TIFITY

Piggy bank

It was... well, the day in which it occurred is no longer relevant. The point is that something happened after I told Evangeline about the error responsible for making the black hole appear in the first place. I can recall she responded something like "That mistake doesn't matter as long as we keep having the opportunity to travel to our safe place, does it?". She was so comprehensive and even told me that luck was on our side. She seemed just as happy after I told her I created Tifity by mistake, or better said, not in the way I had planned to do so from the very beginning. Of course, this was before I told her the black hole was slowly waning.

Sadness took over her the second she found out. "Does that mean we won't ever be able to go back, nor take anything from there?" were her main questions, which I had no answer to at the time. I hated to be a messenger of bad news, but there's no way lying to my friend would have been a better option. Taking the diameter of the hole into account, I estimated that it would take it three more voyages for it to be too little for anybody to pass through. 

*****

Something remarkable happened that same week, and this occurrence wasn't pleasant precisely. I remember that as the worst week of my life. Monday and Tuesday were acceptable, as Evangeline and I met both days to watch Disney movies. But things started getting worse from Wednesday on. I know I shouldn't rely on somebody to feel good, but I admit I was so attached to Ev that I needed her, shortly. She was occupied working as a shop assistant to take some money home, so her family could face economical difficulties. That meant we couldn't hang out, and I must admit that I thought it was the best thing to happen at that moment. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I wasn't going to miss her insanely much or that I didn't want to be with her, but quite the opposite. It's just that I was feeling too down and wouldn't stop having breakdowns, and I didn't want Evangeline to see me breaking as if I was a porcelain made doll. I would be lying if I said feeling devastated was a new thing for me. The truth is that it was one of those emotions I knew the best.

Days passed and Friday came. I had had a couple of break downs during the morning due to some kind of argument I had had with my mum and my brother coming back home after being missing for a week. I was okay with him going somewhere else, I truly didn't care. But my dad did. He was his ally, apart from being his dear son. Yes, he appreciated him while he mistreated my mum and me. With my brother home, my dad could go back to his habits of beating us up. I was very tired, I swear I was. I did not know how many more beating I'd be able to take, nor if my mum could continue working and living the way she did. She had to shower in make-up every single morning so the bruises her lover's fists left all over her body couldn't be seen.

I recollect the exact moment Jake walked through the door. He came so mad because apparently, and I'm quoting: "carrying drugs around wasn't a crime, but police were too desperate and bored". He said he had to pay a £630 fine, and then he went straight to the kitchen, where my mum was. "Give me the fucking money, or you'll get hit as you never have before", he yelled. My mum was paralyzed. I could hear and see everything from the living room, but there was no need for words. I could notice the pain and suffering in her eyes. She seemed so surprised by his once so kind and sweet son becoming such a monster. Even though he had beaten her a hundred times before, I guess she still wasn't hopeless.

I couldn't understand why he went for my mum in the beginning, but it took me a single minute to realize the reason why. He would never ask our dad for the money because, first of all, mum was the one who carried money home (as my dad went by the bar instead of going to work). She was the one who knew the password of the only credit card we owned. And second of all, dad had no more money as he had spent it all in alcohol and drugs. I wonder whose behaviour my brother has based his own on...

"C'mon whore, give me the fucking money!!", my brother kept shouting. He took my mum by the neck and lifted her.  Next thing I witnessed was my brother trying to choke our mum with no mercy or sympathy. I was terrified because I knew I'd get knocked up if I came out of my hiding place, but I couldn't let Jake kill my mother. It may sound exaggerated but I swear he would have killed her if I didn't take any type of action. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean we got off the circumstance well. I tried to think of a solution to the matter. I had to get the money from somewhere else before my mum was left out of breath on the floor. Next thing I remember is me silently walking upstairs to my bedroom and looking for some object beneath my bed. It was a blue box I used as a piggy bank where I had accumulated all my money for the last three years. I would work as a babysitter during summer to earn some cash, just so I could help mum pay the invoices. I thought of giving my brother all of it hoping he'd leave as alone for once, but when I finished counting everything (I did so twice), I realized there merely were £521. I knew it was not the amount required, but I still went back downstairs to make a deal with my sibling. 

"Hey Jake, stop it already!!", I said once I was down. He looked at me with a disagreeable face before threatening me. My mum was already unconscious but he wouldn't lower her. "I have some money to give you, so please leave mum alone for god's sake" I stated, trying to get back his attention. He instantly looked at the blue piggy bank I had right before ripping it out of my hands and throwing it to the wall. He took all the money from among the broken pieces, and disappeared, letting my mum fall straight to the floor. I checked if her heart was beating, but a pool of blood was everything I stumbled upon.