6 - FATHER OR MONSTER?

★ Present-day ★

Shawn sighed as he replied to a text from another of his classmate, asking why he had missed classes. He typed that he had something very urgent to do and once he was done, he would return to school. Then he tossed his phone on the bed and went out to answer his mother's calls.

As he walked into the kitchen, he saw her by the sink doing some dishes. She looked so fragile. Her gold and gray hair was tied into a neat bun and she wore an apron around her waist. Her petite figure made her look younger and if not for the wrinkles on her face and the striking resemblance between them, no one would believe she birthed him.

He walked toward her and wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace, cuddling his head toward her neck. She gave a light chuckle as she wiped her hands and caressed his hair with one hand. 

“What trouble did you cause this time?” Rachel asked sarcastically as she began doing the dishes again.

Shawn pouted as he released her shoulders. “This time? Mom, I never cause trouble.” He sulked, folding his arms across his chest.

Rachel nodded. “Yeah, right. Then, why were you suspended? Principal Dolan said you talked back at him.” She continued, ignoring Shawn's pout.

Shawn scoffed. “He exaggerated. I'm sharing a friend's punishment. She was supposed to be expelled.”

Rachel sighed and placed another plate in the rack. “Jade caused trouble again? What did she do this time?”

Shawn muttered. “I never said it was Jade.”

Rachel turned to face him, her green eyes sparkling with certainty. “She's your only friend.” She remarked and Shawn gave a light smile. She pulled off her gloves and washed her hands. Then, she opened the fridge and brought out a food flask which she handed over to him. “Here, I made your favorite.”

Shawn sighed as he took it from her. “Thanks. Mom, I'm sorry.” He said, apologetically.

“For what? Helping out a friend? You shouldn't be.” Rachel replied as she filled up a glass with orange juice for him.

“But this affects everything. My perfect GPA will be ruined and I might even lose my scholarships. If that happens, all your hard work..” Shawn said, feeling remorseful.

Rachel gave a light chuckle and placed the glass of juice on the table before replying. “You knew that yet you went ahead with it. You can't go back now. Besides, there's more to life than high school and college. I'm pretty sure that Jade, before she was broken, would do the same.”

“Thanks, Mom. What will I do without you?” Shawn said gratefully and Rachel smiled. He sat down on a dining chair to eat. He opened the box and saw the one meal that he had felt was the easiest to make and had claimed it as his favorite so that his mother wouldn't have to stress herself -sandwich. 

He raised the sandwich to his mouth and was about to take a bite when he heard his father scream his name. His heartbeat increased rapidly as he dropped the sandwich and left the kitchen to the sitting room, where the sound had come from. 

As he walked into the sitting room, he saw his father standing by the door. His face was red with anger and his brown irises glinted with rage. He walked angrily toward him, removing his belt in the process. 

Shawn knew his anger could only mean one thing - he had been informed of his suspension. He sighed and knelt as it always ended up better for him when he didn't try to struggle. He closed his eyes as his father, Sergio, stood in front of him. He could smell the nasty odor of tobacco and vodka coming from Sergio and he could hear his heavy breathing from where he knelt.

He tried to remember the good times, when his father still had his job and treated his mother like a queen. The times when his father showed by his words and actions how much he loved him. The time when they were one big family.

He wished he could go back to those times. And, he hoped it wasn't just lies his mother fed him with so he wouldn't hate his father. Because he had begun to doubt if the monster he's known all his life was ever a man.

“Do not push me to the wall, Rachel. I'm trying to discipline this wayward boy of yours.” He heard his father say and he opened his eyes. His mother was standing between them, holding an end of the belt. 

“Over my dead body will you touch my son.” She said, looking up to him defiantly. Her small frame compared to his huge stature made her feel like an ant challenging an elephant. But, she didn't care. Sergio could hurt her all he wanted but she would never let him touch her son.

“Fine,” Sergio said as he threw his belt away and grabbed Rachel by her neck. This was the third time she was challenging and since the other two experiences didn't teach, this was surely going to get her senses straight.

Shawn bolted up at the sight of this and reached for Sergio's arm, trying to release his grip on Rachel's neck but Sergio pushed him away. He stood up and ran to Sergio again and Sergio pushed him away again, causing him to bang his head on the wall. 

Shawn blinked his eyes as his head spun. Fortunately for him, it didn't bleed but it hurt a lot. He could only see silhouettes of his parents but he could hear the whimpers of his mother. She was getting weaker with each second. He reached his hand toward the door and grabbed the fire extinguisher by it. Dragging himself up, he hit Sergio's head with it. Sergio muttered some curse words as he released Rachel and turned slowly to face Shawn.

Seeing the blood trickling down his forehead, Shawn dropped the extinguisher. His knees went weak as he watched his father fall flat on the floor. Tears rolled down his eyes as he knelt beside him. He was slowly becoming his worst fear.

His mother placed a hand on his shoulder, probably to reassure him, but he shrugged it off. Then he stood up and walked out of the house ignoring his mother's cries. 

As he stepped into the darkness outside, sorrow surged through him and he struggled to hold back the tears in his eyes. He walked further away from his house, hoping and praying that nothing bad would happen to his father and that he would never be like him.

Reaching the highway, he realized that he had nowhere to go. It wasn't that he had no place to go as he had classmates who would willingly open up their houses to him, but it was that there was no place he could go to with the assurance that his father wouldn't be able to make trouble. 

There was actually one place he could go to - one person his father dare not offend. But he doubted that Jade would let him into her home. Even though there was a big chance that she wouldn't let him in, he decided to go to her anyway.