Family Comes Last

"Aksa, come here!"

The faint voice of a middle-aged man can be heard reaching Aksa's room. Aksa who was in his deep sleep, couldn't hear what was being said clearly. He just mumbled, pretended to answer and continued his sleep. However, the voice was getting louder and closer. Inevitably, Aksa tried to open his eyes. When Aksa's eyes not entirely opened suddenly...

*Splash…*

A bucket of water was poured on him. The clothes, mattress, and cellphone beside his head were wet. Aksa was shocked, He breathed irregularly because some water got into his nose. Aksa then coughed and tried to sit up. When he wasn't properly seated, the voice said again.

"You don't know your place, You ungrateful brat!"

Suddenly a slap landed on his cheek. Aksa frowned in pain. Apart from the slap, the remaining water in his nose was also the reason. Then, The middle-aged man roughly tilted Aksa's chin and squished it out. Aksa didn't fight back, only sometimes endured the pain from the slap before. However, the middle-aged man was still dissatisfied with what he had done and decided to spit in Aksa's face.

*Spit...*

"It's a punishment for children who disobey their parents."

As it turned out, the middle-aged man was Aksa's father, the adoptive one. His name is Andreas Fajar, an accomplished businessman that went bankrupt due to the 1998 Indonesian monetary crisis, a year after Aksa was adopted. He blames Aksa for bringing bad luck for him. Aksa was 12 years old when it happened. From that day, He was severely tortured and asked to work every day after school, even on holidays. The portion of his meal depends on his daily income. If he earns a lot of money, he will get 3 times food with inappropriately small portions. Even one day, he didn't eat anything due to bad selling. The product he tried to sell was food.

"What did I do wrong, Dad?" Aksa asked while pouting his lips, not because he was mocking but because Andre was still holding his chin.

"Still asking why? Who told you to report your condition to the teacher?"

Aksa was silent. However, his eyes continued to stare at Andre's eyes, which were still glaring.

"What?! What do you want to say?" snapped Andre.

Aksa was silent then a voice answered gently from outside of the room. It turned out to be his adoptive mother.

"Hubby, Just let me talk to him." said his mother.

"But babe, this child is so impudent." Andre protested while turning his face to the voice but still holding Aksa's chin.

"This child needs love, let me show it to him."

"If it's not because of your mom's kindness, you have finished already," Andre grunted as he pushed Aksa so that his hand came off his chin. Aksa fell on his back on the bed. The father left the room followed by the adoptive mother who began to close the door inside. She then approached Aksa while lighting her cigarette in the room and then said

"It's been said, my dear child. Don't do something like that again, your dad will be angry."

"Y-yes, mom," Aksa replied as he tried to sit back up.

"You need to say that while looking at my face."

When it came to the end of the sentence, the mother suddenly punctured her cigarette into Aksa's hand. Who would have thought, it turns out that the mother is also as cruel as his father. Her name is Nita Santoso. Just like Andre, his hatred for Aksa stems from the bankruptcy of Andre's business. She lost her jewelry and expensive stuff. However, unlike Andre who openly tortures and coerces to do something, Nita only acts rude when she is alone with Aksa. This is not because Nita is afraid Andre will hate her, but because she has the flexibility to torture Aksa.

"Ouch, mom. Sorry. I-I was wrong." Aksa tried to stop his mother. But all Nita did was just ignored him. The torture lasted up to 1 hour from a belt whip to various other physical punishments.