Love is in the Air (Cameron Boyce)

Chapter 16 Why Do They Hate Me?

Chapter 16

"Kolin! What the hell, we thought you died!" My mom yelled at me as I just got back to my campsite.

"Well not that we'd care anyway..."My dad said to me, not looking up from his phone.

"Harold! Well, it's true but just eat your dinner. According to the law, we legally have to feed you..." She trailed off, dropping a plate of a half eaten Hot Dog and two chips.

"Yes, but not all the time Karen." He replied, smirking and still not looking up from his phone.

"Harold please, the only reason we do this is-" She walked over to him and whispered so I could barely hear, "-because we want him to grow up to be a man and to figure out how to take care of himself!"

She what? Wait, she thinks doing this is going to make me man? This is outrageous! I can't take this anymore! I'm going to fight against them, wether they like it or not.

"Mom?! What, I-you-I can't believe this! I can't take this anymore, you are a terrible parent! Why do you think you could just-" I managed to yell at her before she slapped me hard across my cheek, leaving another red mark.

"True, I may be a terrible parent. But your a terrible son. You will not speak of this to anyone, you hear me?" She scolded before slapping me again, across the other cheek.

"I wish you weren't my parents..."

I was very surprised to see a hurt showing in her cold, hard, and lifeless expression. She never cared about me, why would she be bothered by my burning hatred for her? Apparently, her feelings are mutual. So...why? Why was she so hurt that I never loved her?

"Why do you seem so hurt...mom?" I asked.

She didn't answer for a while, she just stared at me. Like she was trying to decipher something. It was hard to tell as she was staring blankly into my eyes. She seemed as if she was trying to tell me something...she seemed as if she was under influence. Was she drunk? On drugs? No, her cheeks aren't flushed and her eyes aren't bloodshot. What was causing her to be worse, unusual?

"Kolin, go tell them your sorry. Just get away from me. He's going to hurt you...and me..." She whispered to me, looking like she was scared of something or someone...

"Mom, who?" I whispered back.

"Your father, I'll tell him your running from me...just come back when he's sleeping. I'll be waiting outside...GO!" She finished whispering as I started to run off.

"Karen? Where the hell is he going!?" My father yelled as I saw him smack my mother.

I hid behind a pair of trees to see what else would happen. Was my father controlling my mother to harm me all these years? Why...wait, so my mom just saved me? This is so many things to process right now, it's hurting my head. My headche was starting to come back just as I was processing what was to happen next. I definitely wasn't expecting this...

"He's running away from me, Harold. He was just too much of a chicken...so he ran." She said, making a failed attempt to smirk.

"Don't lie to me! I heard what you two where whispering!" He yelled as he smacked my mother again, this time harder leaving a red mark on her left cheek.

He charged back inside the trailer, yelling at her to stay there. She turned back to look at me, while she quickly mouthed the words 'You need to get out of here!'. She turned back around and gasped in shock. In my dads' left hand was a chair, and my dads' right hand was some duck tape. My mother begged and pleaded as he taped her to the chair, leaving cuts and bruises on her arms and legs. My dad started to slap her more and yell at her for failing to keep me in my place. What was that supposed to mean?