TRUCE

I could still see his silhouette near the window from where I was standing. Smoking there, like nothing, ever happened. The white cloud from his mouth quickly vaporized into the cold night of the woods. The sound of crickets can be heard from afar, synching with the ticking sound of the clock. The house was supposed to be quiet as usual.

I was still staring at the man, unable to move as if my body had turned into a stone. All I could do was only stand still. until I heard a whimpering voice. A familiar voice. There was no need for me to check where the source of the sound came from. The fresh blood was still dripping from her left leg. It was my mom. Sprawled there, a victim of violence by the damned drunkard. If only I could help her. I wish I had helped her. But I could only stand still. If I moved, I would be beaten too, and mom would have to suffer twice, seeing that her child also got beaten.

Oh, you cannot tell how much I hated that drunkard I called dad. The only thing I could do was stand there, glaring at him. Imagining how many stabs I could pierce through his back. Planning. I could feel my heartbeat racing by the minute, and tears were forming on the rims of my eyes. I was imagining my ways of murdering him until I heard my mother calling my name.

“Raze…”

A small voice from the bleeding woman. Her face was pale, I cannot forget the view. She called my name again, the second time. And then the third. Then I heard her voice calling out to me again and again until the small voice turned into a head-splitting scream.

“RAZE!”

As I opened my eyes, I swung myself up into a sitting position, gasping for air. A sudden headache hit my head. It was a Nightmare. I could not tell how many times I had dreamt the same dream. Yet my body always seemed to react as if it was the first time I experienced that terrifying dream.

8 AM; the beeping of the digital clock broke my silence. The last leaf had just fallen when I peeked into the window on the side of my bedroom. The trees outside were now completely naked. I was enjoying the smell of the pine trees when something odd came to my nose. Mom was probably cooking in the kitchen. I grabbed my black hoodie from the side of my bed and went straight to the kitchen. Outside my bedroom was our living room. The seats looked dusty since we never really had a guest visiting this house. There was a reason for that, of course, but that was not important right now. Mom was the only thing in my mind now after that dream.

When I found her in the kitchen, there was a little sense of relief in my heart for knowing that she was okay. The skinny woman wore a ragged gray t-shirt under the apron she was wearing. As I went closer, she greeted me. This time, much more cheerful compared to the terrifying desperate screams I heard in my dream. The source of the strange scent was confirmed as I noticed that the smell came from her cooking.

“Take a seat. I make your favorites today,” she said.

And so, I went to take my seat at the dining table. As she was putting her cooking in front of me, I smiled at her and nodded as my way to say thank you.

I was halfway through my meal when I felt a slight shake on the ground. I confirmed the shaking by looking at the glass of the water, a circle appeared as it created a wave inside the small glass. There was a sound, like the loud thumping of a giant walking down the forest. The birds from the trees near the house fled, just like in the movies. Despite all of it, I was not too curious to find out. I could easily guess what was making such noises and shakes.

Seven months ago, a guy knocked on the door of our house. He was wearing a suit with a bunch of files in his hand. An unusual appearance in the rural neighborhood. Of course, I did not let him in easily as he requested. A suspicious feeling grew inside me, but the guy kept bugging me about whether he could come inside or not. I scanned his profile from the top of his head to the tip of his shoes. “Nothing threatening,” I thought to myself. I imagined that this guy was a thief with a gun strapped and hidden around his waist. I brushed off the nonsensical thought, however. After a few moments of torturous begging, I finally allowed him into the house.

The next thing I remembered was me, my mom, and the guy sitting in our small living room. He opened his files and showed us what looks to be a futuristic building. What I had feared unfortunately came true. I should have declined his request to get in the house.

Those files turned out to be more threatening to us than a weapon. He brought a piece of news that the area including my house was soon going to be demolished and will be occupied in the future by the organization that he worked for. He offered some money for us to let them have our house. I was furious when I heard that the first time. There was no way that I was going to let them have this house. This house had too many memories, even if they were not the most pleasant ones. We kicked him out after that.

***

I was finishing my plate when I heard another booming sound. My mom frowned, worried by the sound. I chose to go outside to check on what was going on. Out of the door outside, to the far left, I could see some machines and cars parked around the woods; the booming sound came from the falling trees.

Then I saw him, the guy in the suit, now wearing black glasses and a yellow helmet on his hat. Several meters from him I could see another guy, that drunk bastard. My dad. He approached the man in the suit and from what I could see, the man in the suit was going to pass a suitcase to my dad. I instantly understood what was going on. The drunkard was going to seal the deal for selling the house. That suitcase must be the money that he offered for the house.

