Home

"I'm home again!"

Not that anyone cared. It was a day like any other, when Maya's father was still at work, or rather drinking with his work colleagues, while her mother spent the day on the couch again.

As expected, there was no answer, so she sighed, threw her schoolbag on the floor to her left, and strode down the long entrance hallway. Voices grew louder and louder in the room to her left and as she walked past, she saw the TV on while her mother lay on the couch, not even noticing Maya.

'So she did it again...'

Whenever her mother acted like this, Maya knew she had medicated herself into the mental afterlife. One of the evasion methods to escape what was happening at home as soon as her father came back.

For a few moments, she stared over at her mother, but it was useless. No reaction came from her and so Maya went to the kitchen and took bread from the shelf and some butter from the fridge. She didn't need to expect anything proper to eat today, so she made herself two sandwiches and enjoyed them as much as she could.

No one in the household really cooked, anyway. Her mother had stopped years ago, since the situation at home was getting worse, and her father was anything but a cook, so Maya had to fend for herself. All in all, it was an ordinary afternoon at home for her....

"I'm home!" a deep voice called out. "Maya! Where are you?"

Her whole body jerked as she heard the voice and she pulled her head back protectively between her shoulders. Gingerly setting the bread aside, she made her way to the hallway, where she saw an older man. It was, how could it be otherwise, her father, who gave her a grim look. It wasn't long before Maya could detect a strong, disgusting smell emanating from her father.

'He's been drinking again!'

Without even saying a word, she turned to run, but before she could put one foot in front of the other, she felt the firm grip tightening around her arm.

"Where do you think you are going?" he shouted.

No matter what Maya tried, she could not free herself from her father's grip. With all her might, she jerked her arm back and forth, wriggling frantically, but it was no use.

"I had a call from Mr Mayers today," he slurred. "He told me how surprised he was about your eight school changes. He also told me about an incident with a classmate who had been bullying you and he would look into it."

"Agh! Let go of me! It hurts!"

All at once, her body was jerked around and she felt a pressuring pain stretching all over her cheek. Only a few seconds after that, the pain felt burned through her skin and even the rolling tears failed to cool that heat.

"Just one day and you pull that shit again?" he roared. "I'm sick of it. I'm so sick of it."

Again he lashed out with the flat of his hand, raised high above Maya, and let it drive full force against her other cheek. The imprints of the large palms were clearly visible on both sides. Tears rolled unceasingly and inexorably down her face.

Still, Maya tried to tear herself away and sobbed in pain. It was hopeless, and she knew it, but she just wouldn't give up. The pain was too great for her to bear any more.

"Don't even think of running away! How could you do this to us? What have we done to get such a wayward monster? Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

"Mum! Help me!"

By now, he had also grabbed her second arm and had a firm grip on it, so that she could not tear herself away. It was hopeless.

"Mum!"

Her mother looked over at her and a few tears could be seen rolling down, but in the next moment Maya realised she was popping some pills into her mouth and swallowing them down with water. No help would come from her mother. No, she was about to knock herself out of it all again by ingesting sleeping pills.

"You're not a normal girl, you're a monster!"

With force, he yanked her around and sent her tumbling unchecked into the living room, where she hit the floor hard with her back. Her cheeks burned and a sharp pain ran through her back as she lay there, helpless. Whatever she did, her body would not budge, for fear had all but paralysed it.

"This is all your fault!"

Her father had turned away from her, but only to give her mother the next open-handed slap.

"Your entire family is so sick! I should never have fed you through, let alone married you. What did I get in return for my efforts in life? A monster child and a worthless wife!"

Before Maya's eyes, her mother was shaken furiously, but unlike Maya, she probably wouldn't even feel any pain, for the pills numbed her senses. Meanwhile, Maya tried with all her might to suppress her sobs and crawl away as long as he paid no attention to her.

Everything hurt, from her legs to her feet, but with great effort she made it to the doorway of the living room.

"You want to run away, huh? Fine!"

All at once Maya lost her footing beneath her body, for her father had picked her up like used toys and was carrying her up the stairs. The floorboards groaned under each of his heavy steps before he reached Maya's room.

"Here you are!" he shouted, throwing her into the dark room. There were no windows in the room, nor much furniture. A flimsy overhead light and a bed were all that made up Maya's room. Before she could react in any way, she heard the click of the room's lock. He had locked the door from the outside and locked her in.

"I hate you," Maya whispered. "I hate, hate, hate you!"

It was far from the first time she had been so hurt, lying on the cold floor of her room. Piece by piece, she crawled across the cold laminate and pulled herself up by the bedpost. Pain accompanied every movement, and it took a while until she had fully made it onto the bed.

Only now, stretched out on the bed and completely alone, did she let out everything that had held her back until just now. Her suppressed sobs turned into open weeping and she pressed her face into the bed, for the tears made her feel the heat of her cheeks all the more.