Tears Can't Heal

"Where is it?" Evelyn thundered. "I know you took it. Tell me what you did with the money." She barged into the living room like a madwoman to confront her husband who was sitting peacefully on the couch, sipping tea.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," her husband replied, pretending to look surprised.

"The money that mama Claire gave me yesterday, where did you put it?... Or did you gamble it all?" Evelyn cried.

"It's eight in the morning and you're shouting like a crazy person. I can't take this shit." Evelyn's husband forcefully slammed his hands on the table where he placed his tea, spilling its contents on the floor. "Can you shut that disgusting mouth of yours, you hoe?"

"What did you call me?" Evelyn fought back.

"You heard me."

"That was our daughter's treatment money. Our daughter's. Have you got no shame? How can you gamble it all away?"

"What I do with the money I found is none of your business!"

"The money you found? Don't you mean the money you stole? You pathetic liar. Did you forget you were the one who caused this? You caused her to be like this! You made our daughter mute."

"Do I look like I care? At least she's not dead."

"How can you say that?" Evelyn faltered. "... And with such a straight face. Are you even human? Does Hikari not mean anything to you?" Evelyn screamed at his face.

"Are you being delusional now?"

"Answer me!"

"This unbearable woman. I should just beat you to death, then you'll learn not to scream like that to me." Evelyn's husband got up from the couch and lunged at her, grabbed her by the neck, and pushed her down on the floor. Evelyn hit her head on the edge of the table from the impact. Drops of blood trickled from her head to the floor. Satisfied at what he had done, Evelyn's husband went out of the house with a triumphant laugh, proud that he had shown her who the boss was in that house.

Evelyn sat in a daze, eyes wide open, unbelieving what had just happened. For the first time in her life, she felt scared of her husband. He was insane. He might as well be capable of murdering people. One of these days, he might kill her or her daughter. She couldn't be more thankful that Hikari had gone to school that day.

It was partly a blessing that Hikari's school started very early in the morning, so it gave Hikari less interaction time with her broken family. She didn't have to witness the suffering Evelyn went through every day or the inhumane treatment of her father. Evelyn wished Hikari would never witness those horrible events.

"... I'm tired," Evelyn muttered to herself. "I'm tired of living this way." She leaned on the couch, still sitting on the floor. Hugging her knees tightly, she began to weep. "Hikari... I'm sorry but mama can't take this anymore," she said in between sobs.

"Hikari? Is that you?" Claire called out excitedly and immediately stopped watering the plants in her garden. Hikari came running to her and jumped to hug her. "Look at you. So beautiful in your school uniform. Is today your first day at school after summer vacation?" she asked.

Hikari nodded furiously.

"I see. You know, my grandson will be joining you next year. I'm going to enrol him at your school. Both of you will be in the same class. Won't that be exciting?"

Hikari beamed with joy at those words. She just couldn't wait for that time to come.

"Look at you. You're looking so fantastic, my Hikari." Claire pinched Hikari's cheeks, smiling lovingly at her. "Leyon? Leyon? Come outside, dear," Claire called out. A few seconds later, Leyon came out of the house, sporting a bored, indifferent look as always.

"What is it, granny?" Leyon asked, not even caring to know what made his grandmother so hyped.

"Look who's here. It's Hikari in her school uniform! Isn't she cute?"

"It's just a school uniform." Leyon sulked.

"Don't say that. You're making Hikari feel sad."

Leyon immediately directed his attention to Hikari, as if to check if she got offended by his remark, but all he received from her was a vigorous shake of her head. Unknowingly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Look at you two. I wish I could take a picture," Claire said to herself. "Oh wait. I have a camera. Stay there. I'll go get it." With that said, Claire rushed into the house to retrieve her camera.

...

"Okay... now get a little closer, you two. A bit closer. Yes... yes... a bit more. Smile. Come on Leyon, stop brooding. Smile like Hikari. I'm going to take it now... one, two, three..."

*CLICK*

"See. That wasn't so bad. Leyon doesn't know how to pose, look at his blank expression." Claire laughed, looking into her camera. "Should we take one more? The three of us? Oh no." Claire frowned. "The battery's dead. I forgot to charge it. My bad. Maybe next time. We'll take it next time." Claire laughed sheepishly.

...

That night had been the longest for Hikari. She'd spent the entire day at grandma Claire's house with Leyon. It was five-thirty in the evening when she walked home. She was sure her mother wouldn't mind as long as she told her she was with grandma Claire.

Hikari found the rooms dark and unlit when she finally reached home. Her mother was nowhere to be seen. The feeling in her gut told her something was horribly wrong. Alarmed, Hikari ran, turned on all the lights in her house, and began to search for her mother. Running into the living room, and spotting the broken glasses and spilt liquid on the floor, Hikari immediately knew something terrible had happened between her father and mother. She searched everywhere in the house but couldn't find her mother anywhere. A sense of foreboding consumed her as she imagined the worst. All she hoped to God at that moment was to see her mother alive.

"Look who's here," a voice interrupted her train of thought. "Looking for your mother?"

Hikari gulped in fear. Her father was drunk again. Staring intently at her with his menacing eyes, he approached her. Hikari unconsciously stepped back, her little feet weakly trudging backwards until her back touched the wall behind her. An ominous feeling grew in the pit of her stomach.

"Your bitch of a mother is gone. She'll never come back. Because she ran away with a guy. She's left you. And she's left me and this is all your fault," Hikari's father shouted at her, giving her the most hateful look she had ever seen. "If only you had been a normal kid, your mother wouldn't have left. She left because she was tired of you. Who wants a mute child like you?"

Tears pricked her eyes, but she did not let them fall. Hikari never would have anticipated this at all; the words spoken by her father ripped her heart apart and tore her soul to shreds. Whatever that was upsetting him, he believed she was the cause of it. He was crazy, mad even.

"She's never coming back here. I will not let her," he continued. "If she does, I'll make sure to kill you both when that day comes," he threatened.

Years of alcohol abuse and gambling addiction reduced him to this unbearably pathetic and miserable state. Hikari didn't know what to think. Everything was like a dream, a nightmare to be precise, and she desperately wanted to wake up from it. Her delusional mind processed the idea that if she woke up, everything would be back to normal. Her mother would be there in the kitchen cooking something delicious for her, and her father would have gone fishing in the sea, leaving them alone. And lastly, she never would have heard the terrible news concerning her mother.

"What are you thinking so deeply about?" her father interrupted. "This ugly daughter of the bitch, I should teach you a lesson. That way, maybe in the future, you won't turn out to be like your mother." He cracked his knuckles, a sinister smile spreading across his lips as he closed in on her.

Knowing what her father was going to do, Hikari ran to her room and tightly shut the door behind her. She could hear his angry outbursts coming from the other side of the door. With shaking hands, she desperately held onto the doorknob, trying to drown out his voice. It was only when she heard her father's voice becoming fainter and fainter that she knew he had gone. Exhaling a long breath she didn't know she had been holding, she slowly slid down onto the cold floor and finally allowed her silent tears to fall.