Perfectly Imperfect

80

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at mom's question.

"Korede!" I got remembered that dad was still in the room when he growled behind me and my hands tightened around mom.

I've always known that I disliked dad but right now, it was just plain hatred for the man.

"Korede, have you lost your mind? How dare you punch your father in the face?"

Something unknotted in my head.

How dare you try to strangulate mom to...?

"Did I not teach you better!?" He yelled again and I burst into laughter, pushing myself up to my feet in the process.

"Of course you taught me better! You taught me that resorting to my fist is always the always the available option. Why? Does it hurt?" I fired right back at him, matching his dead glare with equal intensity in mine. I don't know how but with the raging storm building up in me, I knew it was just a matter of time before I hit him in the face again.

"And you're talking to me like that?" He exclaimed before turning to mom, who was still crumbled on the floor, a look of disbelief on her face. "And you, is this how you've raised my son? To punch me in the face and talk back to me?" He yelled and if it was any other day, I'd have staggered at his tone but today, I was just tired and fed up and even though he was angry that he was literally vibrating and shaking with venom, I couldn't care less.

I was just frustrated. Frustrated that mom allowed things to drag this long, frustrated that I've always been a coward, that I've always been hiding away.

But now, I was done.

"Stop talking to her that way." I deadpanned  and he turned towards me from mom, a look of horrified smile on his face. "Don't ever talk to mom that way again. Well, it's not like you're going to get another opportunity to even see her again."

He staggered back, the horrified smile deepening on his face. "Wow. Adam. Has you mother brainwashed you that much? Or are you just really blind to the things that are going on? Everything that I've ever worked for, every thing I've ever worked for so you'd have a better life, she's handling all of that to her concubine, she's giving all of that to the man she's sleeping with. She just destroyed my life and yours. And what? You're defending her? Are you really a son of mine?"

"No, I'm not. I stopped having a father the minute you decided it was okay to beat mom at any given opportunity. And mom did not even sleep with anyone. Isn't that some cock and bull story you made up to gain pity parties?"

He started to say something but I was already turning away from him and turning towards mom who was still on the floor and I helped her up, helped her to the bed.

Dad kept looking at us as if we were horror films.

"You know what? I don't want to see the both of you in my house till you learn your mistakes and you both come crawling back to me."

I looked up at him then, looked at his face, his black handsome face that I took so much after but instead of seeing his face, I saw that of a monster.

Man is a monster, an unredeemable one.

I turned back to mom at the same minute he stepped out of the room, slamming the door behind him and shaking the whole house in the process.