'I have to change my shirt.. It smells like garbage.'
He put his book on his bed and took off his half-drenched shirt. The mirror in front of him was reflecting the image, his pitiful self.
"I think I have to buy women's products to hide my wounds. But, I don't have any money."
He turned back and saw his wounded red skin in the mirror.
"I guess I have to steal it from madam's room. Or my teacher will suspect something which will make things even worse."
Suddenly, the room to his room opened and a little girl came in with her teddy bear.
"Big brother? Are you there?"
She went inside and saw him in that state, his body filled with red marks. So she became terrified.
"Bro..ther…?"
He quickly took a shirt to cover his body but it was too late.
"Aaaaaaaaa!!! Aaaahh!!! Aaahhhhh!!!!"
She started to scream at the top of her lungs.
"Shusss!!! What's wrong Dalia? Why are you screaming? Shushhhh!! Your father will hear you!!"
He ran closer to her to calm her down but the wounds on his body made her more scared. So she increased her volume.
"Don't cry!! Everything is alright! Look, big brother is fine! It's just an allergic reaction because I ate peanuts!"
He was scared because making her cry is much worse than getting an F in an exam.
Just as he thought, his nightmare became true. Dalia's father came inside the room by kicking the door so quickly that she started screaming and found his adopted son half naked with her crying daughter.
And he misunderstood everything.
"How dare you!!!! You monster!! How dare you!!!"
He screamed and kicked out his face so hard that he rolled to the other side of the room. His nose got displaced, but who cares?
"You bastard!! How dare you touch my girl!! You want to mess up with her now because we didn't give you much attention ?? You feed off us like a parasite!! Now you want my daughter?"
He broke the wooden chair near him and started to beat him recklessly.
"Waaaa!!! Waaaaaa!!!!!! Daddy!!! Stop daddy!!!!! Waaaa!!!"
"Look how scared she is!!! How dare you touch my daughter!! I will kill you today!!!!"
But he didn't know that she was screaming loudly because he was beating her big brother who really loves her, plays with her, helps her read stories at night and builds toys for her when she's sad. She was crying because she adores her big brother a lot.
He was constantly hitting on his head and his body with the wooden stick and accidentally, one of his eyes got injured badly. He was in so much pain that he fainted on the spot. He couldn't even stop him or run away.
He gave up…
"Dad!! Stop! Why are you hurting him!! He did nothing! He is sick! Don't hurt him!!!"
She threw her teddy bear at her father and went outside of the house running. Her mom was in the bathroom busy with her skincare so she couldn't hear anything. After a few minutes, she got out and heard a beating sound from her adopted son's room. So, she smirked and went inside her bedroom with a cup of coffee.
…
"I am going to kill you today. I am going to make you crippled so that you can't even touch your own body with it!! These dirty hands of yours! I will make sure to teach you a great lesson."
"Police!!! Hands up!! Get away from the body!! Get away !! Move Move!!!!"
A group of police officers came inside his room out of nowhere. The whole neighbour was gathering in front of the house because Dalia screamed and asked everyone for help. So they called the police because they heard screaming and beating sounds near his room from outside.
"Hahah! Great timing officer! I beat the crap out of him because he raped my little daughter! Can you believe how lowly this shit is!!"
"We will see about that later because we heard something else! Get away from that boy!!!! Go grab him!! Take him out!!!"
"Wait!! You are mistaking something! He's a criminal! Why are you taking me outside!! Dear!!! These men are framing me when I'm innocent!! Dear!!!"
"Shut up!!!"
The officer screamed.
…
Somewhere in the hospital after 3 days.
"Miss! Can you please tell me where Ivon North is!! I'm a sister from 'x' orphanage!!"
A sister from an orphanage run by a church came to the hospital after she heard from a neighbour near his foster parent's house. She nearly fainted after she heard how they treated him but he never complained.
"Oh, you're the first person to visit him. His family didn't come to visit. Not even once. He's in room no C328."
"Thank you, miss!!!"
"My baby!! My dear North!!!"
She ran towards the hallway and quickly found the room where he was staying.
A nurse stopped her because the patient wasn't in a good condition. He had to go through several surgeries to fix his broken bones and his left eye. But his left eye was damaged. It was beyond saving.
She sat on the floor helplessly by seeing his condition and started to cry.
"Dear God! Please punish me for my sins, dear god!! Not him! He's an innocent boy!! Please show some mercy on him, dear god!!!"
"Mam! Please calm down! It's not a place to cry! He will be alright! But he needs more time to recover!! Please mam stop crying!"
The nurse took her outside the room forcefully and called a doctor because she was the first person who visited her after the police.
"Excuse me, sister, do you know him?"
A doctor in a white apron asked her politely.
"Know him? I raised him since he was a little baby who didn't even know how to walk!!"
"Was he adopted by that family? His identification said he's from a wealthy family. The police said they arrested both the father and mother. Then they found adoption papers. So, they contacted the orphanage and told the priest about the situation. The church priest already took action against them because they abused him."
"I know. That's why I came here to take him back."
"You can't take him back yet. He has to wake up. He received a grave head injury. He's so lucky that he was brought to the hospital right after he got hit. Or he'd be dead already. It was an attempted murder."
The sister was sitting there silently after hearing everything. She couldn't even say a word out of her mouth.
'I failed to keep your promise, Flora. Please forgive me,' She mumbled.