Chapter 13

Eli didn't understand, he couldn't read writing, let alone recognize numbers, which was too difficult for him. Eli immediately went into his house, trying to wake up his father who should know something terrible like this. Eli was well aware that his father really didn't like being woken up, but the old man had to know it anyway.

Eli knocked loudly on his father's door, trying to act quickly so that the neighbors wouldn't find out about the body, who would definitely be suspicious of his family.

“D…father…mother…wa…wake up, wake up please… !” Eli shouted as loud as he could, he had never screamed like this before and he was really scared.

"Father..." Eli shouted again when he didn't get the proper response from his father.

"Father... mother, wake up, there is a corpse in front of our house!" Finally, Eli spoke bravely, but this time his efforts succeeded in waking up his father and all the other family members.

"What ? is there a corpse?" My father immediately jumped out of bed, stumbling because he hadn't really recovered from his drunkenness.

Eli followed his father's footsteps who walked quickly towards the terrace of the house, not only his father, but all his family members also woke up hearing the words of a corpse on the terrace of the house. Even though this family is said to be very messy, it never occurred to them that there was a murder involving one of their family members.

Father poked his head in front of the door, his eyes darting around the house trying to ascertain what his daughter had seen. His forehead was furrowed, he thought he didn't see anything on the terrace or around the entrance.

"Where is the corpse you mean?" asked his father with his eyes glaring sharply at Eli. Eli, who was the target, could only swallow hard, unable to look his father in the eye.

“There… there, I…I saw him at the door.” Eli answered tremblingly, his head bowed in fear.

"Come here, look... do you see there are bodies here?" Father snapped, pulling Eli's arm roughly.

Eli was silent, he couldn't believe the corpse of the old man he saw a few minutes ago suddenly disappeared in an instant, who moved him? 

"Where is the body?" shouted the father in his terrible voice, Eli was shocked and the poor girl was even more frightened. He had a very bad feeling.

"It was...it was there, father, I...I'm sure it was...it was there," answered Eli stammering, his voice shaking so badly he tried to hold back tears.

His mother and siblings looked at him cynically, they were all like a pack of wolves ready to pounce on their prey that was standing in front of their eyes, no one wanted to listen to him.

"You stupid… !"

"Plakkk..." a hard slap landed on Eli's face, he immediately fell to the ground. The big man immediately kicked him without mercy.

“Useless bastard, how could there be a corpse in this house. You know the consequences if you dare to wake me, damn child...!" Eli continued to receive shouts and punches, the poor girl could only lower her head and cover her face while enduring the pain in her body.

“You idiot… useless… damn child… you die… !” Those were the words Eli had received every day of his life, and tonight they sounded even more painful.

Eli surrendered, his body could no longer feel pain, but the wound in his heart was getting worse day by day, this was a very sad fate.

***

***Eli was pensive, his eyes fixed on the night sky behind his bedroom window. His left eye was bruised, swollen and blue, as was his lip, which was bruised from a hard blow from his father's hand. He continued to be hit for almost half an hour, the old man would not be satisfied until the irritation in his heart subsided.***

***Everyone at home thinks Eli is crazy, crazy and strange. Carrying out reckless actions by pretending to see a corpse in front of the house just to get attention. Eli really almost went crazy because every day he was treated roughly, his body became thinner every day, like a child who was malnourished because he was rarely fed.***

***The only person who ever cared about him was Eli's math teacher when he was at school, a female teacher who was very kind and cared about Eli. Eli doesn't remember her name, all he remembers is that the woman was the person who once fed him and the only person who treated him well. However, after Eli stopped going to school, he never saw the teacher again. He had heard that the teacher had died in a car accident along with his family.***

***Eli tried to close his eyes which felt sore, he wanted to sleep and have a sweet dream. He wanted to meet the teacher again, he wanted to meet him even if only in a dream. However, when Eli fell asleep it was not the teacher's face that he saw, but rather the rough face of his father who seemed ready to hit him. Eli will never be happy, that's the reality even if only in a dream.***

***