Benjy

Part 1

"Mommy, Mommy! I met a new friend!"

"Really? Wow... That's good! You go play with him outside first ok? Mommy needs to finish packing these things."

"Ok!"

Joanne smiled as she saw her young son running out of the door into the backyard outside. She couldn't see her son's new friend, but she supposed that he must be one of the neighbourhood kids.

Joanne was a single mother and she had just moved into a new house in this peaceful looking suburb. Leaving the bastard of her husband was one of her wisest decisions in life. Marrying him had been the stupidest. He had abused her and Josh, her little boy.

Thinking back on that still brought shudders to her. She had been charmed by the good looks and smooth talking ways of his. Within a year, they were married. Then, all hell broke lose. He proved to be a worthless idiot, an alcoholic who would come home drunk almost every night and wreck havoc at home. She couldn't remember the number of times that she blamed herself for being so stupid to be cheated by him.

For years, she suffered in silence, hoping that he would see and mend the errors of his ways. She had tried to be the good and forgiving wife, giving him chance after chance after chance. But every time, he would disappoint her.

The only good thing that came out of the marriage was Josh. With his father's good looks and his mother's gentle personality, he was the cutest little boy you had ever seen. Cheerful and cherubic, he had his father's dark hair and his mother's blue eyes and fair skin. Complete with his quick little mind and talkative mouth, he was the kind of kid that you could spend hours talking to and listening to his childish wisdom.

Looking at him,you would never have imagined the horrors that he went through at home. Outside home, he looked and behaved the little boy with a sunny nature that came from a happy family.

Joanne was glad that she finally took the courage to walk out on her husband. She had seen enough of Josh suffering for his young age. Every night he would sit trembling in the corner of his room, hugging his knees, listening to his parents quarreling outside. After the quarreling, he would hear them fighting and the screams of his mother getting beaten.

Finally one night, he could take it no more. 6 year old little Josh ran out of his room to confront the stormy scene outside.

"Stop it Daddy! Don't hurt Mommy anymore!"

*slap*

"Shaddap kid!"

Josh stumbled and fell against the coffee table. Tears smarted his eyes, but he blinked them away.

Seeing her son getting hit, Joanne flew into a rage that she had never gotten into before. Grabbing the beer bottle that her husband had dropped when he came into the house earlier, she brought it crashing on his head with all her might, knocking him unconscious onto the floor, blood oozing in a steady flow.

She fell to the floor, sobbing. Josh had crawled over and hugged her.

"It's ok Mommy, I'm here..."

The next day, her husband woke up to an empty house.
_

Joanne shivered as the unpleasant memory struck her. Ignoring it, she continued unpacking and putting away the stuff that they had brought into the new house. It was probably good that Josh was outside playing, it was easier for her to get the work done without an overexcited 6 year old trying to "help".

After packing for a while, she looked out of the kitchen window into the backyard. It was time for Josh to come home for dinner.