Thunderstorm

5:30 pm.

          5:30 p.m strikes again, as fear and dread rushes over the family of 4 sitting at the dinner table. They all knew this time very well, it was the time all sources of peace and happiness left the home- the time when dad came home. his name was Michael but his friends called him mike nobody understood mike and I being 9years old at the time quietly realized not understanding yourself kind of runs in the family, mike couldn't find his happiness in cheap women, fast cars, or endless luxuries, but he did find his anchor in beer.
        My moms name was Elizabeth she was a short slender frame woman and was very submissive to his every will, and of course the two siblings 10 year old Kelly and new born baby Adam. This was the family. And this was also the bane of mikes existence. As well all sat there at the table with dinner prepared we didn't dare touch the food until dad came home and had the first bite, but this night? This night was different, mike had other plans. as we all listened to the truck pull into the driveway and the thunderous stomp of his boots coming up the stairs and the jangling of keys as he unlocked the door we all gritted our teeth not knowing what to expect. Finally the door swung open and mom ran over nervously but asked him yet in a confident matter "is there anything I can get you honey"
"Yes, 3 beers and for your sake they better be cold." Mike said
"Right away honey"
                 Mom banished into the kitchen.  As a 9 year old boy the last thing you would expect to see is your father treating your mom with such disrespect but what you expect even less was the blood curdling scream coming from the kitchen moments after. Kelly and I sprung to our feet leaving baby Adam in his high chair rushed down to the kitchen and witnessed dad right In moms face screaming "I told you these beers were supposed be cold are you stupid or something?"
"No no, these were just out of the freezer please don't do this" mom begged
We were just kids, what could we have done other than do what we've always known scream.
Kelly yelled "dad please don't do this she doesn't deserve it"
"Shut the hell up or you're next" dad exclaimed
I guess I kind of used Kelly as a tester to see what his reaction was- I was glad that she got yelled at and not me Lord knows I couldn't take it but then again I don't think anything could prepare me for what happened next, he balled his fist up and punched mom right in the face knocking her to the ground I don't know what gotten into dad that day, if it was a bad day at work or he just wanted to fight but never could I have imagined him doing what he done. I
think that was the very beginning of my spiral into chaos and depression - Kelly ran out of the room screaming so I followed suit but I remember mom telling me if she was ever in trouble to grab the phone and dial 9-1-1 so that's what I did.
               I sprinted into the living room and grabbed the phone and dialed the cops
"Hello? Hello please help my mommy is in trouble"
"Calm down can you tell me your name?"
"My name....my name is Nathan."
"Okay Nathan, everything's going to be fine alright? Can you tell me where your mom is?"
"I don't know...she was with daddy and he was angry and hit her and I got scared and...and she needs help please hurry"
"Do you know your address?"
I did but I didn't think it was a good idea to give away that information. All I wanted was my dad to love me and I knew if I went through with this every chance of that would be gone, but I didn't notice Kelly lurking in the back ground.
"Hello...? Nathan are you alright...? Hello?"
Kelly sprung up and told the operator our address and then hung up, we sat in the floor and cried because we known this was probably a huge mistake a small amount of time passed and then a patrol car pulled into the drive way neither Kelly or I knew what was going on we were too scared to leave the living room better yet to scared to go check on mom. The doorbell rang so we peeked around the corner and seen mom lying on the floor holding a rag to her face.
"It's just ketchup. Mommy just made a mess" Kelly assured we then watched dad fly out of his room and too the door we then hid, he opened the door and was talking with the officer, the officer then peered into the house and seen mom lying in the floor and instantly took dad into custody the officer then came to us for questioning and when his suspicions were confirmed took dad off to jail.
              We didn't know what to feel or what to think we were the most dysfunctional family I knew of so I guess maybe we were just happy in our own little dysfunctional way. But that happiness was short lived.

Part 1 - by Noah Allred