A long way to go

Chapter 23

Life's never a bed of roses. It may be, for some but roses have thorns too.

Emily and Derek were struggling to open up to each other. Both of them had messed up pasts. And both of them didn't know how to get rid of them.

Emily was beaten up by her parents. They beat her up because they couldn't afford to have her in their life.  As a child, Emily was traumatized. Every night played in her mind the episodes of beatings that her dad gave her.  After a few failed attempts to escape, Emily finally managed to escape her so-called home with only a few dollars in her pocket. Those few dollars weren't even enough for her to buy a meal.

Derek was not an adopted child but he had a troubled childhood. His father, Robert was a strict man. He always wanted his son to be devoid of any feelings. He always thought that feelings and emotions make us weak.

So one day, he took Derek and his dog to the side of the mansion where it was covered in trees and thick bushes. Derek had a German shepherd. Both the man and the beast loved each other. Derek had named him Roy.

One day, Robert came home to find Derek laying down in the garden while the dog was playing with him. He got angry at seeing his son being so involved with the dog. After tea, he called for Derek and his dog.

"Yes, father?"Derek said as he stood in front of his father with his head lowered slightly.

"Let's take a walk. Follow me." Robert said as he got up and walked out of the house.

"Father, why are we going to the back?" Derek asked confused.

He kept patting Roy on its back.
"Come on Roy, keep walking." He said.

They stopped in the middle of the trees.
"Go stand over there with him by your side." Robert pointed to a space in front of him. Derek did as he was told. He was afraid as he saw his father retrieving his knife blade from his pocket. Derek got afraid. A chill ran down his spine.

"Ffff....ather, what are you doing?" He asked him.
Robert didn't answer him and aimed his knife then threw it in Roy's direction.

Derek thought he was getting killed. He closed his eyes to expect the knife but instead, he heard a low grunt from Roy.
Derek turned his head to see Roy with a knife stuck in his heart and blood pouring out of the wound.

"Never love anything or anyone again. It hurts. Love makes the man weak. And you, are not weak. You are a Stevenson. Get over the dog. Bury him and come back home. I'm waiting for you at the table." Robert said he took out the blade out of Roy's body and cleaned it with a cloth. Then he walked back to the house leaving a bleeding Roy and crying, Derek.

"HELP! ANYONE? "Derek called out to anyone in sight but there was nobody there.

Roy kept grunting with pain and Derek's heart broke with each grunt. Each grunt made him heartless and he started hating his father for what he did.

Roy licked Derek's hand for one last time before the dog closed his eyes and died.

"I love you, Roy. You are the best dog and my best friend. I will never forget you." Said Derek as he gave a pat on the dog's head.

It was getting dark. Derek looked around and find a shovel. He started digging a hole in the ground. After an hour of hard work, he buried Roy and went home with a tear-streaked face and a bloodied shirt.

Maria was shocked when she saw Derek in such a disheveled state.
"Derek, son, what happened to you? Where were you? What's all this blood? Are you hurt somewhere? "She asked as she searched for a possible bleeding wound.

"I'm fine mother." He said as he shook her hands away lightly and went up to his room. In his room, he turned on the radio to a loud volume and cried and screamed while the radio blared muffling his cries.

After half an hour, Derek came down the stairs showered and dressed for dinner. But there was something missing in him. He wasn't talking. Whatever his mother put in his plate, he just ate it quietly.

Derek was traumatized for days and he didn't talk to his father. Derek was only 12 at the time.

From that day onwards, Derek stopped smiling and laughing a lot. It hurt Maria a lot to see her son so closed off and distant from the world but she couldn't do anything because Robert wouldn't let her.

"Too much of everything is dangerous," said Robert when Maria one day talked about taking Derek to a psychiatrist.
"You care a lot and that's why you hurt a lot. Let him make mistakes and suffer. It's good for him. He'll know where to step and what to feel." Robert told her.

Every night when Derek slept he could see his dad killing his dog. He felt guilty because he couldn't save the poor animal from a brutal death.