Chapter 5

Sitting back at the table, we all just stared awkwardly at each other, nobody knowing what to say about what had just happened. So instead of them, I decided to bring it up.

“Are those two kids okay? Should we talk to their mother?” I offered.

Momo and Chow just glanced at each other and then back at me. Rubbing a palm over her face, Momo let out a deep sigh.

“The thing about those brats is…their mother is pretty famous. Famous as in, she’s the strongest magic user in this entire village, and everyone is too scared to confront her. Yes, she is very cruel towards those kids, but what can you do?” She said with a fake laugh.

I just blinked at her, my mouth wide open.

“Cruel? What does she do?”

“WELP, time to go out and water some flowers…or something…” Momo said, stretching her arms over her shoulders. As she began to walk away, I was left with Chow, who seemed to be squirming a bit in her seat. I turned to her and opened my mouth to speak, but she just scrunched her face up and bit her bottom lip shyly. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I decided to maybe I should wait and ask her about it later. Perhaps she’d be able to tell me if Momo was just going to be stubborn for some odd reason.

_____

I walked back and forth in the kitchen area as Momo lay on the couch sleeping, her legs spread out wide and her right arm dangling over the top of it, her left arm hanging beside her head rather lazily. Chow was out of the house currently. I guess Momo said that she tends to help the elderly folks in the village with their plants, crops, and livestock, especially those who live alone. I offered to help, maybe to sneak in some questions, but was immediately waved off by her as if she knew what I was up to. Maybe she suspected me? I mean, what’s so wrong about wanting to know about a neighbor that may need some intervening, especially one that contains innocent children?

As I kept on pacing the floor with my thumbnail between my teeth, I heard a loud bang from outside. I glanced at Momo, but she was somehow still asleep. I just rolled my eyes at her and raced outside to see what the commotion was. Gasping, I stumbled upon Chow, her body strewn on the ground clumsily, as if she were some sort of ragdoll.

She seemed dazed, and her left arm was bent at an odd angle. Concerned, I tried to approach her but was quickly met with the sight of that same woman from before, Jio and Alyz’s mother. I gulped as she stomped towards me, her face cherry red and eyes on fire.

“Are you the one who was BOTHERING my kids? Are you WITH this…wretched woman?” She asked, reaching to grab me. I took a slight step back from her as her hands grabbed onto air, which seemed to upset her even more.

“LEAVE my kids alone! Pigs like you shouldn’t even be NEAR kids you don’t know!” She spat, still coming towards me threateningly.

“Ma’am, I was just seeing if your kids were okay. I wasn’t trying to disturb you or them or-” Before I could finish explaining myself, she backhanded me rather roughly, sending me to my bottom. Shocked, I just sat there blinking, not knowing how to react.

“If you don’t leave my kids alone, I WILL MAKE you leave them alone!” She said as she began to turn on her heel and walk away.

I finally realized that someone such as her, as angry as she is, would most likely use her children as some sort of stress reliever, and I knew that I should try to speak some sense into her before that could happen.

“Ma’am…” I started as I slowly got back onto my feet.

“I just want to help you all. You’re suffering yourself, and as a mother, I encourage you to seek some sort of help for both you and your children. Scaring those kids isn’t something a mother should do, it’ll just make you-”

She paused, her hands squeezing into tight fists, and she slowly turned back to face me. With a cackle, she threw her head back and flicked her middle finger in my direction.

“SOME MAN YOU ARE! Mother this, mother that! What are you? Some sissy that JERKS it to his mother all day and night? Mommy’s little boy?”

As she said this, faint images of a woman flashed through my mind, but, for some reason, I was unable to connect a name to her face. She had long dark hair, glowing eyes, and… an angelic smile upon her face. Feeling myself tear up at the sight of this godly woman, I shook my head and glared at her.

“Listen, don’t make fun of someone you don’t know. You-”

Before I could finish, I felt something hitting me hard in the gut. As I was sent flying backwards a few feet, I let out a pained cry and toppled onto the ground. Clutching at my stomach, I sucked on the inside of my cheek and felt like gagging at the pain.

“Fuckin’ brat trying to tell me how to feel towards my children. I’ll do and say what I want to them and you can go tend to your fields or some shit.” She spat.

Writhing in pain, I tried to stand back up onto my feet but found it fairly difficult. I swallowed another cry that I could feel worming its way up my throat. Starting after her, I tried to reach and grab and stop her, but she was too fast. I ended up falling onto my knees and gasping for breath. As I looked up, I saw two small figures running towards the mother. Except, they weren’t running towards her, they were completely ignoring her and headed in my direction.

