WHAT HAPPENED LAST SUMMER?

Theodore’s pov If I were told there would come a day that my dad would be a monster, I would have bet a lie on it until it happened before me. I used to think he was an absolute angel, always smiling, looking out for everyone—always eager to make me happy, but I was wrong. “Dore, go to your room right now,” he yelled at me. For the first time in forever, I hated that he called me the pet name he gave me. It was the last four words of my name, Theodore. I watched them argue with each other in a corner close to the stairs, curled up in my own arms until it became unbearable. He pushed Mum down the stairs as he dragged his luggage out the door without looking back. Tears streamed down my eyes as I ran towards Mum to help her, but she kept screaming in agony, a kind of pain that is not only filled with hurt but a different kind of pain. “Mummy. Stand… no," I couldn’t complete my words when I saw her clothes covered in blood. I ran to the door, rage burning through my veins as I flung it open. “Dad! Please help, Mum is bleeding,” I screamed. But he was already in the black SUV parked in front of our house. He didn’t even steal a glance at me for a second, but a chubby woman dressed elegantly smiled at me before entering the car and driving off. My blood boiled as I watched him leave, but Mum’s scream brought me back to my senses. I immediately picked up my phone and dialed the ambulance. They arrived in no time and carried her in. Her face was already losing its color. She had cried and endured so much that she could no longer continue. I held her hand throughout the drive to the hospital. I couldn't stop the tears rolling down my face as I replayed everything that happened. “How can he be so heartless?” I murmured, but Mum gave me a gentle squeeze on my hand, she couldn’t talk, but I could tell she wanted to defend him again. In her words. “He is still your father, regardless.” Soon after we arrived, other nurses rushed towards her and immediately pushed her into the operating room. I quickly made a deposit and waited for her to be done. My whole nerves quickened as I paced the hallway, hoping everything was fine in there. I sat still on the bench close to her door, hands still trembling. Then a notification dropped on my phone. I picked it up, expecting it was a message from Dad. I have no idea why I expected him to realize his mistake and apologize. It was obvious he already made his decision. It was an offer letter for the part-time tutoring job I had applied for. I got the job. I was supposed to be happy, but I read a small part of it with a blank face before placing the phone back in my pocket and sighing, burying my hands in my palms. Then the alert light on ‌top of her room turned green. They were done. I shot to my feet when one nurse came out, then another with a glove pack, and then the doctor, with the rest of the nurses following behind him. He halted just a few inches away from me and smiled softly. “Miss Theodore,” he called. “How is my mum doing? Is she okay?” I asked before he could speak another word. “Relax, your mother is okay, but there is ‌bad news,” he paused. My face twisted in a frown, already scared of what he was about to say. “Unfortunately, she arrived late and already had blood clotted at her knees. We could get some out, and were supposed to amputate the legs, but we figured we would give it time. Probably with proper treatment. It will ease off, but for now, I'm sorry she’ll need extra care because she can’t use her legs for a while.” My right eye finally stopped twitching after his long explanation. He lost me at “amputate” because he could have just said *she can’t use her legs anymore* and that solves it, but NO, he went on and on about it. A heavy sigh left my lips before I could finally speak. I asked, “When will they discharge her?” “She should be in a week. We still need to monitor her vitals.” “Thank you, doctor,” I added. He gave a small bow and left. Minutes later, I opened my bank account, about to make a transfer for my food—it was almost empty. I never wanted to call my dad for help, ever, and Mum barely had enough money to take care of us. My thoughts turned entirely to worry. Then a message popped up on my phone, and it read, “Make yourself available for the interview in thirty minutes.” My eyes widened. It was the same sender from my new part-time job. I quickly replied to the text and rushed back to Mum, halting at her door. She was still sleeping. “Right, I can make it back before she wakes up,” I said, challenging myself as I stormed out of the hospital in no time. Lucky for me, a cabman dropped someone off in front of the hospital. I waved at him, pushed into his car, and gave him my address. He shot me a surprised look before smiling widely. “Your bill is $500, and you’re gonna get the AC on for free,” he said. “Wait, what?” His words almost choked me. “$500? That’s a lot of money. I don't have that kind of money. I'm just a teenager. The ride isn’t even that long,” I objected. “Listen, miss. You’re going to a very expensive location. The charges are more. I've got no time. Are you going or not?” he asked, his voice now harsher than he began with. “I’m sorry, but I can't. I’m not as rich as you think,” I answered. He shot me a glare from his mirror and cursed. “Fine, how much can you pay?” “Umm… 20 bucks," I quivered after saying those numbers, but he said nothing. He came down from his car, walked to my side of the car, opened his door, and his rough, ragged hands dragged me out so fiercely that I could feel a tiny scratch tear through my skin. “Get off me, you old man,” I yelled while I winced in pain. “I should have known you were bad luck when you came in so fast, broke little b***h,” he murmured as he drove off. I glanced at my skin to see if there were any more tears than the ones I could feel in my head. Thankfully, there were none. Just then my phone buzzed again. I forgot I had set a timer for myself to arrive on time, and now I have twenty minutes left to get to the interview. I started with a walk, then increased it slowly till I found myself running, but after a few minutes of running, my legs started to give out, i sat on the edge of a road trail hoping my day would get any better, turns out prayers get answered faster these days because a motorbike stopped sharply in front of me like it was sent to pick me up. “Need help?” the rider asked. I looked up at him, it was Natan, our neighbour, the one who moved in not too long ago and thought it was a great idea to have a crush on me. “Oh, you,” I answered as I rose to my feet, “what are you doing here?” I asked. “I saw you struggling with a cab guy, I had to rush back home to pick up my bike so I could help. Hop on,” he said. “Uhm… I don't need help, I can manage,” I answered. That was a big fat lie of the century because I had no time left, but I never wanted him to get any idea that I liked him back. I mean, we don’t have a lot of money. At the same time, the last thing I want is to be seen by my schoolmates with a guy with scattered teeth, eww. “Okay, your loss.” He was just about to zoom off when my phone buzzed again. “s**t! 10 minutes left, wait, hold on.” I could tell he was really happy because a small curve formed on his lips, which pissed me off but I could really use his help. “Hop on,” he said and without another second wasted, we zoomed off. My eyes were glued to my phone all through the ride, my heart skipped with each second that passed as we moved inches closer like we were being dragged, but at least we were still moving until I was proved wrong with a sharp stop. “f**k!” he yelled, and I was startled. Then it settled in my brain, his motorbike just stopped in the middle of the road, all of a sudden.