Bonded by Blood

S E V E N

"Why do you have to be so goddamn weak?" His words caused my lips to tremble. "Answer me!" He roared out and immediately made me flinch back in fear.

I blinked nervously as he ate. "I-I don't know."

"You wanna know why? It's because you're a faggot." He brutally let out, glancing back at me with a disgusted look on his face. "You don't belong, you're a freak, you're apart of the filth that ruins this world."

My chest felt as if it was being ripped apart by his words, a searing brand onto my flesh to hold them to be forever true. "N-no I'm not!" I brokenly yelled out even though my volume was never capable of increasing up to his level.

"Yes you are." He carelessly nodded.

I spoke past the trembling of my voice. "No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" He yelled as he angrily got up out of his seat to face me. "And that is why I treat you the way I do! You have been taught and shaped to be an abomination by your whore mother and that is why I am forced to be tough on you!"

"Don't speak about her that way!" I clenched my fists as I chose to speak up for my mother regardless of the pain I was going to face for it.

I tearfully watched his face wrinkle at me. "You little-" He rapidly swung his hand across my cheek and followed it up with a furious grip made around my neck. "You don't get to raise your voice at me!"

He tightly squeezed as I struggled against the formidable locking of my lungs, my neck ached as I could only imagine the bruise I was bound to get from my father's chokehold.

He immediately lets me go with a force that knocks me back against the wall. "No breakfast and dinner for today! Now go! Clean!"

I sobbed while gasping for air. "No, please!" I begged as the mention of food had caused my stomach to uncontrollably growl. "I'm sorry! Forgive me father!" I coughed a few times as it was hard to come back from such a merciless grip.

"Get out of my face!"

"Please! Let me at least have a piece of toast-that's-that's all I ask!" My starvation had forced me to resort to begging.

"I said go!" I flinched as he raised his hand up to threaten me once more with another swing.

I cried myself up the stairs and started my day's cleaning in my room in attempts to take the work as a distraction from my sorrow. I always kept my room tidy so there wasn't much to do besides making the bed as well as reorganizing my colored pencils and the countless stacks of paper.

The bathroom was always a hassle, making me spritz a solvent on the tough surfaces as most of the work consisted of scrubbing and reaching out into tight crevices. I was left with everlasting aches all throughout my body and a great deal of exhaustion that I had to fight against. I eventually finished with mucky gloves and a weak shallow breath.

Lastly, I limped over to my father's room where several beer bottles and cans had intertwined with other various trashes that were laid out on the floor. His bed was unruly and had several containers that were either empty or filled with spoiled half-finished food. I spent the longest time cleaning his room using a new set of gloves, a broom, and a trash bag.

My exhaustion truly set in once I made my way downstairs to clean the kitchen, the living room, and then the dining table. After awhile of heavy work, I was immediately called out into the lawn by my father who wanted me to bring him a glass of water.

"Took you look enough." He murmurs impatiently while snatching the glass away from my hand.

"W-What do you think it was?" I asked as I carefully observed the impacted fence.