Scars

It´s this weird dream again.

My father, my brother and I are there. My father hitting my mother with a whip while my brother encourages him. There are times where the object it´s different, sometimes bare hand, shoes, belts, broom sticks and whips like today.

I´m starting to feel anxious, although it´s a dream, this one it´s taking long. I would feel desperate if my mother make any noises, but she usually stays quiet all the time. Right now I´m just waiting for her to see me as always to wake up.

Hmmm from my perspective it looks like my father is taking out a different object from behind. It´s a police club. She screams, for the first time my mother screams…

It´s not my mother…

It´s Hope.

I´m terrified. My heart it´s beating like crazy, my breath starts to shorten, it´s asphyxiating.

My brother is grinning at me, he´s looking at me in my dream not to the other me. That face!

I can´t stand it. I will go there.

As soon as I take another step Hope looks at me.

I froze.

I finally woke up.

My dream has changed perhaps of what has been happening in my life. In the past, I used to think that my dream was a memory of my childhood.But, My father never hit my mother and my brother would never encourage him to hit her. Despite the fact that our family doesn´t show weaknesses (emotions), my brother always loved our mother, on the other hand, I was always distant.

My head starts to hurt so I put my hand on it.

I should stop thinking, after all it´s only a dream.

It´s morning… I ended up sleeping in the nearest room, it appears to be where the principal used to sleep, yet, there are few hints that indicate he lived here. The room it´s pretty much untouched, it´s like he only came to sleep.

I dress up and go look around the house.

Hope is probably still sleeping.

Hmm… I think I´ll prepare the breakfast this time. I look inside the fridge, there are frozen veggies, milk, soda, beer, sausages, ham, and kitchen. I hope they haven´t expire. I take a look to see the expiration date. It seems that everything it´s fine. Did Hope buy this stuff? If so, when did she do it?

After giving it some thought I decide to make some sandwiches, simple yet effective. I go to Hope´s room to tell her breakfast is ready, I would normally yell at her but I don´t want to call attention from the neighbors.

There is one room on the first floor and two on the second, she must probably be sleeping on the nearest one. I go up the stairs, the bedroom´s door is slightly open. My intention is not to see her on her sleep but I have to wake her up.

She´s not sleeping, she´s changing her clothes. I´m not going to lie but this is kind of exciting, I´ve seen her half naked but this time is different.

I swallow.

She hasn´t notice me.

As I watch her slender figure I see her back.

Scars.

She has scars on her back as well as some bruises. When did she get those, the bruises may be from that time at the police station but the scars, they look more recent than the bruises.

I have to get down quickly.

I go down the stairs quietly and head to the kitchen.

Now that I know that she is awake I yell at her to have breakfast.

I wait for her while thinking about what I just saw. How should I address to her about that?

“You prepared breakfast.” She says.

“Yeah, I wanted to pay you back somehow.”

“mmm…” she looks kind of disappointed.

We start eating.

Normally, I would stay silent in a situation like this but my thoughts about her scars don´t let me alone.

“Did you like it?” I ask even though they are only sandwiches.

“Yeah, they are okay.”

“Sorry, the truth is that I am not very good at cooking so I didn´t  cook to avoid burning the kitchen.” I try to sound funny.

“Don´t worry, you don´t have to. I can cook for you.”

“Ah… Okay.” So she WAS disappointed.

“Did you sleep well?” I ask trying to get to the scars thingy.

“Yeah, how about you? I heard you making weird noises again.”

I´m surprise. “How did you know? Was I so loud?”

“Yes, you sounded like a man trying to move car with all his strength. I even got down, but after seeing you were just sleeping I headed back to my room.”

So, she was already up when I woke up.

“What were you dreaming?” She asks.

“Ahh mmm well, it´s just a dream where I´m watching people fighting that´s all, this time I wanted to interfere but I couldn´t.”

“mmm I see. You don´t look like the type of person who would interfere.” She says with utterly confidence in her words, as if she knows me.

“What?! I can defend myself well.”

“You ran when the tuxedo guy tried to kill you.”

“Ah that´s different, I was running for my life.” I´m losing my cool again.

“Literally.” She says sarcastically. And I thought she didn´t have sense of humor. I guess she learned something with the mafia huh.

“Anyway, I´m not good at defending myself but I am certainly sure I would protect someone in need.” Empty words, never in my life have I helped anyone.

“Aham, like back in the police station.” Sarcastic again huh.

Well at least she doesn´t look angry about that. “Speaking of that, what happen there? Did they do something to you?”

“They force me into a room, to make me talk. I only said what was true. I helped you since the hospital and went to the police station. After that, nothing more happened.”

“Did they hurt you?”

“Nothing to worry about.”

“You said you were in the mafia, did you get hurt back then?”

“Sometimes, nothing to worry about.”

This is not going anywhere I have to be more specific.

“Do you have scars? After all, if you are in the mafia you should probably were involved in many fights.”

“… Yes. Some.” She seems uncomfortable.

“Any recent one?”

“Why do you ask that?”

“Curiosity I guess.” I say. She avoids my question, it seems she doesn´t want to talk about that.

“Aren´t you going to change clothes?” She changes the topic.

“mmm no, and I don´t plan to wear the principal´s clothes.”

“We should go to your house for clothes.”

She´s right, I have to change my clothes, I would buy them in the nearest shop but I don´t have cash with me and I don´t want to ask her to lend me money.

“Yeah, let me look for a cap to hide a little my identity.”

She nods.

After looking for a cap, I found one.

“Hey, are we going to your house as well?” I ask her.

“No, there is no need. We´ll stop by an old friend´s place, he usually gives me my clothes.”

“Okay… that´s kind of strange.”

“He is a connection to the mafia, he lives in the suburbs where the burnt theater is.”

“Okay.” I´m speechless. She said that the mafia was trying to get into this part of the city, I guess it´s normal they start with a different part that is not their territory.

And so, we head to my house.