Body of Bruises and Scars

Chapter 1 - Zack

  I sat at the bar, drinking a pint of beer with one hand and smoking a cigarette in the other. I looked around the very familiar environment. There were very little people at the bar that night since it was a weekday. I had just finished performing for that night and earned myself 70 dollars as payment - just enough for me to survive a week.

"Hey kid." A voice called.

I looked up to see the face of a friend, whom I call Uncle Tom, who was the bartender and the owner of the bar. We first met when I managed to prevent him from getting robbed by some of the local teens by fighting and scaring them off. Since then, he allowed me to drink at the bar, even though he knew I was only 17. He even got me a job as a performer there.

"Hey Uncle Tom. What's up?" I greeted back.

"Oh, nothing much. Just the usual. Business is going quite well. How about you? Aren't you schooling tomorrow? Shouldn't you be home already?"

"Well, I should. But you know how it is at home. I just want to be away from that damned hellhole as much as I can, you know?"

"Ah, right." He replied, nodding slowly. He then continues with a smile, "How's your studies, boy? Found a girlfriend yet?"

I smiled too. "Studies' as per usual. Just the average. And I haven't got a girlfriend yet. Haven't found anyone interesting yet. After all, my dad would kill me if he found out. Literally."

"I know, kid. But you're 17! You're in the prime time of your life! You should let loose and enjoy every now and then. Try to find someone. I'm sure there's someone out there for you." He exclaimed.

I nodded. I knew exactly what he meant. It's just the fear of whatever torment my father may present me that's haunting me and holding me back from the things I want to do. I absolute despise that.

I wished there was some change in my life. Something that lets me enjoy life a little, instead of having a boring, torturous life 24/7.

I sighed, then took another sip of the beer. I said my farewell to Uncle Tom and left the bar.

~.~

It was the next morning. I somehow managed to sneak into my house unnoticed and got enough sleep to survive a day at school. Sheer luck, I guess.

I stood near a bus stop, smoking. I looked down at my watch. It was a quarter before 7 in the morning. There weren't many people around, and the road seemed isolated too, except for the few cars and buses passing by every now and then.

I tried to raise my hand to stretch but was hit by an agonizing pain. I groaned and remembered that I had newly formed bruises all over me. All that were now covered up by a hoodie.

My entire body was sore. But at this point, I couldn't be bothered anymore. I was so used to going to school with bruises, headaches and immense amounts of exhaustion from lack of sleep. Back then, I would've skipped school because the pain was too much for me to handle. However, it's as if it was nothing to me anymore now. Perhaps over time, I've gotten numb-both emotionally and physically.

I took another puff. I started to think about the life I have, and what I'm doing with it. I felt like there was no future for me. I felt like I've lost all sense of direction in life.

Soon enough, the bus came. I disposed of the cigarette butt at a nearby trash can and entered the bus. As usual, there was no one else in the bus. There were rarely people taking the bus I took in the morning.

That was good for me. A sense of peace and tranquility in the morning will always be good, especially with such a hectic life. Perhaps that's what a little piece of heaven feels like.