A MOTHER'S WARMTH

"mother" Ethan called softly. The woman only sobbed harder in response. Seeing his mother in that state hurt Ethan more than the beating he had received at Dred's hands.' how did she even get down here?' Ethan asked himself.

His mother didn't move about much since she was crippled. 'she must have crawled all the way from her room to this place when she heard the noise we were making.' Ethan concluded in his head.

"Mother" Ethan called again as he turned on his stomach and made to crawl towards her, but before he could move,a heavy foot pinned him once again to the floor.

Ethan didn't need to ask why Dred was refusing to let him go. He quickly fished his salary or whatever was left of it from his side pocket and tossed it on the floor. "Here...that's what you want right? Now lemme go!" He yelled at the top of his voice.

Dred had half a mind to stomp on the little brat once more as the boy yelled at him, but he refrained. He had what he came here for.

" I'll be careful how I speak to me if I were in your shoes, boy. I'll let that little stunt you pulled earlier slide. Next time your mother won't be around to save you", Dred lifted his foot off the boy as he knelt to pick the money from the floor.

He counted the wad of cash and frowned a little...' only 450?' he asked himself. That was when he realized all that was around him. Destroyed groceries. He scoffed as he turned to leave.

"I don't need to remind you that nothing happened here tonight. It's for your own good" he said as he disappeared into the corner leading into his and Mrs.Brunson's bedroom.

Ethan watched Dred leave in silence before crawling his way slowly towards his mother who was still sobbing behind the sofa. Ethan could care less about what Dred did with his spare time. His only concern at the moment was his mother.

He finally reached the sobbing woman who had buried her face in her palms as she cried. Ethan lay his head on his mother's lap and wrapped his arms around her midsection. This made Mrs.Brunson cry even harder.

She blamed herself for all that was happening to their family. If only she hadn't met Dred. If only she hadn't agreed to let him stay in their house when he came from prison. If only she had done things differently.

"Mother, please stop crying. I'm fine, he didn't do much damage. You stopped him in time", Ethan pleaded with his mother as he nestled into her.

"I'm s..so sorry Ethan. This is all my fault. If only I hadn't given him a place to stay. He wouldn't have been here in the first place." Mrs. Brunson chided herself.

Ethan knew what she was talking about. His mother was the one who had agreed to let Dred stay with them after he came from prison. She didn't ask Ethan's opinion on the matter. she just acted.

Ethan had been home one day with his mother when Dred appeared with his stuff. he didn't have much with him. Just some bags of clothes and shoes. His mother then made the grand announcement that Dred was going to live with them from that day onwards.

Of course, Ethan had been pissed, he had thrown a tantrum for which his mother had gotten angry and sent him off to his room. She later on came to explain to him that Dred wasn't going to replace his father. That she was just giving him a place to stay for the meantime, that he would soon leave.

Well, Dred never left after that. For the first three years, he had been exceptionally good and kind. He got a job at a factory in the next town and never stopped showering his mom with gifts. Soon he had wormed his way into her heart.

They had then gotten married and from then on the Brunsons had been stuck with him. After their marriage, Dred had continued being his usual 'good guy' self until about a year later when he lost his job. That was about the time when the third world war was flaring up and companies were folding left, right, center.

He had been dropped along with his other colleagues and that was when his true character started showing. Dred was a dangerous man who had a violent past.

Soon after he lost his job, he somehow managed to convince Mrs. Brunson to sell the family car. Since she herself couldn't drive, she agreed. When the money from the car run out, he made her sell their family house.

Mrs. Brunson had cried her eyes out when she sold the house, but Dred had comforted her saying it was better she sold it anyway since she was bound to lose it with the way the war was going.

Dred had then moved them into a dump of an apartment that was half their old house in terms of size using part of the money realized from the sale of the house.

After that money was also spent, he proceeded to sell their furniture, their Electronics, and even his mother's jewelry. Things were that bad but somehow Dred always managed to pay their bills at the end of the month. This was quite shocking in itself seeing as Dred was unemployed. He had refused to look for employment anywhere, claiming that he was now retired.

Ethan would have been fine if things had been the same. But Dred soon got worst. He started bullying Mrs.Brunson and leaving for days on end. Soon he had stopped buying groceries and Ethan and his mother found themselves starving more each passing day.

That was when Ethan had decided to start working after school. He couldn't stand the hunger anymore.

When Dred found out Ethan was working, he was very happy. He gave the boy a list of all the bills he paid at the end of the month and told Ethan that it was his duty to contribute or he'll sack him from the house.

Ethan had complained saying the bills were Dred's responsibility and that he couldn't spare him any cash since he needed everything for food and school. Dred had only smiled in response and left him.

Ethan would only come to find out later that Dred had left him only because he knew Ethan was yet to get paid.

That month, Dred had forcefully wrestled Ethan's salary from him, and since then he had been doing so every other month.

All this had happened a little over 6 years ago. Ethan knew that the only reason why his mom was still with Dred was simply because they had nowhere to go. He had blamed her at first for their troubles, but as he grew up he understood more the importance of bidding one's time.

"Don't worry mom, it's not your fault. One day we'll leave this hell-hole" he comforted her as he closed his eyes. Mrs. Brunson could only smile amidst tears as she heard what Ethan said.

She knew she had failed him but even now, whiles bloodied and in pain, he still didn't blame her. She gently ran her fingers through her son's hair as he buried his face into her tummy.

Under his mother's gentle fingers, the last thing Ethan heard was a low hum from her before he slipped into unconsciousness.