AGE( it is just a number)

The full truth

                                Hardin Castillo
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The atmosphere in the room was tense, though apparently not hostile.
  "What did you just say?" my mum asked , but her voice came out in whispers
   Opening my mouth, I tried answering her but no sound came out
   I was damn scared!
A feeling of dread crept up from the pit of my stomach as I could feel the flight responses kicking, increasing my heart rate, flooding me with adrenaline .
   Every muscle screamed at me to flee but no , I hadn't come this  far to run.
  Hardin! I guess it is time for you to man up!
    "Baby! Please talk to me, what do you mean by "protecting me". My mum snapped me out of my thoughts and I slowly shifted my gaze to her
   She was standing right in front of me and believe me when I say, I never knew when she got there
     I heaved a sigh, looking away  from her to Hazel who was now seated on the bed , staring at me curiously with her hands folded across her chest
  I smiled lightly
   She is the  reason I am gonna do this , I don't want her to see me as a murderer, I don't want her to hate me and most important I don't want her to leave me.
" yes mother , I took the fall to protect you". I answered , finding my voice again and she swallowed hard , looking at my dad and then back at me
"Wait! Are ..you trying to say you didn't kill Peter Dakota?"She picked her words
   "Yes". I answered truthfully and she took two steps backward in disbelief , beating her chest in grief as her legs suddenly give out but thankfully,my dad was quick to catch her ....
    "Why! Why did you take the fall?" She half yelled , tears rolling down her eyes
   "That is because they threatened to rape and kill you!" I retorted calmly , Making my dad scoff
  "Even so, you should have told me , you should have said the fucking truth during your trial". he fired at me
  "And how do you expect me to do that?" I fired back at me . "Do you know how deadly that can be?"
  He was quiet for a moment and then sighed
  "You are right son and I am really sorry for yelling at you  but I am just so pained". he said and my mum  whimpered , breaking down in fresh tears
   "help him Dave!please help him". her voice came out muffled !her face reddened as the veins stand out on her neck .
"Of course I will but he needs to tell the whole truth without leaving a thing out". My dad held her , fixing his gaze on me .
"Alright". I nodded in agreement and slid down to the tiled floor,bringing my knees up to my chest.

Three years ago, I was this kid who was always envied by classmates
   I was brilliant!cute! all teachers favourite and to crown it all , the famous kid writer, Jayden Winthrop.
    They all wanted to be like me , no they all wanted to be me. most of them didn't hide their envies ,  thus making me an item for the bullies
They would hide my manuscripts, tear up my books, forcefully collect my lunch money, and to sum it all , gang up against me  beating me up to a pulp if I dare report to a teacher!
  I became scared and depressed, school became a nightmare but my " perfect parent" were to busy to notice .
Dad was always solving cases , he hardly sleep at home and as for mum she prefers partying, shopping , hanging out with those bimbos she call friends to staying with me .
" No baby". my mum butted in , i never meant it that way , I was only ...............
"Don't disrupt him". my dad cut in . "let him talk"

I returned from school one evening with a swollen face and as expected , I met no one at home ....Well! except for the maids, but what could they possibly do? nothing.
I was tired of being bullied, I needed someone to confide in so I stayed up all night waiting for the "both of you "but only mum returned home that night .
seeing my swollen face , she started ranting and raving, calling me all sort of  mean names without even listening to me and when done , she instructed one of the maids to fix me up  then climbed upstairs to her room, changed her clothes and  went out partying again.
I was hurt, I was pained, So I came up with a decision to run away.

I parked few of my clothes into my backpack, stole one of Dad's credit card and ran out of the house with no destination in mind but I was too pained to care , I just wanted to be far away from home so I took a bus to East Smithfield and that was where I met him "The Boss"
The Boss as he is Popularly called is the leader to the one of the most deadliest gang in London , he is known to be ruthless so i was surprised when he took a liking to me .
   he introduced me to the gangs and  despite my age, I was fully accepted by all.
I began smoking , doing drugs , drinking, fucking all within a month and being able to do all this freely made me feel complete; that no matter how many times you both tried to severe my ties from the gang , I kept on returning because I was already addicted to all of it especially sex". I paused to stare at Hazel , searching through her face for "pain or jealousy" and to my relief , I found none so I continued
"Mum made me promise never to go back to the gang which I did but never kept
by then, I had become so wild and rotten , I had no morals , my lifestyles scared most of the bullies away and as for the stubborn ones , they were dealt with by the gang members
I became the head of the bullies , my Popularity among girls increased , i partied whenever i wanted , I inked my whole chest with tattoos , I become so arrogant that even my parent were scared of me but it  was short -lived.