Games

'Who?'

'Day-after-day-after-day-after-day. He just wouldn't stop. I'd watch him beat her senseless. The belt, the shoes, the iron chord and obviously, his fists.' He laughed, quietly.

Doctor Jacob pushed his spectacles further up the bridge of his nose for the third time. He was listening very conscientiously.

Sineas continued, 'He would laugh. Laugh like it was all just a joke. He would bring her into my room at ten, eleven o' clock at night, dragging her by her hair.' He laughed again, briefly. 'He would wake me up. He would force me to watch as he stripped her…as he beat her, right in front of me. The screams. The screams. The screams she made. I couldn't take it. Watching your mother being put through that. What hurts the most is that I can't remember most of it. The much more brutal parts. I know they're in there in my mind. I just can't reach them. You never know what true pain is until you see your own mother go through something like that. "Games", he said. He said, "Mama and papa are just playing a game". Each time I tried to close my eyes he would worsen her beating. But her screams…her screams…' Sineas bowed his head low. Several droplets made it to the floor. 'And you know where the humour is, Jacob? That man wasn't a drinker. There was no sign that maybe his boss was putting him through a hard time at his job. He was just an atrocious man with a sadistic and inhuman sense of pleasure.'

'And…why didn't she leave him?'

Sineas wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up at Doctor Jacob. 'Because of me. He told her if she ever went running to the police then he would kick her out of his house and turn the beating on me. She did threaten to take the legal route but he had a very powerful grandfather within the government. Thinking about it now, my mother would never have won that case. But…' Sineas grinned, '…But the biggest mistake that man has ever made was buying that gun,' he nodded slowly as if the thought itself brought him a certain joy. 'It's like bringing a gun to a pillow fight. The tool the farmer brought for farming ended up ploughing him.'

Doctor Jacob wanted to say something. He was lost for words. Finally, he spoke, 'Sineas…how did your father die?' he asked him in a hushed voice.

He broadened his smirk. 'Jacob; everyone knows that my father died from a gunshot wound to the head. You know it too.' He stood up and placed his hands in his pockets. He went for the door.

Doctor Jacob looked extremely terrified. Thunderstruck. 'Sineas!'

Sineas had his hand on the doorknob. He just stood still, his back towards the doctor.

'How…did…he…die?'

'An accident, Jacob. My father died in an accident.'

As anticipated, the rains started to pour heavily as the night had approached. From the times of 6 P.M. to 6:30 P.M., it had just been a light drizzle. Now it was cats and dogs…if not something bigger. Doctor Jacob was trying hard to navigate through the violent rainstorm. It was hard to steer on the slippery road with one hand and dial a number with the other. He had exceeded the speed limit but he did not care. He had to move faster.

Finally, he got the number right and he pressed the phone against his ear. 'Hello? Hello?'

A female voice responded, 'Malrich Police Department, what is your emergency?'

'Get me Inspector Charles on the phone, now!' he yelled.

'I'm sorry, sir but Inspector Charles…'

'Woman! Don't play games with me! I said, get me Inspector Charles on the phone, now!!!'

'Sir, if you would calm down…'

'Don't tell me to calm down, you worthless piece of..! I am a psychiatrist…'

'Sir, what is it that you wish to…'

'Tell him that there's something he needs to know about a case he handled in the past. It's about…' the phone battery died. 'Hello? Hello?! Aaargh!' He threw it into the passenger seat. He looked ahead and placed both hands on the wheel. Even with the headlights, it was difficult to see anything because of the rain. His silver Peugeot was dangerously slipping on the wet road. Despite the obstacles, he pressed his foot hard into the accelerator and zoomed off.

After about three kilometres of driving, Doctor Jacob spotted something in the middle of the road. It was a scrawny, black stray cat probably searching for shelter.

'Daaammit!' he cursed as he swerved the steering wheel hard to his left. The car zigzagged on the road for two seconds before it crashed into a tree just by the side of the road.