Destructive Love (#1)

CHAPTER 13

|ANURAG|

I knew that I was dreaming more like a painful memory that was being played in my mind. It was so vivid it almost felt like I was experiencing the pain and the anguish all over again. I tried to push it away or switch my thoughts but it wasn't working at all.

Everything has been going well for the past few weeks. I have been more focused and haven't gone back to the underground matches since the last time I was there.

The nightmares had reduced but now I think it's back again to haunt me. They have been recurring for the past three days. I shivered as the feeling of dread ran down my blood. It had been a long since I had felt this way.

The memories of the first time I saw the monster side of my father flashed in my head. Aarav and I were only six years old.

It was a Saturday morning and the best day of the week because we had a holiday. Aarav and I got to spend a lot of time together playing with the other kids in our locality. But Ma never let us do that until we completed our homework. So we quickly finished our homework and grabbed our bats to play with the other kids.

Before leaving the house we informed our Papa. He grunted and drank something brown from a glass. He waved his hand as if he were shooing us away. Papa used to never be like that, but ever since he started drinking that brown liquid, he constantly yelled at Ma and us. I miss my old Papa who used to play with us and help us all the time.

I decided to shrug it off for now and play. Aarav and I played until it was almost one in the afternoon. That's when everyone started going back to their houses to eat lunch.

We entered the house with wide grins on our faces but what we saw was enough to kill the smiles for the rest of our lives.

Papa slapped Ma, and she stumbled against the table and fell. Aarav immediately held my hand tightly. Her lips were bleeding and she was sobbing loudly.

"Give me the money you bitch. Do you think you can argue with me? Who do you think you are? Give it to me right now!"

He had yelled at her before but this was the first time he was hitting Ma. I was scared. Ma shook her head and stood up. She wobbled a bit but managed to stand up.

Aarav and I immediately ran to her and hugged her. She held us tightly and let out another sob.

"I have saved it for our kid's school fees Palesh please don't do this."

"I don't fucking care about educating these ungrateful brats. Just give me the money Komal or get ready to face the consequences."

When Ma shook her head, Papa, no that was not Papa he was a monster. He growled and slapped her again. I couldn't bear to see this anymore. I felt anger, why was he hurting my Ma? What did she do?

I screamed and in a fit of rage started punching him but the next second he grabbed my arms and threw me on the floor.

"You brat, I will teach you a lesson now! How dare you lift a finger at me! I'm going to break your arm. Then we'll see how you can hit me."

He was about to grab me when Aarav and Ma appeared before me. Ma joined her hands before him and begged him not to hurt me. She told him where the money was that was enough for Papa to leave me. But not before he slapped me hard.

I fell on the floor as everything turned black. I could hear Ma and Aarav calling for me. I couldn't open my eyes. My ears rang and I tasted something metallic in my mouth. I was terrified.

***

I gasped and opened my eyes. My shirt was completely soaked. The fear, anguish, and pain I felt as a six-year-old coursed through my body. The feeling of helplessness and dread hit me like a ton of bricks.