Tears fell from Tom’s eyes and he squeezed them shut in a useless attempt to shut out the memories of his father. Grabbing the beer bottle in front of him, he gulped down the last of the amber liquid and slammed it back down. His hair hung in limp curls, wet from the rain outside his black suit clung to his body. Comforting hands of his family tried to sooth him without success. Empty words of consolation rolled over him and still there was no solace for Tom. Suddenly he stood up, sending an old woman flying into the small crowd of people. He picked up the empty bottle and threw it across the room. It shattered into a million pieces and Tom ran from the house and drove aimlessly for awhile. 1
He stopped the car and hunched over the steering wheel as his tears streamed down his cheeks. Shutting his eyes, the memories crashed over him and the world around him disappeared… 2
~~~~~~ 3
“Do I ask for much Julie?” 4
His mother’s shoulders slumped, “No, Bob you don’t.” 5
He grabbed her shoulders and slammed her into the wall, “Then why can’t I ever have dinner ready and waiting when I get home?” 6
“I was busy cleaning the house and taking care of our son!” She shouted back at him. 7
His right hand flew back and then came sailing through the air to slam across her cheek with enough force to knock her head back and slam into the wall behind her. He pushed his face right into hers, “I work hard all day and I deserve to have dinner ready for me when I get home!” 8
Tom peaked around the corner as his father let go of his mother and left the kitchen. Tears streamed down his mother’s cheeks and she looked at him, “Go back in the living room honey.” 9
~~~~~~ 10
Tom stood at the doorway watching his father slam his mother’s head on the rim of the toilet repeatedly. 11
“You useless piece of shit! You call that CLEAN?” He shoved her head into the toilet and the sound of her screaming under the water filled the room. He yanked her back up and slammed her head once more before turning to leave, coming face to face with Tom standing there watching. Rage blinded him as he smacked Tom with such force that Tom flew through the air slamming into the wall of the hallway outside the bathroom. 12
~~~~~~~~~~ 13
Tom crouched in the hall, listening as his father kept hitting his mother. Her screams filled the house as he kept hitting her. 14
“No Bob, don’t do this PLEASE! Not like this! PLEEEEEAAAASSSSEEE!” 15
There was a rustle of clothing and Tom crawled to their bedroom door in time to watch his father begin to rape his mother. She pounded her fists into his chest but he kept her pinned to the floor slamming himself into her. As he thrust into her for the final time, she stopped struggling and laid there sobbing. Her face was covered in blood and tears, already the bruises were swelling. She turned her head and saw Tom staring at her, a look of complete fear on his face and she screamed in shame and sobbed harder. His father hit her again screaming at her to shut up. 16
Hours later, his mother lay in a hospital bed, while police took a report from his father. Tom heard his father telling the police of an intruder in the house that attacked his mother. Tom stood and walked to his mother’s side and stared down at his mother, tears falling from his eyes. 17
She opened her eyes to look at her son and as tears fell from her eyes, the machines began going crazy and Tom was shoved out of the way as doctors tried to save her. Hours later Tom sat next to his father as he cried for his wife. Fear filled Tom’s heart as he realized she was gone. 18
~~~~~~ 19
Tom stood before his father, proudly displaying his diploma to him. He was sure this would finally make his father proud of him. Instead, he grabbed the pressboard display and threw it down on the floor of the living room. 20
“You think you’re so great with your college degree?” 21
Without warning, his fist slammed into Tom’s stomach knocking the wind out of him sending him to his knees. Doubling over and vomiting up bile, tears filled his eyes. Suddenly a foot slammed into his face and Tom flew backwards as stars filled his vision. His father bent over his son and slammed his fist into his nose. 22
As blood poured down his face his father stood up and said, “You’re a pathetic piece of shit.” 23
Tom lay there and watched his father walk out of the room. He left that day and never came back. 24
~~~~~~~~~~ 25
…He screamed as he got out of the car and ran through the cemetery. He fell onto his father’s grave and began punching the hard stone marking it. He continued to strike it with his fists until blood ran down the stone as it was washed away by the rain. 26
“You stupid son of a bitch! You were the coward! You killed my mother!” 27
Sobs racked through him and he collapsed from exhaustion. Hours later, the rain had stopped and dawn broke over the grassy cemetery. He blinked awake and rubbed his eyes. His hands were raw and ached with the night’s assault. He crawled to his feet and stumbled to his car and drove home. 28
His wife met him at the door, yelling him about being out all night and worrying. Her words seemed go on forever and he finally screamed at her. “SHUUUUUUT UP!” He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her into the wall. Before he could think, his fist connected with her jaw. He let go of her and she fell to the slumped to the floor in a daze. He looked down at his wife and realized with horror that he had become the monster. His knees buckled and he collapsed on the floor next to his wife and sobbed.
29
Author notes
My monster was the abuse and it won the moment Tom struck his wife. I know it was an odd format to show you the memories...but memories are often fragments of time and when they hit you it's in a flood like that spanning over years sometimes.
A contest entry
- Monsters and Villains by Andy Stephenson.
100 points, ended April 17, 2006, 10 entries
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
-
Very good
Nobody seems to win in this tale. You have two monsters, but they seem as unhappy as their victims. I would have liked it if you had gone more into the feelings of the victims and the monsters. Dialog is pretty good. It accents well. The plot was predictable. I enjoyed reading this.beginning: 4, language: 5, plot: 3, overall: 7, ending: 3, dialog: 4, characters: 3.
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