FREEDOM

ONE

I should be jumping for joy. I should be happy. I should be ecstatic. Today was the last day of school and come September I shall be a senior. Tom, my brother, will be a junior come September. Tom and I should be making fun plans for the summer like camping, going to the water parks, going to the various beaches, going to the movies, and going to concerts. We are not jumping for joy nor are we not on cloud nine. Instead of being ecstatic we are filled with fear and dread. We are not thrilled about going home because Victor, our horrid father, will be home.

Victor Mason is an offensive man and he is more than a little disgusting. Victor gets his thrills by beating Tom and I to bloody pulps on a regular basis. Victor is the top drug dealer here in South Boston and he is also a drug addict as well. Victor’s drugs of choice are heroin, coke, angel dust, LSD, PCP, meth, and speed. Victor is always high as a kite. Ninety-nine percent of the time you cannot reason with him while he is like this, believe me I have tried, and I have failed many times. Victor is five foot ten inches in height and he weighs in somewhere around three hundred pounds. Victor has black hair that reminds me of steel wool. Victor also has black eyes. Victor is a vicious son of a bitch and Tom and I have suffered enough. We have had cuts, bruises, self esteem issues, and broken bones because of Victor and his spur of the moment beatings. Our lovely father never says he is sorry for he has no conscious.

Gwen, our mother, is not much better than Victor. Gwen is an evil woman who adores the mind games that she plays with Tom and I. My favorite game is the one she tells us she regrets having us and that she hates us with her entire being. What a nice thing to tell your children. Gwen is an exotic dancer and she is also a prostitute. Victor controls who she sleeps with and who she does not sleep with. A husband should never have to give his authorization for his wife to sleep around on him. I believe in loyalty, devotion, and love in a marriage. Gwen, our affectionate mother, is also a drug addict. Gwen cannot function unless she is high. Gwen’s drugs of choice are heroin, coke, angel dust, LSD, PCP, meth, pain killers, and speed. Gwen has bluish black hair that is forever oily because she only showers once a week if that and she has muddy brown eyes. Gwen is five foot six inches in height and she weighs about one hundred and fifty pounds. Gwen is hideous in her own way. She may not physically touch us but her words bite big time. I hate it when she plays her mind games with us. There have been a few times that I have made comments that have made her stop the games and she would leave the room. I try to figure out what will stop her but it is sheer luck that I make her stop in her tracks. Gwen is a spiteful person and I know that she will always continue the games whenever she can.

Tom, my sweet heart of a brother, is the most sweet-tempered soul I have ever met. I love my brother very much and I am very protective of him. Tom works part time down at the local gas station as a clerk. Tom does not make a lot of money but it is something and he loves working with people. Like myself, Tom despises drugs and what they do to you. Neither one of us would never do drugs. Tom loves running, walking, swimming, movies, music, concerts, school, and any type of adventure. I really wish Tom would join the track team because he runs four or five miles a day and he runs a ten minute mile. If Tom did join the track team that would interfere with work and he says he has to work. Tom is strong, very determined, quiet, honest, incredibly smart, down to earth, and it breaks my heart that he is painfully shy. Tom is six foot three inches in height and he weighs exactly two hundred pounds. Tom has soft black hair and warm gray eyes.

Both Tom and I work very hard at our jobs and at school. The both of us save the majority of our checks. We are trying to save enough money to get out of this hell hole. Victor and Gwen do not have health insurance obviously so with a lot of work I was able to add Tom to my insurance plan for a small fee. I work for Boston City Ambulance Company as a basic EMT, emergency medical technician, and I have worked for them since I was fifteen years old and I am seventeen now. Boston City had been running a junior EMT program back then which I was accepted into. I passed the classes with flying colors and I found the state exams to be a lot of common sense. Boston City paired me up with a seasoned EMT and I fell in love with the job on the spot. Boston City terminated the junior EMT program due to lack of interest. Most of us were able to keep our job because we were grandfathered into the company and the state had granted the junior EMTs permission to keep their jobs because there was a shortage of EMTs at that point. I work full time plus overtime and I love every single second of it.

