The train was pretty empty that morning. For the first time in weeks, Sasuna could sit down. The train stopped. The doors opened to Kira, Sasuna's friend and co-worker. "Morning", Kira said with gleaming eyes. "Morning." Kira sat down with a big smile as usual. "How's Taakei?" She slightly bit her lip. "He's doing ok. He's being an angel as usual." Kira chuckled. "He's going to grow up to be a great young man. He's handsome and polite." Sasuna smiled. "Yeah..he is." She looked out the window and watched the sun rise as they sped to work.
The day was filled with marketing presentations. Sasuna was the best presenter in her department so sales depended on her. She hardly came back empty handed. During her break, she put her head down on her desk. There was suddenly a tap on her shoulder. Startled, she turned around. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you", Kira said. "I wanted to talk to you." Sasuna nodded. "Oh no problem." She sat up and fixed her clothes. "What did you want to talk about?" Kira's voice got firmer. "You. Did something happen?" Sasuna choked on her words. Just as she was about to speak, Kira jumped in. "Don't say nothing happened. I can see some of your hair was torn out. What did he do?"
"He pulled me around by my hair. I forgot to iron his clothes."
"Did Taakei see any of this?"
"Yes.."
"That bastard. I really wish you would leave him. You can't keep putting up with this. This is bad for you and Taakei."
"I can't."
"Yes you can. You two can stay with me or with your parents. Just please Sasuna, I love you too much to watch you suffer like this." She got up and stood in Sasuna's doorway. "Just think about what I said. My door is always open."
After work, Sasuna took the train home. She was the first to arrive. Immediately, she started making dinner. Maebara would be back soon. Just as the soup was getting hot, the front door opened. "Mommy, we're home!" Taakei raced to hug his mom. She kissed his cheek. "Hi Sweety. How was school?" His eyes glistened. "It was great. We learned how to multiply today!" She smiled and praised him. Maebara walked in. "Come on Taakei, you can't be in here right now. Mommy has work to do." Immediately, Sasuna knew that he wanted the kitchen spotless before dinner. "Yeah", she said quietly, "go do your homework."
Taakei pouted, but did what he was told. Sasuna started cleaning. While putting up dishes, a nail scratched her hand. It burned immediately. It was hard not to yell from how much it hurt. She heard Maebara move and hoped he wasn't coming her way. Luckily, he just went upstairs.
After she was done cleaning, she went into the living room with Taakei. He was playing with his toy car. She watched him from the couch. He was so innocent and so young. The poor boy didn't know what was going on.
Taakei sat next to her and grabbed her hand. He saw the lengthy scratch on her hand. A little blood was coming out. "You're hurt", he exclaimed. She slowly pulled her hand back. "No, I'm fine. It's just a scratch." He looked at her hand. "It looks like it hurts a lot. You have to fix it, Mommy. So it can get better." She looked at his begging eyes. They were irresistable. "Fine, fine I'll wrap it." She went to the closet to get the First-aid kit. Taakei took her by the hand and took her back to the couch.
