Superimposed

40

I can't believe we're on chapter 40?! 😅

"Mum" Taron's voice was so small once he noticed it. He slowly pulled up the sleeve of the jumper Lisa was wearing but she winced back.

"Mum is that-"
"Taron, don't" she looked down to the table, hugging her arms self consciously
"Had he-"
"Taron!"
"No mum, I'm not having this anymore. He did that didn't he, mum why didn't you tell me?!" Taron bellowed, there was so much anger in him right now he wanted to just turn up at the house right now and beat the living shit out of Phil.
"Shh!" Lisa pressed her fingers to her lips to silence him, as much as Taron wanted to protest more he obeyed his mum.
They were in a public place and he didn't want to draw attention to their table.
"Is there any more?" He asked more quietly, but his jaw was still clenched.
"What- no!" Lisa scoffed and Taron raised his eyebrows
"Mum, why didn't you say anything!" Taron asked desperately, sadness quickly being overtaken by the anger.

It broke him to know that whilst he was chasing his dream, his mum was suffering and living in the grief that he desperately moved away from.

"Can I go see him?" Taron asked which took Lisa by surprise. Taron had changed his tone of voice to soft and friendly.

"And do what?" Lisa asked sceptically, drinking down the last of her third drink
"Just say hi, make sure he's still an asshole. Y'know, the usual" Taron shrugged, trying to mask just how much his blood was boiling right now.

He couldn't wait to get his hands on the wife-beater and give him a taste of his own medicine. Just like he did last time, only much worse. He wanted to cause so much damage he'd become wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life.

Whilst he lived in that house he never really cared what Phil did to him, of course, he was terrified of him. But he never fought back, he just took the beatings silently. He'd learnt how to not even make a sound, regardless of how much pain he was in.

One particular time Taron had come back from school 3 minutes later than he usually would. He'd been kept at school by a teacher and even though he'd run all the way home he still didn't make it in time.
He remembers glancing at the clock as he cautiously stepped into the house, he remembers his heart sinking when he saw he was late and even now he could feel the butterflies in his stomach rising to his throat when he thought about what Phil was going to do to him.

"Mum, please don't tell him!" He'd pleaded. At that time he thought his mum was on Phil's side; now he realises that his mum was just as scared of him.

She feared that if she didn't tell Phil he would do bad things to her in bed that night. That's what he'd usually do and all she could do was lie there and wait for it to be over, feeling the cold tears run down her temples and to the pillow as she stared up at the ceiling.

They were both kidding themselves.

They knew deep down that it didn't matter what they did, what they said, whether they played by his stupid rules or not. Every evening was the same; they'd get their punishment regardless of if they'd played by the rules or not. But Phil was smart enough to never leave cuts and bruises on either of their faces; anywhere else he knew they could cover.

"Him seeing you again will stir everything up again - remember how you'd beaten him up and legged it? That was the last day he saw you and I'm sure he's convinced one day he'll find you" His mum's shaking voice brought Taron back to the present moment.
"If he sees you I don't know what he's gonna do, but it's not going to be pretty" Lisa continued, anxiously tapping on the table.

Taron put his hand over his mum's, reassuring her that everything was going to be alright and that he only wanted to see him to clear the air.
"But he doesn't want to clear the air with you, he wants to beat you Taron" Lisa's eyes were fixed on Taron's as if she was trying to send the message telepathically.

"He's only been getting worse recently, seriously, it's not a good idea"
"How 'bout you pack a bag before I go there, I show my face and tell him that you're coming with me" Taron suggested, "I'll put you up in a hotel nearby if you like, I'm just not having you in that house with him for much longer" Taron quickly added, also finishing the last of his drink.

"I can't just leave-"
"Mum, look at you - you're covered in bruises and burns. Excuse me for saying it, but it doesn't look like you've slept in weeks either" Taron looked into his mum's eyes and for the first time ever he watched as her face crumbled.
Her shoulders slouched and she began to breakdown right in front of him.

Now Taron felt awful, not only had he just made his mum cry, but he'd also blurted out his own stupid, silly problems before talking to his mum about her's. Which were clearly much worse than his own, yet he was so weak he'd had a panic attack over them. He couldn't feel more pathetic.
"Mum-"
"No, it's okay. It's me - god, sorry I don't know what came over me. It's just that no one's even asked me if I'm okay. I mean, I go into work every single day and not one person asks me how I'm doing. I'm a walking zombie. I didn't even think you'd notice and then you said it and I just-" She sobbed and a few people curiously turned to look at the two and Taron just smiled sheepishly at them to try to show that everything was okay. Even though it obviously wasn't.

"I noticed as soon as I saw you, but I didn't want to bring it up straight away. That's more the reason why I hugged you so long - I brought up the Belle thing first because I didn't know how to bring it up" Taron explained, not breaking eye contact for a second, "But I refuse to let you stay in that house any longer"
Lisa didn't say anything but Taron knew she agreed.

"Can I get you anything else?" The young waitress asked, clearing their empty cups
"No, it's okay - you can get rid of us in a second" Taron grinned and the waitress blushed. Why did he always have that effect on girls?

Lisa was still sniffling and trying to hide the tear still trickling down her cheeks.

"Phil's not back now is he?" Taron asked, standing up to put his jacket back on.
"No, he won't be back till half 5" Lisa stood too and adjusted her coat that she'd kept on.

She'd had a short-sleeved blouse on at home, she wanted to show Phil that she wasn't trying to hide the marks he gave her. Mainly because if she did then it would let him win, it would show that she was trying to hide them in fear of him.
"Right, so we'll go back to the house and you can pack up a suitcase and we can get you checked into a hotel before he even shows, yeah?"
Lisa didn't say anything, just reluctantly nodded because she didn't want to actually say 'yes'. She didn't want to leave her husband; as twisted as it seems she did still care about him. How was he going to cope without her there?