Vulnerability

My brother comes out from behind me and hands my mother a glass of water.

I sit next to her, and my brother sits across the table.

I tell him sternly

She takes a sip of water and looks me in the eye

I watch her.

I understand the pain of her, but it's not fair. He can't suffer like this.

I make myself comfortable in the chair

My brother starts to raise his voice

We are now talking to each other

He points his finger at me

I tell him to provoke him.

My mom steps in between the two of us and starts yelling at us.

The only thing I remember about her is her begging me to stop screaming.

The bar smells of sweat and the only draft of air passes through a tiny window, to the side of the clerk.

The lady in front of me is very stout and old, she is wearing worn jeans and a sweaty sweater.

The salesman is short and bald.

She snorts and arrogantly addresses the woman

She tries to sound angry, almost bossy, but she fails miserably.

The woman turns to mock, then she looks at my face, finally, she looks at me from head to foot and grins. I pretend i haven't seen it and put the chocolate bar and water bottle on the counter and put my hand in my jeans, to get as many coins as possible.

The man gives me the change and I quickly get out of that stinking bar.

I hurry to get to the car.

I get on the side near the passenger and quickly close the door

Mark tells me worried.

I say everything in the blink of an eye.

I take a bite of the bar and pass it to Mark, who refuses with a wave of his hand.

For the rest of the trip by car, there is no breath, there is only the radio playing 90s songs in the background.

We've been standing inside this parking lot for I think 1 hour.

I do it just for him. I realized that he is tired of being here listening to the songs that the radio plays.

I open the door of the house and there is not a fly flying.

I close the door behind me and hurry to go to my room.

I whirl around and find my mother sitting cross-legged on the sofa.

The coldness with which she says it scares me.

I snort and sit in the armchair

Two days have passed since the confrontation with my mother. In these two days I have: slept, cried, talked to Mark, and ate.

I look like a real vegetable.

Chris has often stopped by my house to ask me how I was doing, but I didn't dare to go down the stairs and show myself in this condition.

But today I woke up differently.

I have decided to take matters into my own hands.

I get up with difficulty and go down to the living room. I have a quick breakfast and head to the bathroom. A purifying shower isn't bad at all.

I want to go out.

I call Mark but he doesn't answer me, so I leave him a message on the answering machine.

I sigh and look in the phone book for Chris's number, I call him

POV'S CHRIS

I feel the phone vibrating on the bedside table, with difficulty I reach out to take the phone and accept the call without even knowing who is calling me

< who is it?>

I say

She.

I jump out of bed

She sighs

I hurry out of my room and rush to the bathroom. I get ready with a disarming speed and finally, I go down, jumping two by two steps.

My mom looks me up and down and asks where I'm going, and I just tell him I'm going for a ride.

I leave the house quickly, there is a sun that breaks the stones even though it is late December.

I walk towards the main road with the melted snow, being careful not to slip.

In about fifteen minutes I am in front of his house.

In ring the bell and then the door, and after a few seconds, the door opens.

My heart skips a beat