Short Story: Inside (1999)

It’s a Saturday night of the old-fashioned sort, mum staring out of the kitchen window and dad drinking as heavily as he always does before the church clears him of any wrongdoing in the morning. He’d dropped his lottery ticket during happy hour at The Den, comes home to find it’s worth a sure tenner. It’s not my fault, what difference that makes. A sharp slap across the face and it’s up to bed, drum some responsibility into me. No punches tonight, no kicks – I’m off easy.

Don’t look back.

Tears running down my cheeks, I climb the stairs, pausing only to lick the steady flow of blood from my aching nose. A loud bang interrupts my thoughts, but it’s probably mum’s head hitting the wall. He’ll kill her, one day: I swear he will.