Outburst 16
1075 Words
The old front door creaked open and banged softly against the chipped wall behind it.
Irene walked in first, her lips pressed into a tight line. .
She didn’t say a word she didn’t need to as her silence screamed louder than anything the boys had ever heard.
She still had her hand wrapped firmly around Elias’s wrist, not yanking him forward, but holding him just tight enough to make sure he wouldn’t drift away.
Ethan shuffled behind them, his backpack sliding off one shoulder, his shoes scuffing against the floor.
The apartment was hot, cramped, and smelled faintly of fried stew.
The fan in the corner was doing its best to fight the stale heat, whirring loudly and shaking a little with every turn.
One small couch, an old center table, a folded mattress against the wall, a bucket of clean clothes waiting to be folded everything was squeezed tightly into the tiny room.
Levi came out from the bedroom just as the door closed behind them.
Her scarf had fallen halfway off her head, her shirt inside out, and her eyes were wild and bloodshot and she looked like someone who had been searching the entire city with her bare feet.
“Jesus Christ, Irene!” she cried the moment she saw the boys. “Where the hell were they?! Where did you find them?!”
Irene didn’t answer at first she just walked further into the room like a ghost, her jaw locked and her chest rose and fell rapidly, but her face was blank.
Levi stared at the boys, who looked just as lost.
“You two!” she said her voice cracking up.
“Do you know the madness you caused today?! I went to your school and they told me you had left.
Left like you were grown men!”
Ethan looked down at his feet while Elias winced, clutching his wrist where Irene had just released him.
“The teachers were panicking.
The principal was already calling local police stations.
I ran from the school gate to the junction and back.
And I was screaming your names like a mad woman.
Do you know what it feels like to think you’ve lost someone?!”
She said her voice breaking completely at the end.
We are sorry Aunt Levi the boys tried to say but she just ignored their words and disappeared into the tiny kitchen space, and the sound of the gas stove clicking on filled the silence.
Irene turned to the boys.
“Inside,” she said.
The boys looked at each other, then trudged into the tiny second bedroom they shared while Irene followed behind, closing the door gently behind her.
Elias sat first, rubbing his hands against his shorts while Ethan sat beside him but avoided eye contact.
Irene stood near the door, watching them. Her chest was rising and falling too fast. Her throat ached and her hands trembled, but she didn’t want them to see that.
“You left school,” she said, her voice low. “You walked out of the gate without permission and an adult guidance may I ask Why.
“We’re sorry,” Ethan said quietly.
Elias added, “We just wanted to see you.”
Irene let out a humorless laugh.
“You wanted to see me, so you ran across the city like stray dogs? Do you know how many children go missing in this country every day? Do you know what could’ve happened to you?!”
“We were careful,” Ethan tried.
“Careful?!” Irene snapped, stepping closer. “You’re seven. What do you know about careful? You don’t even know how to cross the road properly.”
Elias flinched.
You don’t know what it felt like to see you standing beside my boss’s father I felt like some kind of joke like I’m the mother who can’t even keep her children safe.”
“I’m sorry, Mama.”
“I’m sorry too,” Elias whispered.
Irene’s hands went to her temples. “You boys…” Her voice cracked. “You scared me.”
Then the silence fell again.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Then Elias spoke softly. “Mama… that man that shouted at you…”
“The rude one,” Ethan added, still frowning.
“…He looked like us,” Elias finished.
Irene turned her head slowly toward them.
“What did you say?”
“His face,” Ethan said. “He looks like us. Don’t you think?”
“Even his mouth,” Elias mumbled. “And his nose.”
Irene stared at them, something shifting behind her eyes. “What are you two talking about?”
Ethan blinked. “We’re just wondering… is he our father?”
The air stopped moving.
Irene’s chest froze mid-breath.
Her hands fell to her sides, her mouth open but no words came out.
Elias looked up. “Is he, Mama?”
“No,” she said sharply. “Don’t say that again.”
“But ”
“I said no!” she snapped, her voice rising. “He is not your father! Stop talking nonsense!”
Elias threw up his hands. “Good! Because that man was very rude!”
But Ethan, ever curious, tilted his head. “Then who is our father?”
That question.
That simple, soft question.
It hit her like a slap.
Irene’s eyes blinked slowly and her face twisted not in anger, but something deeper. A wound that had never healed.
She couldn’t breathe.
Her chest tightened, her lips trembled—but all she could say was:
“Go to bed.”
“Mama ”
“I said go to bed.” Her voice cracked, but it was firm.
She turned without another word and opened the door.
Levi was just coming from the kitchen with a plate in her hand, and she paused when she saw Irene’s face tense, pale, eyes glassy.
“Are they okay?” she asked quietly.
“They’re fine,” Irene mumbled.
“You don’t look fine.”
“I’m okay.”
Levi narrowed her eyes. “What happened in there?”
“Nothing.” Irene’s voice was tight.
Then she added, “I just need to take a shower.”
And before Levi could say anything else, Irene stepped into the bedroom they shared, shut the door behind her as she drove straight to the bed to let out the tears she had been holding
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