Chapter 1
Nathan Bennett
“Dad-no! Dad! Dad! Where are they taking him?” I heard myself scream as I was being hauled away on a gurney into the ambulance.
“Kid you need to calm down. You are seriously injured and your only gonna make it worse for yourself.” There was a doctor there, maybe two. Both screaming at me to relax but how could I when my dad was unconscious and they wouldn’t even let me see him.
“Please you have to save him!”
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I shot upright, my body soaked in sweat, terror wracking me at the sight of my eight-year-old self. The nightmares had been coming more often lately, unstoppable and relentless - and I desperately needed them to end.
When I had finally caught enough breath, I climbed out of bed and went into my bathroom.
After brushing my teeth and changing into a fresh set of clothes I went downstairs and saw Lucas ( my 10-year-old brother) sitting at the kitchen table with the bowl of cereal he was devouring. The kid was always starving.
" Hey Lucas.”
“Hey-”
He was cut off by the sound of the front door opening and incoming our so-called mother. She barged in clearly in search of something. When she finally grabbed her car keys off the floor in front of the rusty kitchen, I thought it was time to make myself apparent.
“Leaving so soon?” this would be the 3rd time this month my mother would leave for a sudden work trip where she left her kids at home alone for at least a week at a time.
She suddenly flinched when hearing she was not alone and turned to face my brother and i. “oh-Jesus, you scared me!”
I didn’t move or blink, just waited for the same old story I could recite off by heart.
“Well, yes my work needs me gone again for a bit, you know how much I wish I could stay.”
“And how long is ‘a bit’ this time”
She tilted her head to the side and her eyes looked almost remorseful.Almost.
“A week maybe longer”
“Ah. Surprise surprise” I replied tone laced with sarcasm as I turned to make myself a glass of water.
“Come on Nate. You know i try to stay home with you guys but it’s just-” I didn’t let her finish. i couldn’t.
“Just not that easy. Yep, we already know this speech. but you might wanna hurry up if you’re not to miss whatever work thing that’s clearly more important to you than your kids.” i was done with this back and forth, now i just wanted to get myself and Lucas out the door and to school.
And with that our mother turned around and walked out the door without uttering another word.
I turned back to Luc and saw him giving me a look that showed he clearly didn’t agree with how i spoke to our mother. He still sees her as a perfect person who could do no harm. I don’t blame him of course he is just a kid.
He hasn’t seen how shitty life can get yet.
