~6 YEARS AGO ~
Pain. Anger. Denial.
These were the emotions I felt, when I came to realize that my dad wasn't missing. In fact, this was very far from the truth. My dad, Akenji, was a good man, or at least I thought so. He never argued with my mom, he always loved and cherished me, and he never hurt anyone. He was a calm, peaceful and a family-oriented man. So, imagine the shock I went through; our family went through; when we found out he had abandoned us. His wife of 20 years, his son of 14 years, his lifetime business; he left it all. And for what? I, personally had no idea.
"Benji, he was a good man. You know him and how he was. Do you really think your dad would leave our family or us behind for anything in the world?"
From then after, instead of the usual bedtime stories, this was what I heard each night. When dad left, I thought that I only lost one of parent. But alas, no. Both of my parents were gone that night. One physically, one mentally. Mom thought that there was a huge conspiracy afoot, that our father would be back. I always thought who in the world would even conspire against us, against our average middle-class family. Who had that much time in the world to spend? But, in fear of my own mom, I never shared these thoughts to anyone. I kept it bottled deep inside me.
My mom, Shina, then, started turning to alcohol to numb the pain. The duties of the household fell down to good-old Benji, who had to juggle both school and the household drama. I didn't mind. Of course, I couldn't; what son would I be if I thought of my mom as a burden. I knew what kind of son. A bad one. So, I did all of my duties dutifully. I was happy with my life. Even though, I now didn't have a dad, I did have my mom. My dear mom who I loved to the ends of the earth. Although, lately it seemed like her love for me had waned, mine didn't.
That was how my life was supposed to be. This was the meaning of my existence. And gradually, it all became a part of my daily lifestyle. I reckoned this would be my life until I died. But then, I entered college...
~2 YEARS LATER~
It was just an average day. I had joined the public school for about 2 –3 months. I didn't really have any friends. I was a loner. It's not like I preferred to be alone but rather others preferred to never talk to me. It didn't faze me. I was happy staying in my own track of my life. But that fateful day, I didn't know, my life was about to turn upside down.
I left breakfast in the kitchen for when mom woke up. I left my house and was on my way to college. That was when I heard a commotion, it seemed a new neighbor was moving in next to us. The last neighbor left because his daughter got accepted in a good university or whatever. I never had much interaction with them and I wasn't planning to interact with these new people too. People were unloading the truck; I saw a middle-aged couple that were giving orders to the handymen. Then, I saw her.....