After my father divorced my mother and went off radar, we were left to fend for ourselves. Mum was still studying so she couldn’t apply for a good job. She ended up working at the local store, just two blocks down from our home. She homeschooled me too, telling me that school was filled was nasty boys. Of course, I knew the real reason why I couldn’t go learn.
I never complained though. She burned the midnight oil, trying to study for some exam that would give her a good job and a nice place to live. Somewhere, in between, we couldn’t afford to pay the rent and shifted into a dingy apartment. I only looked at her and listened to her consolations. She’d tell me everything will be okay.
But she never got that job. Maybe that broke her. At some point, I started repeated what she used to say to me, everything will be fine. But, nothing was. I suppose the hopelessness was what led her astray or maybe the need for a man’s attention because she was constantly in a relationship with some guy.
I stayed in my corner, answer whenever called, eat whatever given, and sleep when the lights went out. That’s where Jason came into our lives to create a permanent ripple through the steady rhythm of our lives. You’d expect that after all the sufferings that my mother went through to make the ends meet, she’d finally get a knight in shining armor. Except, he was no knight. He was a drug addict that had my poor mother wrapped around his little finger.
I tried to talk to her but, of course, I was just a kid. And I was a kid that was a burden to her. There was only one way to survive this: maintaining my quiet. I was no longer the magnet around which are world revolved. Jason gave her the money to run their house, while both of them got drunk for the night.
Once I got home late, which worried my mother. Jason pulled me by the ear back into the house from the back street. There, he beat me right in front of her eyes. She never uttered a word. She just looked on, maybe also accepting that if someone fed you, they had the right to beat the hell out of you.
I rebelled. Just like any other boy in his teenage. But to no avail. I tried to convince my mum, I cried, I begged but she turned a blind eye to me. Until one day, I had to steal Jason’s money and make a run for my life. I didn’t know what I’d do or how I’d survive the streets. I just couldn’t take that man calling my mother names. I told her to come with me too, but she never agreed.
