary school when it all happened. My father left us when I turned six. Mother couldn't handle the pressure of being a single mother but eventually we settled down after a year or two. Days were going great. Even though I didn't know what mom was working to earn but she always came home late at night. I was a kid. I only cared about the moments I spent with my mother. It was the happiest moments of my life. But suddenly one day, my father returned to us. Mother didn't want to let him in after what we suffered due to him but he forced his way in and we couldn't repudiate him.
Since my mother argued with him, my father was enraged by it. He used to lash at her every night, stopped her part-time work and deliberately made me drop out of my middle school. The screams, agony and the ache my mom felt every night always haunted me. But even then, my mom kept smiling in front of me. Never letting me realize that she was being tortured and traumatized.
What could I have done? It's not like I could have gone against my father. I was only in middle school and even in high school he made my life a hell. Whatever I tried to do, he would hinder. Whatever thing I would buy for either myself or my mom, he would break it. Wherever I went for a part-time job, he would go out of his way to make me drop.
Thankfully, he wasn't able to make me drop from my high school due to the strict prospectus. This is the only place I could actually feel free, but even then, I would worry about my mother's well-being. So, it's not entirely free either. The hardships that I encountered in the past will help me succeed in the future. This is what I believed in. But…
"You want me to stop pestering your mom?" said dad in a rather assertive tone reading his usual newspaper.
"…Yes. I would like you stop messing with our lives."
He was silent for few minutes, reading the newspaper and turning the pages. The sound of the freshly bought newspaper was reverberating in the empty living room, as he crossed his legs while sitting on the sofa. Even more minutes passed away and I was silently standing in front of him lowering my head to not lock eyes with him. He finished reading his newspaper and put it down as he faced me, got up from the sofa and slapped me from my left cheek so hard that I felt a good distance away from him and hit the wall.
"How dare you to talk to me like that, you brat." My father scorned.
"…"
"Know your place and be respectful that I am even in here and paying your fees as well as running this shitty family."
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At that moment, mother rushed in and hurriedly got down to see to my wounds. It's not that bad, but I guess I cracked my head a bit after I hit the wall as my head was bleeding a bit and my cheek had a bruise. She got up and tried to persuade my dad but it was not cohesive.
"Dear, you shouldn't hit him like that. Isn't he your child—"
"My child? If he was my child, he would have learnt to act well towards his father."
Saying that, he hit my mom as well, grabbed her hair and was dragging her to their room but I bite into my father's legs so that he wouldn't drag mom but he stomped on my face instead and heaved her into the room.
My face was a wreak after that. Bleeding from my nose, my eyes were red and beaten. I was terrible after that. I couldn't go to the school for 1 week and kept hearing to the screams of my mother. Life could only go better from there.
The daily curses of hell kept going. My school was going pretty bad as well, since I was not in my right mind. I kept worrying about my mother so I couldn't go to hangout with my friends either. So, one day, my teacher called me.
"Fujima-kun, can you come to the teacher lounge with me?"
"Sure."
Not sure why Inari-Sensei is calling me but might as well make this fast and go home. As we were walking to towards the teacher's lounge, I was unsure as to where to look. Inari-Sensei was really beautiful. She had the perfect curves befitting of an adult, and her light makeup is enough to enhance her. Her body was basically moving from right to left due to her proportions, so, I was feeling uncomfortable looking at her from behind.
So, I looked outside the window instead. It was soon to be evening. On the gray-blue sky, there are several thin clouds that are suddenly orange and vermilion, and there is a gold rim on the edge; in a flash, the clouds become a few clouds of smoke floating on the horizon. The sunset seems to be burning. The burning fire became more and more prosperous as we reached the teacher's lounge.
Everyone else had left, so it was me and Inari-Sensei in the lounge. She sat down on her chair and I sat down beside her, while facing her direction. She let out a sigh and rested her shoulder, her body must have been stiff from working all day. She smelt really good too. It's probably a new perfume. After a deep breath, she started saying.
"Fujima-kun, you're being ill-treated at home, right?"
"…"
What could I say to her, now? Even if I lie it wouldn't change the fact that me and my mother both are being abused by my father. But even if I say it to Sensei, she would only make our situation worse. I decided to bite my lips and let it out.
"No, Sensei."
"You liar."
She forced her hands through and slowly caressed my left cheek to expose my bruise. Yes, after that incident, my mother lost all hope and became lost. You could say mentally broken and my father did not give me opportunity to take care of my wounds. So, I hid it with my hair.
"Tell me, Fujima-kun."
"Sensei…you're only going to make things worse."
"You wouldn't know about it unless you tell me, right?" She mused.
"You know, there are a lot of cases of child abuse in our country. It keeps on increasing and increasing since people don't let others know about it and cower in fear."
She sat down beside me on the couch and looked at the ceiling and continued.
"If you don't want to say then I am totally fine with it but all I am trying to say is that don't let that consume you and your future. If you feel like you want to share your anxiety and thoughts, then I am here for you, Fujima-kun."
She smiled at me very brightly. The smile was so vibrant that it almost brought me to tears, actually…I might be crying. Tears started falling unknowing, and Inai-Sensei, hugged me and patted my head while saying 'you suffered a lot didn't you'
as I started crying even louder until my throat became sore.
I explained everything to Inai-Sensei, and she was flabbergasted by my situation. She said sorry for not realizing it earlier and I said it's alright in return. She said that she will take care of it and see that no more harm comes to me and my mother. For the first time in my life, it finally felt like that something good was going to happen. Then why…why did it have to take such a depraved turn.