What would you do if you found out you were to be an adopted child without knowing?

Chapter 4: Painful betrayal

I heard a loud noise from the outside, it was too loud indeed. The birds were flying in the air, turning around in a circle. The birds turned noisy because the birds were too afraid of that loud noise. I only imagined that it was a gun shooting something. However, it was too far away, although it seemed quite hard. A few moments later, dad came back from work. I heard the sound of the door opening from downstairs. Dad came back walking since we do not own any vehicles. Furthermore, he works at the nearby building as a manager. As soon as dad came back, I ran downstairs to get him in. He opened the door and I managed to get in front of the door before he finished. He was surprised looking at me being so sad. I approached him and called him, “Dad!” He hugged me and told me that everything would be alright. It seemed that dad really understands me for being his child. He locked the door and placed his old torn leather shoes on to the rusty looking shoe tray. I followed as he walked in carrying his black, heavy suitcase. He began to ask questions, “Jool, where is your mum?” I replied, “She’s in the room, dad.” His face seemed tired; his eyes were red and dripping tears. I wondered, “Is dad sad? He has never been sad the whole time...” Dad continued walking and left me behind. He went into his room and placed his heavy, black suitcase on the floor. Although his condition has never been so bad, dad seemed extremely depressed. He opened the door and switched on the lights of his room. He took off his black old jacket and hung it in the cupboard with a hanger. He did not focus on what he was doing and accidentally kicked his bed when he wanted to write his diary. He shouted in pain and mum was shocked, mum came out and checked on what was happening. She came out and stood beside me, she asked, “What is happening?” I replied, “Dad kicked his own bed, mum.” Mum felt humiliated and got angry, she walked into dad’s room and scolded him. She shouted, “Why are you scaring me!” I started to fear they would start an argument since they never argued for so long. One year ago, they argued over buying a sofa for the house and almost broke up. They continued fighting and I couldn’t stop them, I went in and told them to stop but they ignored me as if I never existed. I felt bad because I was ignored and I started to yell at them. All of a sudden, they stopped and the situation turned soundless. I shouted with a broken voice, “Stop arguing, you’ll only make the family break apart.” They both felt bad for ignoring me and decided to stop arguing; I got sad and ran back to my room. I locked the door tightly and sat down on my chair. I felt so sad for losing a friend, now I had to stop my parents from arguing. Mum and dad stopped arguing and walked into the living room. I felt so sad and continued crying as time passes. As the day turned late, I stopped crying and cooled down. I looked at the sky through a big brown frame and saw the beautiful atmosphere coloured with goldenrod, I started to think, “Is it my time to stop dreaming and drive into harsh reality?” I had to drive into harsh reality and stop dreaming of a good future. I always thought that life would move fluidly as the river flows. The people outside went back into their lovely home and I got hungry. I could smell the taste of the food that followed the wind from blocks away.

Later in the evening, I went downstairs and decided to have a walk outside. I walked down the stairs and saw mum cooking in the kitchen. Mum was talking happily with her friend on the phone and dad was writing his diary inside his room. I walked into the kitchen and saw what was for dinner; mum was cooking fried fish for dinner. I went to the living room and turned on the television, I watched the news while I was waiting. The news reported that there was a prisoner that escaped from jail and running freely outside, they informed everyone to be careful. I started to worry something bad would happen. Thirty minutes later the news was over and dinner was almost ready. I went outside for a walk while waiting for dinner to be ready. I wore my shoes and opened the door; I came out my house and decided to walk around my house. It was dark as it was night; I walked out and saw the street lights on. Several street lights were not working since they were spoiled. As I was walking, I saw houses with lights. Some were eating with their family members; others were doing what most people do at night. Suddenly, I saw a shadow behind me. I started to fear if it was someone dangerous or like the news reported: the prisoner. I continued walking and I kept hearing footsteps, I turned around and saw nothing was behind. Probably just my imagination, I got tired of walking and decided to return as the day turned darker.

Later on, I reached home and went in. I locked the door and placed my shoes on the shoe rack. I went in and saw dinner was ready, I told mum to save some of the food for me as I wanted to take a shower after going out for a walk. Mum told dad to have dinner and dad came to the kitchen and sat down to eat. There were rice, fried fish and vegetables on the table. I went up stairs and took a pair of new clothes; I went downstairs and entered the bathroom. I took a shower and changed to my new pair of clothes. Soon, I came out and placed my dirty pair of clothes into the basket beside the bath room. I went into the kitchen and sat down; mum and dad finished eating and left some of the food on the table. They left the kitchen and I was left alone, I began eating as the rice was prepared on the table. There were a sum of rice left in the bowl and part of the fried fish was left. I began with the vegetables and ate it with the rice. Soon, I finished up everything on the table and cleaned up the table. I went out and saw the door of the living room nearly closed, I approached the room and saw mum and dad talking. I listened to their conversation.

“We need our son to be happy, honey.” said mum.

“Yes I understand.” dad replied.

“What do you think he needs? He’s not our real son, I don’t really understand him.” said mum.

“Although he’s not our real son, but I think he needs a brother.” dad replied.

I started to feel weird about what they were talking about, I felt uncomfortable.

“So you mean, we need to get him his twin?” said mum

“That’s what I think... Jool is a sad boy, he’s always lonely. He needs a companion too, right?” said dad.

“Yes... but we don’t need to get him his twin brother in the orphanage, we cannot afford to get him. We can’t pay for another family member, we’re almost broke.” said mum.

“Yes... but... he’ll know about his past one day since he’s an adopted child and we never once treated him good. Don’t you feel bad about it? I love Jool, I love him so much, he has became a part of my life, I cannot lose him.” said dad.

“As long as you and I keep this a secret, he’ll never know.” said mum.

I started to feel bad and I opened the door, mum and dad saw me with a sad and angry looking face. They were shocked seeing me standing in front of the door knowing that I heard their conversation. I started to cry and shouted, “Why didn’t you tell me the truth? I was adopted and you treat me so bad! I never complained a word to you... but... how could you?! You are my parents and you should be responsible!!” Mum got angry and shouted, “Stop yelling at us like you can tell us what to do. Remember, you’re just an adopted child; you don’t have the rights to yell at us. We raised you because we felt you were good. So behave yourself!” As soon as I heard those words, it was like thorns coming out from mum’s mouth. It penetrated my heart like a sharp powerful spear. My heart was broken and I ran out the house with tears dripping down. I ran far, far away from home. Mum and dad started to argue and dad scolded mum. They both thought I would return the next day so they ignored the situation.

However, things were not at the end of the line, I did not return home the next day. I got lost, mum and dad started to worry. Soon, dad and mum started to worry and called the police. The television was on, while dad was using the telephone, mum heard the news reporting that a missing kid has been kidnapped. No one knew what knew what happened to me after that night, I disappear mysteriously and no one could find me. Mum fainted because of fear while dad is still trying to search where I was. The mystery has not been uncovered…

To be continued…