A loud noise was heard from their mother's room. Justin's little brother woke up nervous, without standing up. Instead, he tried to close his eyes, ignoring the noise that was now getting louder. Closing his eyes, the little boy tried to think happy memories he had with his big brother, but sadly, that was not possible.
Suddenly, he heard his door cracking open, and felt his heart skipping a bit. Taking a deep breath of relief, be realized it was only his big brother that entered his room to check on him.
Sitting at the edge of the bed, Justin touched his little brother's hand, that was shaking all this time.
"Again?", the little boy asked and his brother nodded.
Such kinds of situations were kind of normal during these hours. Their father, would come late from work - or at least that was his excuse- fully drunk and become violent against anyone who had the bad luck of coming across him.
Justin, a 15 year old teenager, along with his little brother, Sammy, an 8 year old cute boy, would listen every night his father smashing things, arguing with their mom. Justin, had once seen their mother with bruises, but she found an excuse. However, the young teen, wasn't a fool. He knew exactly what he had done to her the previous night but sadly, she didn't say a thing.
Young Sammy, only has a few good memories in his house and most of them are with his big brother. Despite their age difference, Justin always treats his young brother with love, something their father had never done.
Sammy that summer night, felt cold. Maybe because of how he was feeling inside. Justin looked outside of the window. The night was so peaceful, yet it didn't match the situation inside their house. The only light that was allowed into Sammy's room, was because of the moon and a dim light outside of their house.
The boys' bikes were outside, waiting for some long walks, now that schools were off for the summer. Justin would ride his bike along with his friends and go swimming by the lake, ten minutes away from home.
Some evenings, he would help Sammy ride his bike, now that he was old enough.
Basically, Justin was like a father figure to Sammy. He taught him how to read, write and even play the guitar. Justin believed that his little brother was very talented and pressured him to follow whatever he loves. And so he did.
Sammy was only 8 years old but both Justin and their mother were so proud of him for being able to play the guitar so well.
Back to that night, Sammy took some deep breaths and looked at the time.
"I should go back to sleep. The noise is over.", he whispered and Justin shook his head in agreement.
"I promise you Sammy, we will leave this house, sooner or later.", Justin said and stood up, heading our of the room.
"If...", the little boy began saying but stopped. His brother frowned and didn't say a thing."Goodnight Justin.", he finally said quietly and headed back to sleep.
The teenager got out of the room and for a few seconds stared across the corridor, where he was making the noise. It was indeed quiet and Justin's guess was either he had fallen asleep fighting or he had passed out because of the alcohol.
His impulsive thoughts told him to get into his room, grab a bat and smash his head, but then he thought about Sammy. He couldn't leave him with him. As his thoughts were backing off, he took a right turn and headed to his room. The time was already 4:00 A.M., so he tried to sleep as much as he could.
Justin was working at his uncle's fishing shop. It's not like he loved it, but he wanted some pocket money and thankfully his uncle was there for him. He didn't work many shifts but kept his money for an emergency at home. His uncle was a good man, always willing to help. Justin didn't know if he was aware of the situation at home, since his mother wouldn't dare to tell him, but he always treated his nephews with kindness.
Justin remembers some years ago, that they would go to his house and celebrate Thanksgiving all together. His uncle, had 3 kids, around Justin's age. They had good relationships and sometimes, Martin, the eldest, would come and help his father if Justin was not available.
Summer was too hot that year, although they lived in a small town in the northern part of the country. Thankfully, they had that lake and could swim just to cool themselves. Sammy was afraid of swimming, even though Justin tried many times to teach him the basics. Yet, the little boy bad made some progress, and sometimes would suggest his big brother to go swimming.
On the other hand, Justin loved the feeling of water running all over his body. There were several times, where he would ride his bike alone and go to the lake and swim for hours, until the sun went down. The sunset from the lake was amazing and the teenager, would put on his headphones and sit there, listening to his favorite music, contemplating about anything.
That summer though was meant to be different. Beyond every possible scenario, and the small town would make big news...