Tom and I cannot stand being here anymore, living with Victor and Gwen is intolerable, and the abuse we are subjected to is not fair. Between the constant abuse and the exhausting mind games we are at our wits end. Tom and I know we need to get out of here and fast but I do not have enough money saved yet.

Victor is going to be very upset with me because I am over an hour late getting home. I had to stop at the main EMT station to pick up my intense summer schedule. Victor is not going to care about that or why I am late. All Victor will care about is that I am late. I park my car in the pot hole infested parking lot, I climb out of my old car, and I lock the doors. I glance up at the five story apartment building that should have been condemned decades ago. There are bricks missing from the building, there are chipped bricks, and there is ivy scaling the building. I take a few deep breaths and I decide that it is time to face the music. I do not want to go inside but I have to. Tom is in there and I know Victor is home. I can only imagine what is going on.

I enter the red brick building and I would take the elevator if I could but it has been broken for several months now and of course we live on the fifth floor. The landlord has been fined for not having the elevator working but he still will not fix it. I begin my climb up the stairs and I start thinking about everything that has happened to Tom and I over the years. The department of child services has been to our apartment more than several times over the years. Each time they would investigate the accusation of abuse they never even glanced at the medical records from the hospital or at our primary care physician’s notes. Plus it was a doctor who called the department of child services and nobody seems to care.
The social workers always favored Victor and Gwen because my psychotic parents would bribe the social workers with the drug of his or her choice. Finally in March of this year, the department of child services permanently closed our case, and the judge had believed the social worker and all of the false reports. By them closing our case only frustrates me because the system has failed Tom and I. The system does not always fail but it did for us. I remember kicking the end of my bed and breaking a couple of toes because of our case being closed.

I stand outside of the apartment and I debate about not even entering the apartment and just leaving for good. I cannot do that and would not do that. I cannot leave Tom behind that would not be right. Tom and I are much too close for me to do that and I would never forgive myself if I did that. I open the light wooden door and I close it gently behind me. The first thing that I notice is the apartment is dark, all the lights are off, and the shades are pulled down. I find myself in the middle of another war zone which is not surprising. Tom is hiding in the shadows of the living room, Gwen is lying on the floor, and Victor is standing over Gwen. Victor is holding Gwen’s head up by a clump of her oily black hair. Gwen moans as Victor slams his meaty fist into her face. Gwen only moans, she does not cry out, and her nose bleeds like mad.

I clear my throat and it goes unnoticed. Victor kicks Gwen in the stomach and then in the chest. Victor is a brutal monster that is relentless. Victor does not care about anything and has never had to pay the consequences for anything. I clear my throat again and this time Victor hears my throat clearing. Victor turns to face me and I decide at that very moment that I am going to fight back with everything that I have. Victor and I meet in the center of the living room. I stand strong and determined but Victor smashes me in the face with a meaty fist. I do not cry out. My bottom lip splits open and blood gushes from the wound. I stand my ground, I do not sway nor do I react to the punch, and I know this angers Victor beyond belief. I see Victor shift his weight and I shove him so hard that he falls to the ground with a loud thump. After a few moments Victor picks himself up off the floor and he punches me in the stomach. I double over without making a sound and then I stand up straight which is difficult for me to do for the discomfort is unreal.

“Where the hell have you been? You are late.” Victor states.

“Picking up my summer schedule.” I reply.

“You should have come home first.” Victor bites.

“I needed to know if I was working tonight so I stopped on my way home. It made more sense the way that I did it.” I say.

Victor slaps me across the face and I laugh. Victor is panting now and sweat drips from his face. I kick Victor in the groin and as he doubles over and I knee him in the face and I can feel his nose crunch beneath my knee. Victor gasps for breath and he curses me. Victor is about to punch me again when Tom steps out of the shadows. I wish Tom would have just gone to our room and lock himself in there but I know he would not do that unless I was with him. Tom yells at the top of his lungs for Victor to stop and Victor ignores Tom. Tom demands to speak to me in private and this makes Victor stop for a moment. Victor firmly tells Tom no, he cannot speak to me, and if it is that important he can say it right now, right here. Tom tells Victor that it is urgent and it is about work. Tom adds that dispatch called and needs me to come in at seven o’clock tonight, which is a bold faced lie, but Victor does not know that. Victor still says no and he has his back to me so I kick Victor behind the knees and this causes Victor to collapse to the floor. Victor slowly gets up to his feet and he back hands me. I do not cry out nor do I sway. I glare at this man that is supposed to be my father and I silently curse him. Finally Victor allows me to go with Tom down to the room that Tom and I have always shared.

