Between Stars

6. The Resulting Aggravated Outburst

WARNING: CHILD ABUSE, PHYSICAL VIOLENCE

Just because I was aware that the house would be in a state of complete and utter disarray by the time that Thaniel and I got home from school doesn't mean I believed I would enjoy the resulting aggravated outburst.

When I was still homeschooled, I would clean the house every morning so that it would be suitably neat by the time my dad came out of his room around noon. Now that I'm attending school in person, I'm not sure what he expected to happen. Does he believe that the house automatically resets to a state of cleanliness overnight? Neatness requires work. Work requires a worker. That was me, up until he chose to send me to school so he could make even worse decisions without having to concern himself with my presence.

I suppose he didn't account for the negative results to my absence for seven hours of the day.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

Thaniel, as usual, puts himself between me and our enraged father. "Hey, we just got home-"

"WHY IS THERE STUFF EVERYWHERE?!"

I scan the room. Bottles littering the floor. Unidentified liquid seeping into our carpet. Spilled food littered around the room. Crumpled blankets. Unarranged furniture. Unchanged from his drunken trashing of the house last night.

"Why don't you just sit down-"

"I CAN'T! EVERYTHING IS A MESS!"

"Dad, let's just-"

"NO." He grabs Thaniel by the front of his shirt and uses the grasp to throw Thaniel out of the way. He scowls in my face, eyes dilated and feral. Unshaven, flushed cheeks. Grubby hands.

"This is your fault. You little worm."

"You forced me to go to school. You deliberately sent me out of the house for seven hours of the day. And then you could have cleaned, or simply not made the mess last night. So, this is in fact, your fault-"

I'm on the ground.

Half of my face is throbbing.

I can feel my pulse in my cheek. Every heartbeat is a painful mercy.

... He hit me.

He's never hit me before.

I can hear Thaniel trying to get him away from me, hear him screaming at me still, hear my blood and adrenaline rushing through my veins.

The shock still stings more than the strike.

I'm roughly yanked to my feet. I stare at him with huge eyes. He's like a savage animal. His lips curl back to reveal his rotting yellow teeth.

"Get out."

He shoves me towards the door. I stumble backwards. I feel heavy and frozen to the spot.

He stares at me for a moment more, then his eyes go big and wild. "GET OUT!"

My hand finds the doorknob, and I'm outside before I can process what I'm doing.

I should stand up for myself. Should go back inside. Make it clear that I am not in the wrong. That he has no justifiable reason to hit me. And even if he did, he can't, because it's illegal.

Instead, I walk a path I've walked many times before.

Thaniel and I have both kept in close contact with my mother since she left our father. We'll visit her and her family as often as we both can. Thaniel only visits when I do, however, and he calls her and her husband by their names (after they insisted that he didn't call them Mr. and Mrs. Carter), which informs me that he doesn't see them as his parents. Still, I know that he sees them as family, and vice versa.

One reason I wanted to stay homeschooled was because it meant any of my time could be free time. During the day, I could go wherever I wanted to do my schoolwork. My mother works at a law firm nearby. We'd have lunch together some days, when neither of us had any particularly pressing tasks to complete.

It's not far. Only about a half an hour walk. I arrive at the firm a little after four. My mother will still be working for a while.

My swelling, throbbing cheek informs me that I shouldn't wait for her to finish her shift.
I approach the front desk. The lady there gives me a formal, quite likely fake smile. "Hello. Do you have an appointment?"

"No. I'm here to see my mother," I inform her.

"Who's your mother?"

"Victoria Carter."

"Ah, yes. She'll be off work at six. Would you like to wait or should I leave her a message?"

"I'd like to see her."

"Sorry, she's currently busy."

"I'm her son."

"She's with a client."

"I have to see her. It's urgent."

"I'll let her know that you're here once she finishes with her current meeting."

"You haven't asked for my name. You're not intending to inform her of my arrival at all."

"What's your name, then?"

"You're not even planning on contacting her. You don't expect me to wait in the waiting room either, you're just attempting to dismiss me."

"Please keep your voice down, we do have other clients waiting-"

"LET ME SEE MY MOTHER!" I raise my voice solely because I'm extremely low on tolerance at the current moment and I'd like to annoy her as much as she's annoying me. Her eyes narrow.

"I will call security if you don't leave-"

I turn and sprint for the elevator. I press the button before she can even stand up, and fortunately the elevator opens quite promptly. She stands, looking haughtily irritated. "You can't-"

The doors close, and I press the button for my mother's floor. I examine my face in the elevator mirror- the bruising is starting to show.

The doors open behind me, and I exit the elevator. Go to my mother's office.

"Come in," comes the response from inside.

I open the door, feeling relief wash over me as her face comes into view. "Mom."

So, thoughts on the chapter? What do you think of Exander and Thaniel's father? How about Exander going to his mom? Let me know in the comments!

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