Chapter 27: Terrible family

At noon, Jovanni went back to his boarding house. Kirt insisted on coming, so he was nervous. Thankfully, his board mates weren't there, so he just took his school bag, books, and other school materials. His clothes and other personal things aren't needed since he shared them with Kirt.

They attended their afternoon classes. Jovanni called King at break time, thankfully, he has his habit of writing down important things in his notebook, so his friends' numbers were saved again on his phone. He told King that he will be living with Kirt. King on the other line was angry.

Jovanni tried to explain King, but the latter was furious even until their conversation ended. Jovanni sighed looking at his phone. He cannot blame his friend's rage. Kirt did overstep the line by threatening Yana. Jovanni felt guilty too, his friends supported him when he was down. He told King that he was doing this for Yana's sake, but the fact was, he was doing it for himself too. His stupid heart was in love. It was broken for two days but was mended by Kirt for few minutes only. A thought was mocking him for accepting Kirt again, but his heart was ignoring this thought.

'Falling in love is crazy!' Jovanni's sighed.

Kirt and Jovanni have lived peaceful life since that incident. Kirt became more attentive to Jovanni's needs, so the latter lived like a prince in Kirt's palace. Every day, Jovanni didn't miss calling his friends. King, Gio, and Leandro strongly opposed Jovanni's cohabitation with Kirt, but their final examination was coming, so they set aside their plans on taking Jovanni back.

Days passed, the final examination was over, so the students were relieved. Jovanni was walking towards the entrance. It was past two in the afternoon. Kirt finished his exams earlier, but he texted him that his uncle was looking for him, so Jovanni decided to go home first.

Exiting the campus, Jovanni saw a familiar person standing on the side, looking at every student who came out.

"Jovanni!" Ryan, Jovanni's uncle called. He was the husband of his father's elder sister.

"Uncle Ryan?" Jovanni was surprised seeing him. His aunt's family is living in the city, but like his father and grandmother, they treated him badly. Jovanni didn't even know where their house is located in the city since his family never brought him there.

"Come with me, your father is here. He told me to bring you." Ryan said blandly. 

"Father is here?"

"Yes, not only your father but your whole family, including your grandmother."

Jovanni sensed something unpleasant was waiting for him based on his uncle's tone. He was hesitant to follow, but his uncle yelled.

"What are you standing there for? I've been waiting here for two hours already. You are wasting my time! Where the heck did you throw your phone. Your father has been contacting you since yesterday!" Ryan nagged.

Jovanni helplessly followed to his uncle's car. His uncle drove to the main road. There was a long moment of awkward silence until Jovanni took out his phone. He dialed Kirt's number, but it was out of coverage. He started typing a message when his uncle talked.

"You still have that fucking phone, so it means you've changed your number huh? It's just a few months since you live in the city and you became this arrogant! Let see if you can bear the consequences later." Ryan scolded.

Jovanni's typing hand was suspended. "Uncle, what do you mean?"

"Save your curiosity, we are already here." Ryan replied while driving his car to a narrow street. "And I advice you to brace yourself."  He added while stopping at a typical middle-class house.

Jovanni was anxious. He was traumatized by his father's constant beating. Though he was already used to it to the point of becoming numb sometimes, but the images of his father's jabs and kicks were still terrifying.

Ryan went out. Jovanni hesitantly followed.

Reaching the living room, Jovanni saw everyone sitting, including his aunt and cousin Francis, who's a year older than him.

Jovanni stepped inside, before he could utter a word, his father stood up and slapped his face. It was hard. He instantly saw few stars.

"You bastard! How did you become this shameless!" Another slapped on the other side of his face landed.

"Pa... What did I do wrong...?" Jovanni asked rubbing his face.

"What did you do wrong! You bastard! Do you think I would not know that you are just drinking in the bar, making out with women?!" Rolito yelled while punching Jovanni's stomach.

Jovanni curled his body after the punch landed. He finally understood what was happening. His cousin probably saw the kissing photo that Carl posted. Francis is studying in the same school as Vianna.

"If not for Francis informing me with your dirty deeds here, you will continue shaming our family behind my back!" Rolito said as he threw a powerful kick that landed on Jovanni's chest.

"I told you Rolito, this bastard is useless." Jovanni's grandmother yelled. "How do you expect a son of a bitch to behave properly? You should not allow him to enroll in the university!" His grandmother added that fueled his father's rage. Another kick landed on Jovanni's chest.

Jovanni's breathing was paused for few seconds from the pain.

"Lola, Jovanni is probably very proud since that girl he kissed is our campus sweetheart. Perhaps he thought it was not scandalous, but an honor instead. The truth is, he is now hated by many students on our campus. Vianna is the daughter of a politician, we might be in trouble sooner or later." Francis said.

Jovanni heard it and also sensed Francis' jealousy. He was kneeling on the floor, catching his breath, but before he could recover, a series of jabs and kicked landed.

Jovanni lay on the floor. It was very painful but he endured. He would never fight back with his father. He was beaten since young, but he never thought of fighting back once. There was also no use of explaining since his father would never listen, especially now that there's a piece of evidence. And he also thought that his father's wrath was acceptable since he did more terrible things. He was living with a man which he thought was far worse than a kissing photo, so he just accepted the punishment without talking back, but his silence angered his father more. He was given a series of kicks since it was inconvenient to punch someone who lay flat on the floor.

Jovanni curled up. His breathing turned chaotic and his vision dimmed. Seeing him losing his breath, Rolito stopped kicking.

"Tomorrow morning, get all your things! You are not allowed to study next year! The city is not a good place for a wild man like you!" Rolito yelled.

Jovanni's vision was dimmed, but his ears clearly heard those words. He tried sitting up and raised his head to his father.

"No!"

Jovanni replied. His face was weary but his eyes were resolute.