Black Roses

Dim Lights

Troian sat quietly in the corner of his room, window open, lights off, he sat alone in the cold dark room un able to move. He couldn’t breathe, he was stuck, as his head fell into his hands his knees up against his chest. Silence filled the air around him as he felt his heart beat fast against his closed in chest, shivers ran up his spine making the hairs on his neck stand up.

Hearing noises he had tried to block out came rushing in from the outside world, creeping around the corner keeping it quiet in order to not get caught, like a game of hide and seek only not wanting to be found by the seeker. Troian peered his head around the corner of the wall leading to the lounge room, a vague, tall standing lamp lit up a corner of the room, his mum sat on an old, rustic arm chair his dad yelling a bottle of vodka in hand, glass shattered all over the ground.

Unable to speak a word, forced into silence, alone and fragile, broken by the man he once looked up too, was the way he was too live? Was this what every man was like? Angry at the world around him, holding in the rage building on the inside, his chest closing in as his face lit up in flames, stopping himself from getting involved but wanting to help…

“YOU LITTLE w***e” his dad drank from the bottle of vodka as he turned getting up so close to his wife that he could smell the garlic in her breath from the family dinner they had eaten an hour ago.

“YOU b***h, YOU SLEPT WITH HIM? YOU’RE SUCH A LITTLE SKANK, SLUT” Troian’s mother curled in a ball her hands covering her face trying to be as small as possible.

“GUESS WHAT FUCKER, YOU ARE MINE, IF YOU EVER SEE HIM AGAIN, I SWEAR TO CHRIST, I WILL SLIT HIS THROAT” the continuous yelling filled Troian’s ears, unable to think, frozen still like ice, unsure as to what to do.

“Mike please, I, I didn’t mean t____”

“Bullshit” a slap across the face sent Kate’s face red, forced of the chair her body giving way to whatever her husband wanted, pulled close to his chest she looked away, a hand gripped her chin forcing her head to follow directions, looking up, down, anywhere but the face of the devil himself. “LOOK AT ME KATE” the smell of vodka was strong in every breathe Kate took, she stood still acting as a ragdoll, just a toy to be played with, Mike slapping her across the face once again, Troian couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

Interfering with the argument Troian shoved his dad into the wall, pinning him there, taking the vodka out of the shaking hands throwing it on the floor, “I SWAER TO GOD YOU SPEAK TO HER ONE MORE TIME”

“What are ya gonna do ya p***y? Huh?” Mike egged on.

Troian pulled his strong holding fist into the air as if to punch his dad, but Mike just laughed in his sons face as if he wasn’t capable of a thing, Troian proving his father wrong through his father across the room punching him in the face, Kate crying in the corner yelling at them to stop it, quit the fighting, trying to make peace in the disrupted humans hearts she thought she knew so well. But everyone has a dark side just bursting to come to say ‘hi’.

Tears of frustration streaming down Troian’s face, his face continued to fume, his mother crawled to the floor beside them screaming in tears. Troian grabbed the knife sitting on the ground beside him held in the air, his mind racing head throbbing unable to actually process any of what was happening. “Stop it, please” h Kate cried out in fear.

“DO IT, STAB ME, I BET YA DON’T HAVE THE GUTS TO” Mike yelled spitting in the face of his torn apart son. “Do it, JUST DO IT!” Troian fell to the ground to the side of his father, he stood up dropped the knife to the ground and stormed out the door, no jacket, no money, no phone, just himself. “Troian, please, come back….” Kate yelled after him but unable to hear her continued walking till he reached a point of realisation, along the pathway into the small park where a set of swings sat beside a kid play area.

Back and forth, back and forth he swung, thinking continuously, flashbacks in his head of what his farther had done, seeing himself as what he promised he would never become, realising he was becoming the monster he feared most, he was becoming his farther, swinging his legs fast and hard, eyed squinted shut, tears of frustration running down his warm cheeks onto the ground beneath him, trying to stop them. Suddenly he jumped off the swing landing on two feet, he began to run, making direct turns nut unsure as to where he was taking himself.

Back in his room Troian sat at the edge of his messed-up bed, sheets falling off the side, pillows all over the place, food and dirty cloths covered the ground, as he sat still in the middle of the world that was spinning around his throbbing head, wondering why the world kept moving forwards and why he couldn’t move with it, wishing for it to be over, wanting to live a better life, wondering if he could ever be happy, wondering when the world would set him free. 17 years old, cold and alone in a home where he knows he needs to get away from.

