Chapter 1: The Anatomy of a Lame Horse
Title: The Joker’s Ledger: Buckles and Rhymes
Author: Fatehhyyy
Chapter 1: The Anatomy of a Lame Horse
The morning in my house doesn’t begin with the sun; it begins with a heavy, suffocating silence that feels like it’s trying to crush the breath out of my lungs. It was 12:00 PM when I finally opened my eyes, the light from the window mocking the darkness I felt inside. I hadn’t eaten in nearly twenty hours. Hunger is a luxury for those who feel they deserve to be fed. To me, a meal felt like a debt I couldn’t pay back to a father who viewed my existence as a bad investment.
I lay there, staring at the ceiling fan, listening to the muffled sounds from downstairs. Then I heard it—the voice of the man who had given me life but was now slowly taking it away.
“I’m not putting another penny into his tuition,” my father’s voice boomed, vibrating through the floorboards. “Why would I? You don’t invest money in a handicapped horse. Look at him. He’s a liability. He’s a zero. He sits in that room, he plays those games, he writes those useless rhymes. He’s broken.”
I didn’t move. I didn’t cry. The word Handicapped settled into my bones like lead. I wasn’t a son. I was a “failed asset.” My mother’s soft pleading followed, her voice a fragile shield against his rage, but it was useless. The decision had been made. My future was being traded away for the sake of his ego.