“SIR! SIR! WHAT HAPPENED?” They both cried out at the same time.

I glanced up and felt a warm smile appear on my face. It was those kids, Alyz and Jio. Alyz had tears in her eyes, and Jio was working hard to hide his, even though he was crying himself just the other day.

“MAMA! DON’T HURT THE NICE MAN!” Jio yelled as veins popped from his throat. I could tell that he was trying hard to speak as loudly and clearly as possible and that he most likely wasn’t used to such a thing.

Their mother, surprised at the fact that they were ignoring her, turned towards us, and her face stared straight at the ground, her long hair covering her entire face and neck. Then, with a growl, she snapped her head up and with the flick of a wrist, Alyz was sent rolling backwards as she let out a scared shriek.

“ALYZ!” Jio yelled, running towards her.

I gritted my teeth as Jio tried to make sure that his sister was alright, and the fact that a mother would attack her child completely riled me up.

“You attacked a little girl. Your daughter. YOUR DAUGHTER!” I screamed, unable to hold it back any longer.

“She’s a failure anyways. Already almost 10 years old, and she can’t even levitate feathers from a pillow. She is a waste of space. I bet that even our God, Angtada, wishes that they had never created such vermin!” She laughed. Her eyes almost popped out of her head, and she was spitting everywhere as she laughed. She looked utterly insane, psychotic.

I forced myself back onto my feet and stomped towards her, the movement making my entire body ache.

“No, I’m afraid that YOU’RE the vermin. You should know about how Gods work. Gods usually don’t like women such as yourself.” I said, seething.

“I hate naggers like you. I HATE HATE THEM! ESPECIALLY when they’re MEN! FUCK all of you! First my FATHER, my HUSBAND, my BROTHER, and now some NOBODY is trying to tell me what to do with MY DAMN CHILDREN!”

Her voice got even louder at this, to the point that I was shocked that she was still able to breathe with how hard she was yelling.

“JUST DIE! ALL OF YOU OUTTA DIE!” She then charged at me as Jio cried out for her to stop, and I felt a fist connect with my jaw. I was sent to the floor even harder than before. I tried to sit back up, but the woman was on top of me, straddling me. With an enraged look on her face, she balled her hands into tight fists and began to pound at my face. I tried to block my nose and jaw from being dislocated, but some kind of force made it so that I couldn’t move my arms. I bit back a cry as I felt my nose crack and blood gush down my nose.

She just kept on laughing. The entire time she was attacking me, she was laughing. Laughing about how all men like me should die, how men who tell her what to do should be dealt with by King Akiyo. I wasn’t sure what she meant by the last part, but I just lay there, feeling my head begin to spin with every assault.

As she went for one more hit, she was suddenly stopped in mid-air as her right fist just hung there, dangling. I tried to blink at her and noticed that she must’ve broken a finger or something, as her hand was kind of dangling a bit unnaturally.

It was Momo; she had stopped her from hitting me, and Chow was cowering behind her. Was she scared of the woman? Or maybe I did look that bad?

“That’s enough, Lena. That’s enough. If we had enough money for a hospital, I’d send you there myself using my own hands. Stop assaulting people younger than you, it’s pathetic.” Momo said. Despite how harsh it sounded, her voice was oddly calm and relaxed.

“M-Momo…Hatsumomo Asai?” She blinked, and her jaw dropped to the ground.

“Instead of beating on younger people, go beat on yourself for once. Or even better, use a goddamn pillow or some crap. Something that won’t spout blood.” She chuckled.

“Y-yes! I will!” Lena then jumped off me and hurriedly ran back to her house. What was up with that? Why does she seem to respect Momo so much?

Momo then shot at look at me and let out a hiss as she trotted over to me and lent me a hand. I tried to sit up and reach for it but my entire face and my gut still hurt like utter dog crap. As my hand began to fall back, she forcefully grabbed for it and pulled me up, eliciting a girlish cry from me, which just made her smile.

“Got beat up by a woman, huh?” She teased, elbowing me in the chest. I gasped as the sharp point of her elbow hit me right where it hurt the most, but she waved it off.

“Just go put some ice on it or something. You’ll be fine! Be a man!” She said with a fist pump.

As she walked back towards the house, Chow just stood there, her head to the ground. She had something in her hands. I reached for it, thinking it was for me, but she quickly shot her head back up and within the snap of a finger, she reeled her arm back and sent the package flying right over my head, which made Alyz jump as it landed hard on the ground behind us all.

Chow quickly realized what she had done and glanced to the side.

“I…made you an ice pack…” She muttered shyly.

I just stared at her now-empty hands and watched as she ran back into the house.

What was going on with these two? Was it MY doing…?