"I'm sorry mom.... Please let me in" cried out a little boy standing outside a small and rusty house in the red light district, in the outskirts of a city. The house looked old but was lighted up with bright yellow and green lights, with obscene posters. The first floor of the house was under construction. The house was on the lonelier side of the much busy streets of the red light area. The sign of service was getting rusty and tattered. The boy's little arms hurt from continuously banging on the creaked door.
But he kept banging at the door with his small fists, crying and clutching his teddy bear close to his body. Drunk passersby laughed at the him and passed crude comments about him and his mother. The area was one of the most disgusting places in the city with drunk perverted men who would prey on anything. The reputation was so bad that even the police refrained from getting involved in the frequent theft, robberies and murders of the area. "A filthy place with filthy people" was often referred to for the area by the people outside of it. It was a total outcast from the city that was not very far away from it.
The boy continued sobbing, his knocking grew fainter because of the pain. Just then, he felt a breath on the back of his neck. It reeked of alcohol and something sinister. The boy didn't turn around to face whoever was behind him, he clutched his bear close as if it would protect him from the unknown."Such a cute kid..... What's your name little one?" A man lowered himself to the boy's level and asked creepily. The boy clutched his teddy bear even closer and started taking small steps away from him. The drunk man laughed at the boy's fear and shoved him to the side, walking towards the door he had been knocking for an hour. It opened for him, a hand extended out grabbing the cash first and then let the man inside. He never liked the idea of calling his own house a brothel, yet the people in the area always reminded him of it. He never liked seeing his mother calculate her cash with those slender fingers of hers, it reminded him of the horror of the area, yet he had to face it daily. He stared at the man go inside with such an ease, while he stood there crying holding his teddy bear.
"Go away you good for nothing!" A sharp voice from inside the house yelled at the little kid from the window near the door followed by a throw of a spoon at him. The spoon hit the boy's eye, it stang. He winced out in pain and rubbed his eye. Slowly, he turned around and started walking aimlessly in the streets with his teddy bear clutched close to his ragged and torn pyjamas. He had no idea where to go or what to do. He wasn't familiar with the streets even though he lived hear for a few years. The flicker of bright lights scared him from something unknown. A bad feeling. Something bad is about to happen but he doesn't know what. His eyes glanced around nervously every second to avoid any possible danger.
He kept walking with bruised feet till it was almost 11 at night, the entire district reeked of alcohol and sex. The boy clutched the teddy bear even closer to him, like a sword. His stomach growled, and his throat was dry. His whole body ached and his gray eyes were droopy and red from crying. "Mom...mom....." The boy cried to himself. "I'm sorry... I'll always play hide and seek....just the way you like it..... I'm sorry...." The boy kept muttering to himself as if his mother could hear him. He kept scratching his hands and his small fingers dig into his bear.
Was I just born for this…first, years of abuse and then being abandoned. Why did it happen to me, what did I do wrong...Why me? Why not anyone else? Why not the boys who lived beside my house? Why not any other person alive? Did I really ruin my mom's life as she says? Is this my punishment?..
The boy's arms were held tightly on both the sides of his head. "You are so much prettier with these cuts and bruises all over body, just how I like my woman". The boy couldn't move, couldn't stop the man on top of him, all he could do was cry for help or scream. Everyone let him down. The area was filled with theives, burglars, killers, people made of nothing but lust and sickness, the boy could only hear faint laughs and chuckles at the situation he was in. He couldn't even see the faces of those laughing people from his tear blurred eyes. The boy could catch the glimpse of his teddy thrown nearby, ripped apart, it's head and body holding together from a few loose threads. His blood curdling screams only seemed to excite the drunk man who was the reason for it. People are sick, in minds, in body. There are a lot of them, sick people.
Not only do I get hurt like this…but people take pleasure seeing my situation..was I that bad of a boy to my mom?
"Please.....open the door....mom....please..... I'm sorry" the boy banged the door again with his small fists, this time desperately holding his ripped off teddy bear in his other hand. His face had marks which made it obvious someone had hurt him. His legs and thighs were stained with blood along with his ragged pyjama. His eyes looked bloodshot from crying. "Please....mom....let me in". For a moment, a flicker of hope filled his eyes when the door to the front opened, but only to meet with despair and shock when the hot water made contact with his right shoulder. Saved by a few centimetres from a third degree burn. The boy's tears stopped for the moment replaced by shock and horror.
Did I really deserve this kind of punishment? What did I do wrong with that old man who hurt me? Will he get his punishment? Will I see it? Will the people who laughed get their punishment, like how I'm suffering it? What's the point of their punishment if I don't see it?…Will my mom get punished? Will I see it?..