Like Daisy said she would, she tried talking to Mum and Dad about the whole moving out situation. Dad thought it was a good idea, but Mum immediately shot it down. She claimed I would get too lazy and without her and Dad watching over me, I would start falling behind and fail my classes. Dad argued for Daisy’s side. He thought it would be a good opportunity for me to learn to be more independent and not always have Mum telling me what to do. And even if I did start falling back, he thought Daisy was responsible enough to make sure I got back on track with things. Mum countered with her beliefs that there would be no chance of me being able to keep up with things, even with Daisy around. Especially since Daisy was aiming for med school. Mum claimed she wouldn't have time to waste on me. Daisy and Dad fought a hard battle, but Mum won that argument. I was staying home for university and that was final.
After that big fight, Mum made sure I was officially enrolled for school and had all my classes picked out. She paid for the deposits and all the other stuff that needed paid beforehand. I was lucky she was paying for my schooling. She was doing the same for Daisy. The only difference with Daisy was that she wanted to go to med school which was a lot of years. So Mum and Dad said they’d cover her first 4 years, but after that, they would only help out here and there. Having Mum actually sit with me and discuss university classes, and the money was very odd to me. It was the first time I ever had her sit with me and do something with me. And she stayed calm the whole time. Take out the few insults here and there and she was fairly reasonable to be around. For a moment, I thought maybe staying home wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe now that I was officially in university, Mum wouldn’t be so hard on me. Yea, no. Mum didn’t change her attitude towards me at all. She just had one golden moment, and that was it.
May 2003
Despite being enrolled in a university, I still wanted to go to Canada. I had been saving up money from a few jobs I had worked at from the past couple years. I had enough to make the trip, and support myself for a little while. The hope was to get there and get a job so I could make enough to live on. I’d have to work a couple years to get enough money for school, but it would be worth it.
Daisy and I had been talking more and more about how I would be able to get down to Canada behind their backs. She was set on helping me get somewhere better. However, I noticed she was starting to get more and more anxious about it as time went on. It was getting close to the end of the school year, and I knew she was getting worried about me not being anywhere close to me. She was always the one to protect me, so she worried a lot about my well being and how I would handle being on my own, especially in a different country. Despite her worries, she still seemed set on helping me. She even went out with me so I could get my passport. That was a reality check for both of us. We both had the realization of ‘oh shit, this is really happening’. It was exciting but nerve wrecking at the same time. But of course. All good things come to an end.
Just weeks before my graduation, Mum found my passport. She was getting suspicious with how much time Daisy and I were spending together, and started snooping around. Once she heard us joking about moving to Canada, her suspicions were confirmed and she felt that it gave her permission to check my room. Not only did she find my passport that I had hidden under my bed, but she also found my stash of money I had, and my written plans for my big move.
“KEVIN!!” Mum shouted the minute she found my stuff. “GET OVER HERE!! NOW!!”
I was watching TV with Daisy, and the minute we heard her shouting, we knew something was up. We exchanged worried glances before we both got up and went to my room to see Mum. Dad was there talking to Mum, who was clearly fuming. My heart dropped when I saw she was holding my passport. She was shaking from pure anger. The second I set foot in my room, her glare went from the passport to me. Her glare sent shivers down my spine. I had never, and I mean never, seen her so angry and frustrated.
“What. Is. This.” She growled through her teeth as she held up my passport. She was gripping it so hard I was worried she would tear it.
“It’s uh, a passport.” I replied quietly.
“WELL I KNOW THAT!” Mum yelled. “WHAT IS IT DOING IN YOUR ROOM?!”
“It’s, um, mine?”
“I- UGH!!”
“Calm down Emilia.” Dad said to Mum. He looked pretty calm about the whole thing I couldn’t tell if he was upset or not. He wasn’t very vocal about his feelings on matter, especially when Mum was upset. “I think your mother means to ask, why would you go out and get a passport? What do you need it for?”
“I, um…” I didn’t know how to answer that.
“Does it have something to do with moving to Canada by any chance?” Dad raised a brow.
“...Might.”
“Yes or no.”
“Yes.” I finally admitted it. Mum’s anger levels went from a 10/10 to a solid 1000/10 in the matter of seconds. She was so enraged her face was very close to a shade of red a tomato had. I was in for it. Big time. Even Dad looked terrifed of Mum. We were all looking at her like she was a bomb ready to explode.
“YOU’RE NOT GOING TO CANADA!” She exploded. “NOT NOW, NOT EVER!!! YOU ENROLLED IN A UNIVERSITY HERE, AND THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE GOING!!! AND IF YOU DARE TRY TO GO TO CANADA, YOU CAN KISS US PAYING FOR EVERYTHING GOODBYE!! YOU HEAR ME?!”
“Y-yes Mum.” I gulped. I was shaking so badly I was barely managing to keep standing. Seeing Mum so furious petrified me.
“Good.” Mum snarled before taking my passport and ripping it into a million pieces right before my eyes. She then proceeded to rip up my papers that I had written my plans on. I couldn’t do anything but watch helplessly. Every rip and tear she made stung. Dad looked at me with a grim expression. I still couldn’t tell if he was upset or not.
“Mum!!” Daisy cried. “That’s enough! It’s bad enough you won’t let him go! You don’t need to rip up his stuff!!”
Mum gave my stuff one last good rip before looking up at Daisy, and then moving her glare towards me.
“Belt.” She growled as she stuck her hand out. “Now.”
“MUM!!” Daisy cried in shock.
“Go to your room Daisy.” Mum demanded. Mum looked at Dad angrily. “Get her out of here.”
