A Family of Violence by Athan Jon

Author:Athan, Jon [Athan, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2016-07-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Before The Storm

Stanley hopped over the brick partition. He landed in the backyard of his home. He glanced at the windows overlooking the kempt backyard. The lights were off on both floors. The area was solely illuminated by the lucent stars and luminous moonlight. He did not see any police lights and he didn't hear any wailing emergency sirens. He was surprised, but he accepted the tranquility as a sign of victory.

Stanley whispered, “They're sleeping... They forgot about me, but at least they're sleeping.”

The teenager slowly turned the knob on the back door. He seemed to have hit a lucky streak – the door was left open. He wondered if the door was left unlocked by accident or if it was his mother's doing. Once again, he accepted the unlocked door as a sign of victory – a winning streak. He successfully toppled his powerful father.

Stanley tiptoed into the kitchen, then he carefully shut the door behind him. As he stared at the backyard through the door's window panes, a light illuminated the kitchen. The conniving teenager lowered his head and sighed. It was too good to be true, he thought, it's always too good to be true around here.

With her fingers wrapped around a mug filled with hot chocolate, Julia asked, “Where have you been, Stanley? Where did you go? Why would you leave without telling us anything? I just don't... What has gotten into you, boy?”

Stanley glanced over his shoulder. His mother sat at the kitchen table, sniffling and shuddering. He could tell she had spent the afternoon crying. His father leaned on the archway with his arms crossed, dour. The man seemed calmer than before, though.

Michael said, “Sit down and answer your mother.”

Stanley stared at his father, then he loudly swallowed – the gulp practically echoed through the house. He sat directly across from his mother, staring into her puffy eyes. He was too frightened to explain himself. He wouldn't confess to his sinister deeds. He cycled through his excuses, searching for the perfect fit.

Julia asked, “Why are you acting like this? What's wrong, sweetheart?”

Stanley shrugged and said, “Nothing... I just... I just needed some fresh air. I needed to think about what I did and what I said to you. I was wrong about all of that. I'm sorry about everything. I was just... I was tired of Mark bullying me and I was tired of you ignoring me. I was tired of everything. That's all.”

Julia grimaced from the emotional pain. She said, “I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I would never do that on purpose. You know I'm always here to listen. You know that, don't you?”

“Yeah, but you never do anything about it. None of you do anything about it. You used to ask me about my bruises and my dirty clothes, then you started to ignore everything. You just stopped asking. You cared, but you really didn't...”

Michael said, “We always cared. I guess we lost track for a moment. We messed up, kiddo. I'm sorry about that.

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