"Stop!"
Zhi Hao froze in place when he heard his mother's voice.
Xiao Lei stood akimbo as she said in a low threatening tone, "Xiao Zhi Hao, turn around and come back here now."
With a gulp, Zhi Hao tried to take another step further but…
SWOOSH!
A dagger the length of an adult's middle finger landed on the glassless picture frame on the wall in front of him. The picture of a male actor who was in the picture frame was stabbed right in the face before it fell.
"Poor Jon Snow..." thought Zhi Hao.
When the picture frame rattled from the impact and fell from the wall with a loud "Thud!", Zhi Hao could see the small cuts in the wall that was previously hidden behind the frame. When he was younger, his parents would often compete with each other with their "toys". All the cuts on the walls were caused by his parents when they "played" around with their "toys".
"Toys" that Zhi Hao was never allowed to play with.
After his father disappeared, his mother covered some of the cuts with those cheap frames she bought at a flea market.
Knowing that his mother meant business, Zhi Hao immediately turned around and walked back to her.
As she stared at her son's guilty face, Xiao Lei frowned and said, "Lift up your hands."
Zhi Hao pouted and did what he was told. He showed her his palms which had some cuts from when he fell earlier. However, Xiao Lei was smarter than that and she knew he was trying to cover her eyes from seeing the real truth.
So, despite his resistance, she pushed his sleeves up. There was nothing on him, but Xiao Lei felt that something was amiss as she looked at the top and bottom of his arms.
"The skin of his arms..." thought Xiao Lei.
She took her own cup of leftover tea that was lukewarm now and dipped two fingers into it before swiping her wet fingers from the back of Zhi Hao's left hand to his elbow.
When she glanced at her fingers, there were light brown stains on it.
"Foundation?" She frowned as she looked at her son.
Knowing that his cover was about to break, Zhi Hao pulled his hands back and raised both of them up in defeat as he said, "Concealer actually. Foundation is too expensive."
Xiao Lei clenched her fists as she said, "I want to see everything."
"Mum, it's just light bruises," said Zhi Hao nonchalantly as he sat on the couch. The way he said it was as if he were used to this kind of injuries.
Xiao Lei glared at him and said in an irritated tone, "Not another word out of you. Go and shower now. If you play another trick, I'll bathe you myself."
"Mum," Zhi Hao whined as he turned to look at his mother's eyes. The look in his eyes was as if he were telling her to drop it.
In her serious-mum voice, she pointed at the stairs as she snapped, "Now."
Zhi Hao groaned as he dragged himself to the shower. He was a little angry at the man earlier.
"Mr. Luo, this is not over..." thought Zhi Hao angrily as he went under the shower. He did not want his mother to know about this. She had plenty of things to worry about, and he did not want to add more onto her plate.
Once he was done showering, he slowly made his way out of the bathroom and stood in front of his mother. This time, he was wearing an oversized t-shirt that used to belong to his father.
Looking at her son who looked so small in that t-shirt, Xiao Lei wanted to smile but she held it back. He looked like the time when he was six and went through their closets while they were busy cleaning up the house. He was so adorable when he walked out of their room wearing his father's t-shirt that reached his ankles and her skirt over his little head.
Seeing him in his father's old shirt made her want to pick him up and lock him somewhere he would be safe at.
However, she could no longer do that. He was already in high school now.
"Hands," Xiao Lei said as he stood right in front of her. Even though he looked cute, she was not about to let him hide this from him.
He lifted both his hands up. Now that the concealer had been washed off, she could see how bad the bruises were. At both his tanned forearms, there were blue and dark purple bruises. These were all defensive bruises and they looked pretty recent. She looked at his knuckles and thought, "He didn't fight back..."
She clenched her jaw and tried to remain calm as she asked, "Anywhere else?"
"No."
"Zhi Hao," Xiao Lei said in a warning tone.
The boy sighed and slowly lifted his shirt. Underneath his shirt, there were bruises and welts as well. It looked like someone had been using him as a punching bag.
She gasped and turned him around, and on his back, there were what looked like old faded cane marks on it. When she reached out to touch it, he flinched slightly before stopping himself.
"I- I'll make some hard-boiled eggs," said Xiao Lei in a choked voice as she turned away from her son. It was too hard for her to bear. She knew that he was having a hard time, but she did not know that it was so bad. As she stood in front of the stove, she wondered if she did something wrong by sending him to that school.
Zhi Hao watched as his mother walked to the kitchen and took out the remaining two eggs from the carton.
He looked at his own bruised filled forearms and sighed. It did not hurt as bad as it looked. What annoyed him most was how ugly the bruises were when they were healing.
Yes, the bullying was bad, but he had expected it when he finally made his decision to go to that rich-people school. Even in a public school, someone who was weak and/or poor would be picked on. Much less, a school for the children of elites.
For their future, he was willing to endure everything. What he did not understand was why he could not come home during the holidays. Even if it was for a few days, just by seeing his mother, he would feel strong enough to deal with the bullies.
Zhi Hao walked over to his mother who was looking out outside the semi-broken grilled window. There were tears in her eyes as she thought about something.
Zhi Hao pulled on her jacket lightly as he called out in a meek voice, "Mum... "
There was a long silence before she wiped the tears off and said in a hushed tone, "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
"Since when?" asked Xiao Lei as she turned around to face her son.
"Lately."
"Zhi Hao."
Zhi Hao sighed. His mother always knew when he was lying. At first, he thought of it as fun and would always test her out. But it was getting a little annoying as he grew older. There were things that a teenage boy did not want to tell his mother!
"Since the beginning of the year… It just got worse lately." He finally admitted the truth.
She gasped, "Since you started attending Imperial Sec? We taught you how to fight, why didn't you fight back?"
"If I fought back, the one who would be at fault would be me."
"Then didn't you tell your teachers?" asked Xiao Lei in an exasperated manner. She pulled him into a hug before she placed a kiss on the top of his head. She felt somewhat sad that he was growing bigger.
The last time she saw him was when she dropped him off at the school, and back then, he was only at her chest. But now, he had reached below her nose. It would not be long before he grew taller than her.
As he hugged his mother back, Zhi Hao said softly, "I'd be hated by everyone if I snitch on them. It'd only get worse."