I ran to them, quickly enough that I had the time to land a punch in the face of my dad. Something I had never done before in my entire life. Strangely, I did not feel any fear in me. I should be. But I was too furious.

My dad was sprawled on the ground. He was stunned, possibly shocked by the sudden punch or the fact that I dared to do such a thing to him. The guy in the suit looked at the scene in disgust. I dared him to never talk about the eviction ever again. What came out of his mouth next was this:

My dad was sprawled on the ground. He was stunned, possibly shocked by the sudden punch or the fact that I dared to do such a thing to him. The guy in the suit looked at the scene in disgust. I dared him to never talk about the eviction ever again. What came out of his mouth next was this:

I know that there was no way to immediately pay for our house in the current condition I was in. The drunkard was jobless, and there was no way I would allow my mom to work harder alone to pay for the house. Still, I told the suit guy that I will gather the money. He gave me three months to collect the money and if I failed to do so, they would have to destroy the house I cherished the most. I should gather that money anyhow.

That night, I talked with my mom. I told her that I have decided to go to the city, to collect the funds that we needed for the house. She despised the idea, but I still desperately needed the money, and I needed this house. I told my mom that I should go and that she should take care of herself. My dad has not come back to the house since I punched him this morning. I waited for him. Even though I despised him, I knew I should talk to him before I left the house.

I waited for him until it was midnight, but he never came back. I had to wake up early in the morning, so instead of waiting for him, I decided to go to bed. The next morning, I packed my bag. Mom woke up earlier than I did to prepare my breakfast.

“You don’t have to do this,” mom said.

“I have to, mom. There is no way I am giving up this place.”

“You’re still really young,” she replied. “And you don’t even know how dangerous the city is. You don’t have to do this Raze. We can still move to another place.”

“I can’t give up this place mom. This place is too precious, for you and me. I will be back, don’t worry about me.”

It was 2 PM. The bus arrived at the time it had been scheduled. At the time I entered the bus, there were not many people inside. I went to the latest row of the bus and took my seat on the right side, facing the window. The bus slowly moved forward, making its way to its destination. Sometimes it stopped to pick up another passenger. The view in my window changed from what used to be trees, into a road with cars everywhere. After a few hours, my eyes got heavier and heavier, and I fell asleep.

***

When I awoke, the bus was already filled with lots of people. Most of the seats were already taken. There were even some people that had to stand because they did not get a seat. I also found that the seat on my left side also has been filled by someone. A guy that looked a bit older than me. When I looked up at him, his eyes were shining as if he was really excited that his seat buddy had already woken up. He looked like a good person, though. The guy was skinny, he had dark skin with a bandana wrapped around his head. He was wearing short pants with a yellow shirt with a coconut-tree-silhouette pattern on it, a shirt that was usually worn at the beach. The guy offered his hand forward and smiled.

“I see you have woken up mate,” he said. “The name’s Daniel, nice to meet you.”

“My name’s Raze,” I replied, reaching his hand in return.

“Raze? What a weird name. No offense though,” he said while laughing and putting a light push on my hand as a sign of joking.

“What are you youngins doing on this bus? Are you lost?” he continued.

And then told him about my story, about the man in the suit, about the eviction, and about why I should be the one that going to the city. He listened to me for several minutes before I stopped. He also told me about his story, and it turned out he came from a neighboring town outside my village. He went to the city to meet his uncle. Daniel seemed to be a really talkative guy. I found him annoying but did not want to offend him since he was being nice. He talked most of the time on our way. I pretended to listen to all of his speech so that I didn’t have to be the one who talked. It took us a couple more hours before the bus arrive at the terminal.

I went down the bus, a few minutes after the other passengers have descended. As I stepped on my way outside, I saw that it was already dark. I walked my way into the terminal before I was stopped by Daniel. He thanked me for being a good buddy though I did not do anything. He said that I was a ‘good listener’ and wish that we can meet again in the future.

My plan was to find a job immediately after I arrived in the city. I had no relation, nor any experience at all in this place. The money I brought was only enough for my food for the next couple of days ahead. In order to save my savings, I decided that I would sleep in the terminal tonight and start my journey the next day.

I started early in the morning. I walked my way several miles from the terminal to the city. I entered multiple stores, asking for a job. But It seemed that I never had the chance. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, it seemed that the odds were against me. My first day didn’t go well. There was not even one place that accept me as their worker. I had tried to ask for a job in every place. I asked for every job possible, to be a waiter, postman, or gardener, and I even tried to ask for a job as a clown for birthdays. None of them was interested in accepting more people. No wonder people said that the city was a hard place with lots of unemployed people. Finding a job here was like finding a needle in a haystack.