“But-”
“NOW.” Mum snarled. Defeated, Daisy backed off and let Dad take her to her room. Mum glared at me as I scrambled to get the belt I was wearing off. My sweaty hands were making it hard to get off. Mum got fed up, came up to me and practically yanked it off. She grabbed me by the shoulder and shoved me over to the wall of my room. The wall I had all of Daisy’s old drawings posted up onto. She yanked my shirt off and told me to stay where I was. There was a second of silence before I felt the belt whip through the air and slice through my back. I let out a yelp of pain.
“MAYBE YOU’LL THINK TWICE BEFORE TRYING TO GO BEHIND MY BACK AGAIN HUH?!” Mum bellowed. She whipped the belt multiple times. She didn’t hold back. Every time the belt came into contact with my back, the pain amplified. It felt as if she was slicing right through me. She was whipping it so hard that blood was splattering everywhere. I could see it dripping down the walls, and splatter all over Daisy’s drawings. I lost track of how many times she hit me. All I felt was pain.
Moments before I was about to pass out from the pain, she stopped.
“Dear, that’s enough.” I didn’t notice Dad came back into the room. “Those are really deep wounds.”
“Hmph! Hopefully that taught you a lesson.” Mum growled. She threw my belt down onto the floor before her and Dad left. Mum made sure to slam the door on her way out. So there I was. Curled up in a ball on the floor, surrounded by my torn up future plans and crying my eyes out from the pain. I was bleeding all over the place. With tear filled eyes, I looked up to see the mural of drawings. They were all ruined. Some were completely covered in my blood, and others only had a couple splatters, but they were ruined. That mural was my pride and joy. It was the only thing I had that made me feel at home. Now it was all gone.
Later that night, Daisy snuck out of her room and came to check up on me. I hadn’t moved at all. I was still curled up in a ball on the floor. Part of me was wishing I could have just died right then and there. I felt like I lost everything.
“Kevin!!” Daisy cried. Her eyes went wider than dinner plates when she saw the mess. She ran over to me and immediately checked my back. “Oh jeez… She went really deep on some of these…”
She quickly ran out of my room and grabbed some medical supplies. She had a stash of them in her room for times like this. It wasn’t often Mum brought out the belt anymore, but just in case she did, Daisy was always prepared. She dropped the supplies off in the washroom before coming to get me.
“Come on.” She said as she helped me up. “We need to get those cleaned up.”
I was still extremely shaken up from what just happened, so I had to lean on her. She helped me hobble down to the washroom, and then had me sit down in the shower. She shut the door behind us so Mum couldn’t barge in and yell at me again. Mum didn’t like it when Daisy helped me out. I guess she would rather the wounds get infected.
“Hold still.” Daisy said gently. “This is going to sting.”
I braced myself as she turned on the water. She rinsed down my back, which stung horribly. It was even worse when she put the disinfectant on the wounds. I couldn’t help but to let out a scream from the pain. It stung so much!
“You scream like a girl.” Daisy joked.
“Oh shush.” I mumbled.
“What’s going on in there?” Dad suddenly knocked on the door.
“It’s nothing!” Daisy answered.
“Then why did I hear a scream?”
“I, uh, surprised myself?”
“Open up.” Dad demanded.
“Ugh, I’m cleanin Kevin’s wounds, ok?” Daisy admitted.
“Alright. Just making sure everything was ok.” We heard Dad let out a loud sigh before leaving.
“Thank god that wasn’t Mum.” Daisy sighed. “She would’ve barged in and tore you out of here.”
I nodded slowly. I was just happy I didn’t have to get more disinfectant put on the wounds.
“Alright, everything’s cleaned up.” Daisy said. “There’s a couple here that I think do need stitches though…”
“Can you do that?” I asked.
“I’ve never done it before.”
“Oh. Well, I guess it’ll be your first time then.”
“Maybe we should just go to the hospital?”
“And get Child Protective Services called? No thanks.”
Daisy sighed. “You know, she kind of deserves it at this point.”
I shook my head. “I’m not affecting the whole family because I couldn’t handle a bit of pain.”
“A bit of pain?? Kevin, she could’ve killed you!”
I kept my head down. “Just stitch it the best you can… Please…”
Daisy wasn’t happy about my decisions, but she gave stitching the wounds a try. She was surprisingly good at it for her first try. She messed up in a couple spots, but I was just happy it was over with. She bandaged up everything, and I was finally good to go. She helped me back to my room, at which I started crying when I saw the state of my room again. It wasn’t exactly pleasant seeing blood all over the place. Not to mention the torn up passport and papers on the floor. That’s when I realized something. They had also taken my money. I just about broke.
“I- I can’t believe them!!” Daisy was gritting her teeth now. “You’re getting your money back. I’m making sure of that. You worked for that money and they have no right to take it!!”
I just stared at the floor with tears streaming down my face. I didn’t know what to do with myself.
“C’mon.” Daisy said gently. “You should lay down and rest. It’s late.”
She had me lay down in my bed so I could rest. She even tucked me in. She always seemed like the older sibling. I was the young broken one, whilst she was the strong, bold, older one.
“Rest up.” She said. “And don’t worry about getting up early tomorrow ok? I’ll do all your chores. And if Mum wants to argue about it, she’ll be facing me.”
“B-but… My room…” I mumbled. My room was a complete mess. Mum was strict on both Daisy and I keeping clean rooms. If Mum saw my room the next day, she would shoot me.
“Don’t worry about it.” Daisy smiled. “I’ll handle everything. You focus on healing. Those are going to be some painful tomorrow, so I don’t suggest you try to get up too often.”
I nodded. Daisy flicked off the light, and let me sleep. Within seconds, I knocked out.
--
Comments (1)
See all