A knock at the door, loud feet stomping on the floorboards, forced entry Mark stood in the darkness of Troian’s room, “get out” he mumbled, “GET OUT” now on his feet Troian pushed the door till it was stopped by a strong hand, “Fine, what do you want?”

Mike just stood silent and masculine, walking forwards making Troian feel small, intimidated, Mike threw his son onto the bed, walking up to the shocked body that was then punched, Mike pulled out a whip, “Turn over” he demanded,

“NO” Troian mumbled silently under his breath,

“What was that son?”

“I said NO” he replied firmly.

“I SAID TRUN THE f**k OVER” Mike whipped the face of his son causing a deep cut red mark blister in the soft skin of Troian’s face, through the nose just missing the eyes going just below the eyebrow and to the start of Troian’s chocolate brown hair line. Mike repeated himself yelling, telling his son to turn over, obedient and protecting himself he put his arms in front of himself in order to protect the rest of his body. Scared and alone he lay still as he lifted his legs into a table top position hugging his legs into his chest hugging them with his arms he rolled to the side in tears as his mother stood watching form the door unable to move, all Kate could do was cry, words wouldn’t come out of her mouth she was unstable, scared…

Wobbling Troian’s mother got up and walked into the kitchen where she hid behind a wall, weak at the knees she then fell straight to the floor, heart pounding fast against her chest, head throbbing at the sound of her husband’s yelling, she sat alone in the darkness trying not to make a sound, she didn’t want him to find her, she wanted to be left alone, Kate howled as silently as possible as her jaw sat open, forcing herself to shut up, to stop crying she pulled herself up, she wanted to put an end to it all. Mike needed to stop and Kate knew there was but one way to make it all go away for good…

Troian begged his dad to stop, he begged and begged, tired of fighting, tired of being beaten, tired of it all, he pulled himself up off the floor and hobbled himself into the corner of the room where he thought maybe he’d be able to get a breath, body covered in bruises, blood pouring from just about everywhere on his body. Mike took another sip of the almost empty alcohol bottle as he made his way to the corner, grabbing the collar of his son’s shirt throwing him to the ground as he hit the small table that sat next to the couch causing a lamp to smash on the ground along with a glass that Troi was then pushed onto, as glass met his skin Troian bleed more and more to the point he could no longer fight back, “Dad….” He pleaded in innocence.

Mike took the last sip of his drink, throwing his bottle to the ground letting it smash beneath his own feet he then all of a sudden came to a realisation of what he had done, falling over his own feet, tripping over every word that begun to come out of his mouth, apologetic and unsure he backed down, against a wall he lowered himself onto the ground, his knees pushed up against his chest as he leaned his head down in his hands, tears flowed out of his eyes, looking up to try and say something, anything, but unable to get any words out he’d look right back down.

Kate appeared form behind the barrier of which she was hiding, not sure where to go, what to do, Troian or Mike, they were both hurt, both crying, the suddenly a voice began to speak, “Is everything okay?” there was a slight knock, Kate went toward the source of the sound as she approached the front door a small figure stood concerned on the porch, Kate told the small woman that everything was fine and not to worry, wondering what would have happened if she decided to tell that woman what had been going on.

Kate began to clean everything up after the realisation that her son was not breathing, her son was leaning against the wall in the corner bleeding out everywhere, bruised all over, glass sticking out of his stomach and back, arms and legs. She began to freak out at first, calling an ambulance she looked to the man sitting in the corner, the man she thought she knew, but it was getting worse, as the ambulance was on its way Kate began to clean up some more in order to get rid of the evidence, “Let me help” Mike offered as he stood up still drunk off his head.

“YOU, you, THIS, all of THIS was YOUR fault, YOU did THIS, you should be ashamed of yourself” Kate screeched through the tears as she heard a knock at the door, rushing to the front of the house she welcomed in a few officers who bought in a stretcher and took away the only son she had, as she got in the back of the ambulance forcing Mike to stay at home by himself. As they tried to bring Troian back to life again, reviving his soul and pumping air through his lungs, they were doing everything, but it wasn’t looking good…