The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the cracked pavement as Benjamin Grey approached his home, the weight of his schoolbag pulling at his shoulder. He anticipated the familiar creak of the front door, the comforting aroma of his mother's cooking, and the soft hum of the television in the background. Instead, a cacophony of shouts shattered the tranquility, freezing him mid-step.
"Get out of my house and don't you ever dare come back!" the words Benjamin heard as he stood in front of the house, watching his stepfather pull his mother to the front door and throw her out.
Benjamin had just returned home from school and instead of being welcomed into the house like he normally was, this was the sight that greeted him.
It was so unexpected and shocking that he just stood there, frozen as he continued to watch everything unfold like his brain had been shut off and was still rebooting.
As for Benjamin's mother, Lucia, she was on the floor, wincing from the pain of scraping her knees and forearms after hitting the ground as hard as she did when her husband pushed her.
Her clothes weren't spared either.
They had been torn in many places. However, not all damage was a result of the fall. Some were signs of the struggle she had put up inside the house, trying to get her husband to change his mind about his actions but had failed to do so.
"What's gotten into you, Jerry?" Lucia cried as her husband panted and was looking at her with disdain and vitriol.
"Stupid bitch!" Jerry smacked his tongue, then he stormed into the house.
A couple of seconds later, he came back out with a bunch of clothes in his hand.
"Take all your garbage and get lost! I don't want to see you or anything that has to do with you and your stupid kids ever again!" Jerry yelled, then he threw all the clothes on Lucia, who used her injured arms to protect her body as they fell on her.
"W-what in the world is going on here?" Benjamin stuttered, his voice lacking power as he was still taken aback by what he was seeing.
Why and how did things get this bad when everything seemed fine before he went to school? He wondered and came up blank.
Benjamin looked at his mother, who had always been beautiful and immaculate despite their financial struggles and poor health, but now appeared rough and haggard— breaking his heart.
The only time he had seen her that sad was when they received news of his father's passing at work. Never did he imagine that the person who would make her feel this devastated again was going to be none other than her second husband.
Jerry walked back into the house and returned with Lucia's suitcase that he planned on throwing out too, but this time he wasn't alone.
Chasing behind him was Benjamin's younger sister, Gina, who couldn't catch up to him because she was in a wheelchair, but she still tried her best, saying, "Dad! Dad! Please stop!"
Jerry, however, ignored her.
Jerry made it outside and was about to throw the suitcase, but that allowed Gina to finally catch up to him and hold his hand.
"Please Dad, stop what you're doing. What's gotten into you this afternoon? And why are you throwing mom out? Please just calm down and let's—" Gina said, but Jerry glared at her— shutting her up.
Without him having to say a word, Gina understood the message he was conveying with his eyes, which was: "I have no issues slapping a crippled child if I have to. So, shut your mouth before you force my hand."
"Good," Jerry said condescendingly, then he threw the suitcase like he wanted to.
There were still more he wanted to throw out so Jerry tried going back into the house but Gina and her wheelchair obstructed him.
"This stupid child. Always being an inconvenience to me. I'm so happy I don't have to deal with you anymore," Jerry said as he tried to move around Gina so he could enter the house.
Gina, on the other hand, was trying to move out of his way so he could pass, but the result was both of them getting in each other's way and, after a while, Jerry got pissed.
"I warned you about forcing my hand, didn't I? Now get lost!" Jerry said as he grabbed Gina's wheelchair and forcefully removed her from his way.
Because he wasn't careful, Gina lost her balance and the wheelchair toppled over.
The sight of his crippled sister lying on the ground and wincing in pain was the final trigger that made Benjamin snap back to his senses and the first thing he did was lash out angrily.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Benjamin yelled as he rushed toward Jerry, who was walking into the house like he hadn't done anything wrong.
"Huh?" Jerry said when he heard Benjamin's screaming voice and as he turned around, he received a heavy punch to the face that sent him stumbling backward and landing on his butt.
Shocked that Benjamin punched him and even more shocked at how hard it was, Jerry held his cheek and looked at Benjamin.
"You punched me?! You this little bastard, you punched me?!"
"And I'll do it again! How dare you push a defenseless little girl in a wheelchair like that?! And how dare you hurt my mother, who has done nothing but love you all these years?!" Benjamin yelled.
Lucia, who didn't want things to get violent, rushed into the house to stop Benjamin before he did something to hurt Jerry even more.
She got in between the two and tried to calm Benjamin down.
"Don't stop me, mum. Let me teach this animal how to behave towards you guys", Benjamin said, fist clenched in rage, but Lucia continued to hold him back while also trying to calm him down.
"This isn't how I raised you, so please calm down. I'm sure your father is just upset about something and will be—" Lucia said, but stopped talking when, from the distance she and everyone else heard the sound of a car pulling up to the front of the house and the door opening.
Everyone looked outside and saw a taxi parked there. They also saw a beautiful middle-aged woman in a green figure-hugging dress walking towards the house.
"Who is that?" Benjamin asked.
Just then, from behind, he heard Jerry say, "Finally," as he stood up, grinning ecstatically at the lady who stood confidently by the entrance of the house as if she owned the place.
"Stella?" Lucia said, drawing Benjamin's attention.
"Stella? Mom, who's Stella?" Benjamin asked, looking at his mother, who seemed just as confused as he was.
"Stella is my lawyer, but I don't know what she's doing here" Lucia said to Benjamin, then she looked at Stella. "I don't remember us having a meeting today, so what brings you here today?"
Stella smirked mischievously as she entered the house and, without asking nicely or excusing herself, walked through the middle of Benjamin and Lucia and went to stand beside Jerry.
"My mother asked you a question, lady. What are you doing here?" Benjamin said, growing impatient with the lawyer.
"She's here to help me throw the garbage out of my house" Jerry said, stealing the attention.
"The garbage? What garbage are you talking about and did I just hear you say your house?" Benjamin asked, frowning at Jerry.
"Did I stutter?" Jerry frowned.
Benjamin scoffed.
"No you didn't, but you must be joking or have started going crazy because the last time I checked, my late father bought this house with his hard-earned money, so what nonsense are you talking about?" Benjamin sneered.
Jerry grinned and crossed his arms.
"That's where you're wrong, brat, because, as of yesterday, this house and everything your dead father once had now belongs to me." Jerry bragged.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Benjamin asked, grimacing in annoyance.
"Why don't you ask your mother? She knows what I'm talking about", Jerry said proudly.
"Ask my mother?" Benjamin mumbled, then he looked at Lucia beside him and saw her shocked expression, causing him to get confused.
"Mum, what is he talking about?" Benjamin asked.
"Umm… Umm," Lucia gulped.
"Mum! What the hell is he talking about?!" Benjamin exclaimed.