We unlock the door and enter the room. Once we are inside I lock the door from the inside, in order to keep Victor out, and Tom sits on the edge of his bed. I grab my medical kit that I always keep here in the room and I tend to the gash over Tom’s right eye. Once I have taken care of my baby brother, I put my medical kit back where it belongs, and I stand in front of my brother. I ask what dispatch had said and Tom admits that dispatch did not really call it was a ploy to get me away from Victor before he killed me. That was quick thinking on Tom’s part and I am happy that he came out of the shadows.

“How the hell do you do it?” Tom asks.

“Do what?” I ask.

“Stand up to Victor like that. I would be too terrified to do that.” Tom says.

“Victor is nothing but an over grown bully. I decided that I was not going to let him do this to us anymore. I can’t do this anymore and I know you can’t either. I also knew he would beat me harder for standing up to him but I did not care.” I honestly say.

“Max, we really have to get out of this hell hole, and we need to get out before Victor kills one of us.” Tom says.

“I don’t have enough money saved Tom. I am almost there though.” I say.

“I have been saving my money too you know.” Tom says to me.

Tom goes over to his dresser and he retrieves his bank book. Tom hands the book to me and I look at the balance. There is a lot more than I thought there would be. My mouth drops open and my mind races for a few moments. Wow, can this really be happening? Am I really seeing the balance right? What if we combine our money? If we do combine our money we will have enough to make our escape. I mention this to my brother and he smiles.

“That is what I thought we could do.” Tom says.

“You really amaze me little brother.” I say as I give Tom his bank book back.

“When can we leave Max?” Tom asks me.

“When would you like to leave?” I ask.

“Now, right now. We need to leave now. Victor is not a happy camper and I want to avoid his tirade.” Tom says without hesitation.

“I was hoping you would say that. I cannot stand another moment here getting beat up like some punching bag and having Gwen mess with our heads.” I say.

Tom and I grab our duffel bags and we are filling them quickly. We each fill two bags and I take my medical kit then we exit the room via the fire escape. We climb down the fire escape and once we are on the ground we hurry to my car. We toss our bags into the back seat. I look around. Victor and Gwen are nowhere in sight. I climb behind the wheel and we fasten our seatbelts. Our first stop is South Boston Savings Bank. We sit with the bank manager and we explain we must close out our accounts because we are moving out of state. This answers the bank manager’s questions. The bank manager is sorry to see us go because we are good customers and he wishes us luck. Tom and I leave the bank with all of our money.

Our next stop is the gas station, I only have a quarter of a tank of gas so we need to fill up the car, and Tom gets us each a fresh cup of hot coffee. I pay the cashier as Tom pays for the coffee. I climb back into the car, I am a little anxious about all this, but this is for the best for Tom and I. We cannot take it any more with Victor and Gwen. We have been through enough in our short lives. We have been abused for a great many years and now we are taking matters into our own hands. I sip my coffee as I merge onto the highway. Tom and I are very quiet as we cross the state lines into Rhode Island. Tom turns on the radio as we pass Providence and he finds a classic rock station.

Tom finishes the last few sips of his coffee and then he reclines his seat back. Tom turns to his side and he dozes off within minutes. I know my brother is exhausted. This has been a big day for the two of us. We were under a lot of stress but leaving Victor and Gwen is a great thing for us. I should be getting some sleep too but one of us has to drive. This is great that Tom is going to sleep for a while for I will need him to drive later so I can get some rest too. Once Tom is sound asleep, I turn the radio down, and I get lost in my own thoughts as I drive.