Chapter 35: The story behind my dilemma
Klaus’ s pov
My name is Nicolas Hayes.
Not Klaus.
Not the version everyone thinks they know.
Just…. Nicolas.
This is that part of the story where I explain my shitty life.
Where you understand why fixing things really doesn't go too well for me and why I leave before anything has the chance to mean too much to me.
I've tried fixing things once before and it didn't quite end well.
Growing up, my dad wasn’t… easy.
He had a certain kind of temper.
Not that loud obvious one people warned you about, it was a quiet one. The one that builds up gradually and once it is triggered it just snaps.
And everybody felt it. We all tasted that temper, well except for Ethan.
Ethan was different. The golden child that did no wrong.
Dad loved Ethan and didn't even spare me a glance, not once.
But I didn't mind because I had mom. She loved me in a way that made up for everything else.
Back then I didn't really understand much but I knew this was a broken family.
The shouting
The way my dad would grab her arms too tight
The arguments
The screaming
At first, I thought dad was correcting mom, the way she did us when we did something stupid.
I looked up to Ethan then. When I asked why dad always dragged mom away when he got angry.
Ethan simply told me, “she probably did something really bad and dad wants to teach her a lesson so she wont do it again” the way he said it always made it sound ok.
But it got worse.
Louder.
More brutal.
I began to believe this wasn't a correction and when I told Ethan, he said mom would be fine.
She had bruises and burn marks all over her body, how was she supposed to be fine?
I wanted to fix it. With or without Ethan's approval.
People started talking. They started noticing her black eye, bruised cheeks, cuts on her arms.
Dad hated it. All of it.
So we left.
Packed everything and moved to a bigger city. Where everyone minded that business.
I tried to look at the possible aspects of leaving the one place I called home, maybe things would change.
That maybe moving was a sign to start over but things only drifted into a comfortable quiet.
It was unsettling.
Then that night came, they were arguing again but it was different this time– louder, more aggressive.
I was scared so I ran to my mom’s room and placed both my hands over my ear like it would all stop.
I hid in a corner and spotted mom’s bag.
I thought maybe if I keep my hands busy and distracted myself I would feel better or maybe find something that will make things better.
So I went through her bag.
I found something, a phone. Not the one she usually used, a different one.
So I turned it on and when the screen lit up…
There she was – smiling and happy standing next to a man I had never seen before.
She looked… free.
I didn’t understand it fully but something in me thought this tiny little phone could fix this broken family.
Before I could think about anything,the phone rang and I picked it up almost immediately.
A man’s voice.”hello” he spoke.
Silence. He must have heard the arguments and screaming then he began to sound worried.
“I need help”i trembled “dad… he’s hurting mom”
Silence followed, then panic, then questions.
He asked who I was and I answered, then he asked for our address and I gave it.
Ethan burst in immediately understanding the situation, he tried to stop me. He kept saying things like “don’t do it. Dad hates people”
I tried to make him see that involving another adult might lighten the situation but Ethan made it clear that whatever I just did made everything worse.
“You are wrong, if this nice man talks to dad everything will be fixed” i argued
“Shut up nicky, dad will kill him, you just ruined mom” he scoffed “how can you be so stupid”
I stayed quiet.
Ethan was already smart enough to know that mom was having an affair with that man and I had just exposed her to her cruel husband.
Mom’s screams filled the room and I could feel shockwaves down my every muscle. I covered my ears scared for my life while Ethan just watched like it was nothing.
Dad was losing his shit.
A few hours later, the man came but he wasn’t stupid enough to come alone. He came with the police.
Everything after that happened so fast, it was almost a blur.
Voices.
Sirens.
Handcuffs.
Interrogations.
Child services.
Court.
And just like that, dad went to prison and should’ve been the end of it.
Ethan started behaving like I sentenced his favourite parent to life time in jail and mom… well..
I knew she wanted to leave him, who wouldn’t but reality is cruel.
She had nothing– she had been an orphan all her life, she never worked a well paying job to cater for herself talkless of two children.
As crazy as it sounds, dad saved her from that life, they met at an airport. He was travelling back home from Dubai when she tried to steal from him by seducing him. Dad caught her on a whim and she pleaded that she was trafficked here to do shady work and she really would go anywhere else so he took her in.
She felt indebted to him so she obeyed him to the core. Never went against his wishes. Like a loyal dog. They got married.
A marriage of convenience.
When dad came out from prison, he begged and pleaded, promised to change even and without thinking twice, she said yes.
Not because she had forgiven him or she still loved him but because she didn't want her children to suffer.
And now?
Dad is barely home, always going on business trips leaving without an explanation or even a “i won’t be back for a while” sentence.
Mom spent most of her time in the hospital, always sick, always needing medical attention and care.
Dad never bothered visiting, as long as he paid the bills he had done his part and when I visited she looked at me like all this was my fault, like i’d put her there. Even the nurses told me my presence distresses her. That hurt.
I learned to live with that guilt. No one was there to tell me “hey its okay, you were only trying to fix things” or “hey you were just a kid” or “it wasn't your fault”
Never.
So maybe Ethan.
I dont ruin things on purpose but i somehow end up being the reason things fall apart in the end.
That alone makes me stay away.