FLASHBACK~
"Go get the bottle you whore!" He thundered making me flinch from where I was.
I clamped my hand over my mouth to seal in the whimper that threatened to escape.
She stumbled into the cold hard floors he threw her unto and her lower lip burst open, dark red forming a dropped the flesh as she shakily picked herself up. She dragged her bruised feet along the floors, probably not feeling the shards of broken glass beneath the skin anymore. Fragments of her long black hair stuck to her forehead with sweat as she sobbed hard yet still quiet not to annoy him.
"Walk fast!" I screamed in my mind, wishing I could go and get the bottle for her quickly so he wouldn't get mad again.
As if she could hear my thoughts she hurried up, despite the limping and silent hissing. She snatched the bottle from the dining table and turned to take it back to him.
Maybe everything would've been alright then, if there wasn't an intrusion. The door burst open and at the same time thunder clapped amongst the clouds of the heavy storm outside, the cinematic occurrence made my heart thump wildly.
"Police! Mr Retcherman put your hands up in the air, you are under arrest! Don't move or I'll shoot!" A man yelled the order in an authoritative tone while more men with similar uniform streamed into the house.
My heart beat faster.
He laughed and stumbled a few steps back. Clearly drunk.
"On what charges you scumbags?" He sneered with a snort of laughter.
"Domestic violence, disorderly conduct, drug manufacturing and cultivation, suspected robbery, et cetera, et cetera you filthy bitch." A new voice said as a person emerged from the entrance.
A smile of unearthly relief formed a crooked line on my lips as a familiar face came to view. His had a look of triumph as he looked at the drunk man held at gun point.
"I told you you'd go to hell next time I'm here Mark Retcherman." My brother said slipping his hands into the pocket of his coat.
"Vincent! What are you doing?" Mother hissed from where she was, the bottle in her hand shaking as her body also vibrated with fear.
"What you should have done years ago, taking this thing to hell." Vince said tapping one of the officers on the back.
"You don't have a warrant, you have no right. . ." Mark started saying but he was cut off.
"But you have a right father, and its to remain silent." Vince said. "Take him away."
But they didn't know, it was too good to be true. I saw it before they did, and if anyone would've been able to stop that gunshot, it would've been me.
______Flashback end_________
"Snap out of it Charlie!" My mother hushed tucking her elbow into the side of my stomach.
All the thoughts vanished from my head as I recoiled a bit from the contact and looked up to meet her serious gaze.
I mumbled an apology and gripped the case of my glasses hard.
There had to be a mistake, of course, we're talking about me aren't we.
The very least every normal human being could ever wish for in their life is to graduate from high-school and get to go to college, far away from their parents. Well, maybe not everyone wants to go far away but I did that, and there had to be a problem.
Thursday, 16th July 2020, the first day I arrived at Crestimont college. I had everything planned out, I had everything sorted out in my head and was ready for whatever life had to offer.
"You gave her a male dormitory!" Mother exclaimed.
Yup, that was what life had to offer.
"We didn't know Mrs Retcherman, that her name was unisex." The Dean tried to explain the situation calmly. "And the gender box was ticked on the male space, so clearly it was the person in charge of filling the form."
She made a move to open her mouth but then she stopped and swallowed her words, because I wasn't the one who filled the application form.
"Her brother must've made a mistake while filling the form." She said a bit more quietly.
"You keep forgetting mom, that I don't have a brother anymore." I murmured tucking back a lock of black hair.
She must've heard because she stiffened momentarily.
"Exactly what I've been trying to explain to you ma'am. We would've moved her to the female dorms if there were any space available but they're all accommodated."
"So how long will we have to wait before all this is fixed?" My mother asked.
"It could take a month, or less." He said and I let out a quiet sigh.
I stared down at the camera on my lap, why do I have to go through so much? All I want is to get away from everyone I know, I didn't even want to go to college but I also knew that I would never be free if I didn't, that's why I decided to study photography. The only thing I could ever phantom and understand.
You would want to escape too if you were in my shoes, but thank god you're not, or else your mother would settle for more drama and say 'dormitory' instead of just 'dorm' just to make it seem like she has a better point of view on an argument.
"So she has to live with a man? For a month?" She breathed.
"Yes, Ma'am." The Dean tried hard not to make the statement sound like a deadpan.
"If she wasn't about four hours away she would've home schooled." Mother complained pursing the clutch in her hand after she had stuffed her phone inside it.
"It's okay mom, he said he'll fix it in a month or less." I interjected for the first time and the Dean looked at me, giving me a thankful look.
Mom twisted her neck to look at me, the expression on her face was similar to the face she makes when she tastes sour milk.
"Ok then," My mother said tightly and stood up. "If you say so." she said again before throwing the Dean a small nod and walking out.
"See you later, Sir." I mumbled before standing up and following suit.
The school was big, too big. A lot of flower trees were planted giving the place a better view while students - probably freshmen like me - kept going back and forth with their suitcases. Seeing this made me want to burst with content because the little part of me was happy for how far I had come, while the bigger part knew from the way my mom had marched and stood by her car, that there was going to be chaos.
I hung my camera around my neck and braced myself for what was going to come next.
"What did you think you were doing." She blasted as soon as I reached her car.
"You were dragging the argument mom." I sighed.
"We would've solved everything out if you hadn't intercepted and pretend like you were okay with sharing a room with a boy." She burst out.
"Who said I was pretending?" I asked with so much incredulity.
"So you wanna share a room with a boy,"
"I never said that!" I exclaimed.
"Well you're gonna have to share it with a boy anyway because you just decided that for yourself." She fumed.
"He said the female dorms were full, how would you have solved it? Order them to move out?"
"Maybe!"
"Well newsflash dearest mother, you can't do that here because you don't own them!" I snapped making her wince at my sudden outburst. "You know what this is? This is Mark's way of making fun of me, ticking the male option in my college application form!" I tried to keep my voice steady, but how else was I suppose to keep calm if she was making everything so hard.
"He's your fath-"
"Goodbye mom." I intercepted, having enough of it, I grabbed my suit case and pushed my glasses farther up the bridge of my nose.
She blinked multiple times, probably to keep the tears away.
"Goodbye Charlie." She managed to say, her voice came out croaky.
I nodded and she opened the door of her car and slipped inside. I stood there until her engine revved and drove out and away.
As you can see, our relationship isn't the best, but it might not be the worst either.
There's just a bland twist in our relationship, like, she's my mother but that's all she gets, a title of being one.
Yeah, you may go ahead and judge me, what you think differs from what I've seen and been through.
The wind blew a bit fiercely and something plopped down on the squeezed map in my hand. Before I could even regret this, more rain droplets fell from the sky making me groan in annoyance.
I looked up to the grey sky and sighed, ignoring the droplets splattering on my glasses.
"This isn't fair."
In response, the clouds made a rumbling noise and the rainfall settled for a steady stream. I shook my head and squinted my eyes to look around. What should I do? Where do I go from here?
But the real question is, how exactly do I find my dorm?