Part 21

Third Person's POV

When Josh's parents were done with him, Josh was thrown into his room. He groaned at the pain but didn't say a word. Josh laid there for a while until he heard his phone vibrate. Grabbing it out of his pocket, Josh saw that a random number had texted him two simple words.

Unknown: Call me

Confused at who texted him, Josh called the random number.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end whispered.

"Who is this?" Josh asked.

"It's Justen," the voice said.

"What's up?" Josh asked, trying to get up and wincing as he did so.

"Hey, are you okay?" Justen asked.

"Uh… yeah?" Josh lied.

"What happened?" Justen asked.

"My parents," Josh said.

"As soon as you got home?" Justen asked.

"Yeah," Josh said.

Justen sighed.

"What about you and your dad?" Josh asked.

Justen sighed again. "He put me in a trunk."

"Like a car trunk?" Josh asked, confused.

"Like a trunk that would be at the foot of your bed," Justen explained.

"Why?" Josh asked.

"Why does my dad do half the stuff he does?" Justen asked.

"So, a trunk," Josh asked.

Justen rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it smells like weed in here too," he said.

"But why a trunk?" Josh said.

"I don't know," Justen said before he heard his dad's footsteps enter the room. "I've got to go, I'll talk to you or text you later."

"Okay, bye," Josh said before Justen hung up the phone on his end.

Josh sighed and walked into the bathroom that was attached to his room. He looked at his sad face in the mirror before undressing himself and getting into the shower.

Meanwhile, Justen stayed quiet as his dad walked into the room. He heard his dad walk over to the trunk and tap on the top. Justen didn't say a word as the burning fire of hatred grew inside him. Justen's dad tapped the lid of the trunk again before giving the side a good kick. Hearing Justen cry out, his dad smirked and walked over to his bed and sat down. He looked over at the empty spot and felt the same empty feeling inside him.

After his wife died, Justen's dad had an empty hole in his heart and tried to fill it with drugs. Sure the kids were a reminder of his wife, but every time he looked at them, it was also a reminder of what he lost. Justen's dad laid on the bed and wished his wife was alive. He wished his daughter, Natalie, could see Justen. And most importantly, he wished he stopped hurting himself and his son. He hated how this empty feeling caused him to hurt his own son.

Justen, on the other hand, wished Natalie could see him now. Justen wished his mom could see how much pain he was going through. He wished he could talk to Josh at this moment. But Justen knew that no matter how many times he wished, nothing was going to happen.