Chapter Text
"Mom, Damien wet his pants again!" Neloro screamed and left an echo around our small but comfortable house. "When's he gonna stop peeing his pants?"
"Neloro, please be kind to your brother, and go apologize," Mom replied with fatigue in her voice.
"But mom, he's 7 years old! I stopped when I was 5!"
"Honey, everyone adapts and grows up differently, plus, this shouldn't even be your main issue right now." Neloro sighed and crossed his arms. "Did you pack everything you need and load it into the trunk?" He sighed once more and walked over to his bedroom, and mother sat down on the couch. I stared at her as the smallest tears fell down her face, and she wiped them off. Once she noticed me looking at her, she quickly forced a smile. "Dami, what about you? Are all of your things packed and ready to go?"
"Mhm," I answered quietly and sat down next to her.
"Is everything alright, Damien?" I nodded and stayed silent. The truth is, I wasn't able to sleep at all last night. It was around 1 am when I heard mom and dad arguing about something that I couldn't quite wrap my fingers around. "Are you not excited for the road trip?" Mom asked as she saw me lost in thought.
"I'm excited." was the only thing that was able to leave my mouth.
"That's good! Don't forget that I promised to get you and Neloro some ice cream, alright! Oh, and could you remind me about the-"
"Zora."
I looked up and saw my pathetic for good-for-nothing father staring down at my mother with disgust on his face. He took her arm and dragged her into their room, and began shouting at her. My brother then emerged from his bedroom and walked over towards me, trying to be as quiet as he could be.
"Dad's yelling at her again, huh?" He asked with sadness plastered across his face.
"Mhm."
"I thought everything would go okay today, but it seems not." My brother gave me a small hug and reassured me that everything would be okay. Just then, my father, Mizra, walked out of his room with my mother following behind her.
"Okay, children, let's go. If anything isn't packed and ready to go, then we're leaving it here. I don't have all day." Mother and father walked to the car and closed to trunk. Mother signaled us to rush over, and we both quickly entered the car. While we were inside the car, it was dead silent. No noise, no music, nothing. Just our family fidgeting, so I decided to bring up what mother was talking to me about.
"Uhm, mom? You told me to remind you about something earlier today, what was it?"
"Oh, Dami, don't worry! Just forget about it-"
"Zora. Tell him what he's asking about. Now."
"O-Oh okay honey. Dami, I wanted you to remind me to get candy for you and Neloro along the road trip." My mom replied with unease.
"What? Candy?" My dad looked over at mother and before she could react, slapped her. "What have I told you about wasting money on useless things? Do you not want to learn or what?" Neloro tapped on my lap, gave me a reassuring smile, and whispered to ignore them. I could never understand Neloro. He was 14, double my age, but so stupid. I could never understand my mother either. Even though my father always abuses her, she doesn't want to leave him, or even file for a divorce. Why was it that I lived with such a stupid family and household.
"Mizra honey, I just wanted to make sure that Damien and Neloro are happy, I didn't mean to break any rules, I swear-"
"Ha, like if I haven't heard that story before. Shut up you insolent whore, this is why your ex fiance left your sorry ass, and I don't want to hear a single ounce of noise to come out of your disgusting mouth." That's when I remembered that mother had told me about how Neloro's father wasn't my father, and that she had another spouse before my father. Something in me awakened, and I just couldn't keep it in anymore.
"You bastard, don't call Mom that!" I shrieked at him.
"What was that, you imbecile?" My dad replied and looked behind the driver's seat. He then tried reaching out to me, but my mom stopped him by grabbing his hand.
"Don't touch him with your filthy hands!" She said with anger inside of her. Just then, Neloro broke the argument and yelled over at Father.
"Dad, look out!-"
I closed my eyes, and when I finally opened them again, the world was sideways. My head pained and ringed, and I felt something sticky, like when I spill apple juice and forget to wipe it off, but it had a different smell, and it felt warm. I looked around and found myself staring at my hand. There was some red liquid all over it. It was an extreme amount and something that I had never seen before. Then I heard a familiar noise, the sound of my brother.
"Neloro! What's happening, why's everything sideways, and what's this red stuff all over me and you!" Instead of answering my question, my brother groaned, almost as if he was trying to lift something up. Something extremely heavy. I then notice that the seatbelt is crushing my body, so I try to wiggle it out, but it won't budge. Looking around the car, I can't help but also notice that it's crunched up. Like when my father gets mad, so he steps on a soda can. I look up, and Mother's head is turned towards me, but she's not blinking. Her face looks gray. "Mom?" I whisper, but she doesn't reply. But she always replies, I ponder. This time, I go even louder. "Mom?" Still no answer. Neloro breaks my voice, trying to reach out to Mom.
"Dami, I'm here, it's okay. See? I'm fine." He says, but his voice is shaky. I turn my head and look towards my brother, who has begun pushing and kicking the door, trying to get it open. I look over at Dad, who's in the driver's seat, completely silent. He's not yelling or hitting something, which makes me feel scared and uncomfortable. The car smells like rubber, and I'm not too fond of it. There's glass everywhere. On my lap, on the seat, and even on my hands. Neloro finally gets the car door open, and cold air rushes in. "Damien, give me your hands." He says, so I reach out to him and he grabs my hands, pulling me out of the seat. My legs feel wobbly, but I can stand. I look back at the car, and mom and dad are still silent. Too silent.
"Neloro, what about mother and father? Can you pull them out, too?" I ask, and my brother stares at me with sorrow in his eyes.
"Don't worry about them, Dami. They'll be fine." Suddenly, I see red and blue flashing lights and hear loud sirens. People in uniforms come rushing towards us, shouting words that I can't understand. Neloro pulls me in close and hugs me. His hands are shaking, but he holds on tight like he's afraid that I'm going to disappear. I look up at him and notice him crying, so out of instinct, I cry along with him as I hear the men in suits talking and yelling in the background.