FREE CHAINS: The Awakening

Amidst a bipolar weather sat Austin confused on what to do at that point in time having waited for his elder sister who went to visit her boyfriend amidst the confusing weather. Almost angry Austin sat up in distress after deciding to go look for his sister as their parents warned them to stay indoors. "Diane I’ve been waiting for you," Austin shouted as he saw her approaching with tears in her eyes. "Ohhh my dearest Austin I’m so sorry for delaying an ounce of your time," she paused. She made an attempt to move but stopped abruptly. "He’s cheating on me," she said faintly almost without murmuring a word. "You said what! How can he be that cheap?. Well, I’m not surprised coz I’ve always seen him with various girlies who look nothing like you, bruhhh he’s such a scumbag but look on the bright side, he doesn’t give you nothing but comes into our house and eat stuffs goshhh," he said amidst laughter who knows if he steals too... "oh Diane diamonda I love you my seniorita," he said mimicking Frank. "Who even calls a girl such horrible names, psst he’s so fakeeee," he said and walked out with Diane following him closely behind. "I’ve been wanting to say this man! .... Hold up girl! Stop beating yourself up because a broke ass Nigga broke your freaking heart, he’s not worth it for goodness sake. Do you know what that means?" she asked angrily... "It means I’m single! urghhh" After walking for almost 30 minutes and arguing almost throughout the walk they finally got home. Stepping into the house they met the shock of their lives, their dad and mum sitting on the couch looking vicious... Diane pinched her brother so hard he could literally scream but they were in a tight corner at that moment. "WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM!" both parents said simultaneously. Cold ran down her spines because she knew Austin could tell on her once the situation got more intense so she sought for lies to tell but couldn’t think of any. "Erm i...i...went to..." "You went where!" her mother shouted angrily, "How many times have we told both of you never to step your tiny feet outside this house huh? You always want us to do this the hard way right?" She started walking towards the dining and they both knew what that means, they would get beaten by both parents for hours.. after what seemed like an eternity their father finally spoke. "We’ll teach you both the lessons of your life today!" Austin feet wobbled so hard he almost peeped his pant. "She went to her boyfriend’s," he said without thinking. Everywhere fell silent and everyone stopped moving and moving towards the door. "Mum and Dad I’m so sorry, I promise i wasn’t planning to disobey you it’s just that ... TARWAEE!" Her father hit her face so hard she fell to the ground and started bleeding. "Go to your room both of you!" their mother said angrily. Inside his room Austin couldn’t stop thinking of how he betrayed his sister and thought deeply of what to do to make it up to her. Knowing how difficult his sister could be, he knew for sure that he was gonna get the silent treatment and he was too bothered to even notice that he was falling asleep gradually. Across the narrow hallway, Diane lay awake in the suffocating darkness of her room. The left side of her face throbbing with a burning heat, a sharp reminder of her father's heavy hand. Tears silently tracked down her temples, soaking into her pillow, but she didn't dare make a sound. Every creak of the old house made her breath catch in her throat. She stared at the ceiling, her chest aching with a mix of raw anger and absolute betrayal. Austin. She knew he was terrified, she has seen his feet wobbling but hearing him blurt out the truth had felt like a second blow. He had left me to take the fall, she thought, pressing her palm against her stinging cheeks. Beneath the pain and the betrayal, something else was beginning to stir in the pit of stomach. A cold, unfamiliar spark. For years, she had taken the fear, the strict rules, and the sudden outbursts. Sitting there in the dark, clutching her face, Diane realized a quiet, dangerous truth: something inside her was changing and she was never going to let them break her like this again. Beeeeepp! His alarm rung, waking him into a harsh reality then suddenly he sat up and stared into space, quietly thinking of the previous night and how he f****d up his sister's trust, knowing fully well that if she wasn't angry she would have woken him up even before his alarm rang. Trrrrrrrrrrr! The sound of the alarm came again to remind him that it was time to get his ass off his bed. He leapt out of his bed like an injured fellow, he suddenly thought about going to his sister's room to apologise despite knowing that she wouldn't even acknowledge his presence but he wanted to give it a try. Knock knock; that was the only thing he could do at that point knowing fully well that knocking on his sister's door was not an option before now. He cleared his throat and knocked even harder this time. After swallowing saliva for a while like a prisoner about to receive a life imprisonment, he finally opened her door with his heart in his mouth. "Diane I’m so sorry i didn’t...." He stopped abruptly after noticing that her room was disorganized for the very first time but he couldn't find her uniform which could only mean one thing: she had gone to school without waking him up, but of course that explained how angry she was at him. He suddenly realized how much time he had spent just doing nothing. Looking at the clock, that hung wearily on the faded wall in her room his eyes caught something but before he could get a closer glimpse at it, her alarm beeped way louder than usual and his attention diverted to the clock making his eyes to see the time clearly. "Oops it’s almost 8am and I’m still lazying around urggh!" At school, things weren’t looking up for Diane as she faced constant bullying from her jealous classmates despite being quiet and doing her stuff alone. Walking through the large hallway made her feel so sick in her stomach. The heavy scent of floor wax and teenage sweat hung thick in the corridor, but it did nothing to mask the stench of cruel whispers. Diane pulled the collar of her cardigan higher around her throat, forcing her chin up even as the left side of her face throbbed in time with her racing pulse. "Well, look who decided to crawl out from under her rock," a sneering voice cut through the commotion. Vanessa stepped into her path, flanked by her two usual shadows. She tilted her head, her glossy lips curving into a mocking smile as her eyes locked onto the faint yellowing bruise creeping up Diane's jaw. "What happened to your face, Diane? Did Frank finally get tired of looking at you, or did you fall down the stairs trying to hold onto him?" Laughter rippled through the hallway. In the past, Diane would have dropped her gaze, murmured an apology for existing, and hurried past to the sanctuary of the library. She would have let the shame consume her. But as Vanessa reached out to shove her shoulder, something snapped. The memory of her father's hand crackling across her face, the echo of Austin’s voice giving her up, the weight of the invisible chains she had carried for years it all coalesced into a sharp, icy stillness within her chest. Diane caught Vanessa’s wrist mid-air. The corridor went instantly silent. Vanessa’s smile faltered, her eyes widening in sudden shock as Diane's grip tightened harder, colder, and far stronger than anyone expected from the "quiet girl." "Don't," Diane said, her voice dropping to a low, steady murmur that chilled the air between them. "Don't ever put your hands on me again." Vanessa snatched her wrist back, taking an involuntary step backward, flustered and humiliated. "You've lost your mind," she spat, though her voice lacked its usual bite. Diane didn't answer. She simply walked past her, the crowd parting around her like water against stone. She didn't feel safe, and she certainly didn't feel healed but as she pushed open the classroom door, she felt the first link of her old self shatter. She was done being the silent victim.