Angel beside her.

"Never will I hear 'I'm proud of you' I only hear about everything I do wrong." "I didn't do anything," little girl said in a small voice.  "Enough of that Xander! You're not going to hurt my grandchild anymore," grandmother said as she took the stick from father's hand.  "Mom you're always coming in my way," he complained.  "In your way of what? Taming your child? She's not someone who needs beating like animals just to teach what's wrong and what's right!" she raised her eyebrows.  "She broke the best antique figurine we had," he complained.  "Stop whining about it already. You can buy more figurines but you can't buy another arm. You understand?" Grandmother placed a hand at the girl's arm checking out her scars.  "Let's go and heal these. Okay Susan?" she smiled at the little girl whose eyes were welling with tears. She simply nodded and held her long skirt with her small hands following her into the kitchen.  "When you get a cut, you should apply a little turmeric paste. It heals faster than that medical stuff they've got over that box." She said softly while applying turmeric paste at a fresh cut she had got while she was trying to clean up the glass figurine she broke. "I- I didn't do it on purpose Grandma," tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked at her grandmother checking her arm again.  "Shhh! You don't have to justify it to me. I know you didn't do it on purpose," grandmother calmed her down while hugging her.  "Suzie! I want you here with your math's notebook in five minutes," her mother yelled from drawing room. Grandmother kissed her forehead and whispered, "Well your mother is home from work now, guess you gotta go and study now. I know you can do it. Don't be afraid okay?" Five year old Susan nodded her head slowly as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Now go and study well my child," she cleaned her face and let her go out of the kitchen. "Is that turmeric paste again? You got yourself hit again by doing something silly? Oh God can I ever get a relief from this?" he mother looked at her in disbelief. "I didn't do it on purpose mother," she defended herself. "Oh yeah it was my fault! Of course it's my fault you were born. You little piece of shit." She face palmed as she turned to her husband, "What did she do now?" "Broke the antique figurine we brought last month from Paris," he said without looking up from his evening newspaper. "WHAT? Do you even know their price? How can you even think of touching it?" her mother boiled up. Her eyes wide than before, fists clenched as if ready to hit anyone who dared to come in front of her. Susan got more frightened at sight of her getting angry. She tried to back off but the sofa behind her didn't allow her to escape. That's when she felt a sharp stinging pain on her right cheek. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she placed her hand on her face where it hurt like hell. "Roxanne! Stop it!" her uncle stopped mother from hitting her one more time. "Why are you always picking on this small kid? She didn't do it on purpose she's repeating it over and over again. Don't you get it?" Stephen barked. "Nobody's touching her now! You guys are doing enough harm to her already!" "I didn't do it on purpose Uncle Stephen," she cried as her uncle tried to feed her.  "I know you didn't do it Susan. Now please eat or you won't be able to do anything tomorrow,"  "I don't wanna do anything Uncle Stephen,"  "Oh boy! How do you feed children?" he whispered to himself before moving on to wiping her tears with a clean towel.  "Okay Susan. Now if you eat well I promise to take you to Amusement park this Saturday," he smiled.  "Really?" she asked surprised.  "Yes of course,"  "Aaaa" she opened her mouth to eat.  "Kids!" he sighed as he filled her mouth with pasta.  "I didn't do it on purpose mom," she whined softly as she slept. Her father looked at her and sighed.  "That was important to make you learn my child," He looked over to Roxanne who was going through office papers on the other side of bed.  "When will you get a control over your short temper honey? You nearly killed the child today. She had already had fair share of her punishment earlier today," Roxanne piled the papers neatly and kept them inside a file.  "I'm stuffed with work in the office. I feel sorry for letting it out on her," she looked at Susan and placed a hand over her head patting her softly. "You better be easy on her," "Says who? The one who gave her over a dozen bruises in a week!" she looked at him fiercely.  "I want her disciplined,"  "You can't apply your military rules on a five year old kid,"  "She'll be a good child, very respectable and disciplined,"  "Oh God Xander!"  --- "Dad is going back to duty?" Susan enquired her father's younger brother.  "Yes Susan and he'll be back soon. You don't have to worry about that,"  "Okay Uncle Stephen I'll be going over to help grandma in her garden," she smiled and ran away happily.  "Where are you going Susan?" a voice demanded and she stopped in her tracks.  "To Grandma's garden," she said without turning to look at her father.  "Remember to drink a lot of water, eat meals properly and take care of yourself okay," he patted her head gently and kissed her cheek. Susan was too stunned to speak, she ran away to garden without turning to look at her father whatsoever.  "You should've said a nice goodbye at least," her grandmother said as she planted a tomato plant into a new pot.  "I would've fainted just by looking at him all dressed up in his uniform, let alone saying goodbye," she thought to herself and continued to water the Rose she had planted recently. --- "Uncle Stephen promised to take me to Amusement Park!" she shrieked while locking herself in her room.  "He'll be back from work soon Susan. Now be a good girl and come down for lunch," Roxanne called out. "I'm not hungry," she replied and sat on her bed looking out of the window. *Evening 6:30 p.m.* "You're quite early today," grandmother commented. "I'm drained mom," Stephen stretched and lied down on sofa closing his eyes. "And you're sure you're not forgetting any of your promises?" she raised an eye at him while her eyes never left the embroidery she was doing at Susan's handkerchief. "DAMN IT! How can I forget?" he jerked straight up from sofa and ran to the stairs just to see Susan sleeping soundly. "She didn't even eat lunch saying that you promised to take her to park. Poor kid," grandmother walked behind him. "What do I do now?" "Bring her nice present at least to compensate for forgetting." She walked out of the room leaving Stephen thinking whether his niece will accept his apology or not. "Susan." A soft voice spoke tapping on her shoulder. "Y-you came home Uncle Stephen?" she slowly opened her eyes just to see a strange person standing in front of her.