There was no success on my first day of finding a job. Again, due to my limited funds, I had to sleep on the sideway. I would rather sleep in the cold of the night with all the noises of the passing vehicles compared to being hungry due to not having money for food. The same thing happened for the day. I had no success in finding a job. And then the next day, the next day, and then the next day again, still no success. It seemed that every place in this city is already fulfilled. My supplies for a living were getting thinner and thinner. My body seemed to have enough of the cheap foods that I bought every day. I felt sick. If I still could not find a job in the next two days, I will be out of funds and have to go back home without achieving my goal.

It was the last day already. It seemed that I would not be able to get any job at all. My body had given up and my mind already had enough of rejections. I could not stand it anymore, but to get back to my home tomorrow; accepting the truth that I had to move out from my cherished home. I had prepared myself to be back home tomorrow, I was ready to accept my defeat. Right on my last sleep during the night on the sideway, a familiar voice comes to my ear.

“Raze! What are you doing here man?” said the unknown.

As I moved my eyes to see who it was, a smile formed on my face when I recognized the man. It was Daniel.

“What happened to you? Jesus bro! Let’s take you to my place, have you eaten anything today?” Daniel pulled me up, putting one of my hands over his shoulder.

“God man! You looked pale! Why don’t you…” I could not hear another word from Daniel’s mouth as it seemed that I had lost consciousness. The next thing I know was that I was already in a hotel room with a lot of food in front of me. I gulped all of the food down my throat as I was really starving. I swear it was the best food I ever had since my mom’s cooking.

I told my journey about all the rejections I got to Daniel as he asked. I was telling him that I had to come back to my town tomorrow and had to accept losing my house because I could not get the money I needed and that I already lost all my supplies to survive the city.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier my dude? I actually need a guy to help my restaurant,” said Daniel. “No, not my restaurant actually. It was my uncle’s but he was out of town and I was the one appointed to run his business while he is away. Do you want to work with me?”

I could not say any more words. Daniel had really saved me. He came just in time and I was blessed. I immediately said yes to his offer and worked for a couple of weeks with him until his uncle came back. I worked really hard and helped Daniel’s restaurant to gain a higher reputation in the city. I was told that the restaurant had gained more income since my arrival. It was said that the hospitality in this restaurant was different compared to the other restaurants people have visited. The time had come and I finally had the chance to meet the real owner of the restaurant, Daniel’s uncle.

“I have heard about you,” said the uncle. “Daniel had told me everything. I would help you with the fund you needed. You have done a big deal for this restaurant. May I know who your parents are, Raze? Such talent must have come from your parents”

I hesitated at first, confused about whether I should say the drunk bastard’s name or not. But after some seconds, his name came out of my mouth. On first hearing it, the uncle was kind of shocked. I was confused by his reaction.

“You’re his son!? Unbelievable,” he said, his voice rising. “Listen, I know your father, son. He used to work with me. He was a good guy, I remember he was a hard worker, just like you. But he was scammed by the friend of his girlfriend which made him go bankrupt. I could no longer hear another story of him ever since. I cannot believe that his son is working here in my restaurant now. What a great god.”

After hearing that, I asked for more stories about my father. I told the uncle about the condition of my family, where I lived, and why I needed the money. Lastly, I told him about the eviction.

“Wait,” the uncle said. “Are you sure that it is your hometown?”

“Yes sir,” I said. “Is there anything wrong?”

“Oh no. You better take this money quickly and make your way to your home, son.”

“Why so sir? What is wrong?” I asked.

“I heard that the eviction was already started by that wicked company and I am afraid that you have been created by the company. Make your way now son! Take this money and go!”

Hearing that, I took the money and made my way to the bus terminal. I thanked the uncle and Daniel for helping me and promised that one day I would pay them back. As I arrived at the terminal, my heartbeat was racing because I had run my way there. I took the available bus there immediately and went to my home.

From afar, through the window of the bus, I could see that there was dark smoke coming out from the area near my house. The thing I was afraid of had happened. When I arrived, I found my mom standing in the way outside the house. Watching the house on fire. As I arrived, I felt like I had lost the energy to stand. All the money in my hand felt useless now. All my struggles had gone for nothing. My house is on fire and for some reason, I felt that I am the one that burned it. Mom hugged me on my arrival. “It’s okay Raze, it’s okay…” she whispered. I felt another body coming to hug me. It was my dad. He apologized to me for all the things that had happened. He told me that Daniel’s uncle called and talked to him about my journey and that had cleared his mind about what he had become. At this moment I didn’t really know what to feel. To accept the loss or to welcome the coming back. I wish for a truce on my mind.

-END-