Young Tobias- Deception
Tobias twitched open the curtains of the living room window. He peeked out across their neat square of lawn to see the familiar shape of Marcus, getting out of his simple car. His face looked calm, but Tobias knew that rage could be boiling deep inside.
All of the other Abnegation kids called their parents Mother or Father or even Mom and Dad for the more relaxed families. Never Tobias. His father had always been Marcus to him, although occasionally he would call Evelyn his mother.
He called through to Evelyn now, "Marcus is home!"
The words sent a shiver down his spine. Evelyn came running through, brushing imaginary dirt off of her plain grey clothes. Her voice was panicked as she said, "Dinner will be ten minutes late. I don't know what-"
Tobias interrupted her, "I'll try to stall him for you."
His mother pulled him into a tight hug and whispered, "Thank you."
Tobias hated his father, and he was frightened of him as well. In fact, he would rather do anything else than try to stall his father. He'd rather be doing community service, or sat in Science class or even sitting down to dinner at the table.
But there was one thing worse than being beaten himself, and that was watching his mother get beaten.
So Tobias went outside, and carefully locked the front door behind him. Marcus narrowed his eyes as he noticed Tobias appraoching. He scowled, "What is it, boy?"
Tobias's heart thudded hard against his ribs, "I was just wondering how your day at work went?"
Marcus sneered, "Evelyn made dinner late again has she?"
Tobias shook his head, and tried to look nonchalant, "No, I just thought that I-"
"You're worse at acting than your mother. And you should both know better than to deceive me."
His words were poison, every syllable dripping with possibility and Tobias knew what his evening would be like. Cold dread settled in the pit of his stomach, and he shivered.
"Come inside," Marcus commanded sharply.
Tobias unlocked the door slowly, fumbling with the keys to give his mother a few precious seconds more. Marcus made an impatient noise behind him, and Tobias managed to unlock the door, holding it open for Marcus before slipping in himself. His mother came rushing through, her cheeks pink from the heat of the kitchen.
"Where's dinner?" barked Marcus rudely.
Evelyn smiled woodenly and pointed towards the dining room, "All ready."
Marcus started to walk towards the door, but as he passed Evelyn, he reached out and grabbed her neck. Pulling her towards him roughly, he whispered something in Evelyn's ear. Something that made Evelyn go rigid in his grasp. Something that made her look over at Tobias.
The cold feeling of dread in his stomach deepened, and Tobias swallowed. He knew that look. He knew what it meant.
Dinner was eaten in silence. Marcus surveyed Evelyn and Tobias, leaning back in his chair. His eyes were blank and emotionless, but Tobias knew that when he let go, fury would rise up inside the gray eyes, and all hell would break loose.
Tobias ate quickly, knowing that delaying the inevitable would only make it worse. He washed up and cleared the table as efficiently as possible, trying to lose himself in the trivial tasks.
It didn't work- but then- it never did.
"Come here, boy," It was unquestionably a command, and not one that Tobias was going to ignore.
He trailed through to the living room where Marcus stood, belt already in hand.
"Father. . ." Tobias's voice came out as a strangled whisper.
Marcus had a predatory look in his eyes as he closed a strong hand around Tobias's neck. He stripped off Tobias's gray shirt, throwing it onto the floor, where Evelyn quickly picked it up. Marcus leant in close and said, in a low voice, "Never try to deceive me, boy. Never."
The belt came down hard, raining blows upon Tobias's tender back. He clenched his jaw, refusing to let out a single noise. He suffered his beating in silence, his eyes locked with his mother's, drawing on their silent strength.
Afterwards, Marcus put his belt back on and stretched. Evelyn went to comfort Tobias, Marcus interrupted her, shoving her roughly away, "He's a big boy now Evelyn. He doesn't need molly-coddling."
He grabbed Tobias's ear and hauled him out of the living room and up the narrow stairs. Tobias felt tears pricking at the back of his eyes as he realised where he was going. His heart threatened to burst out of his chest. Marcus threw open the cupboard door, giving Tobias a terrible smile, "You can come out when I've finished with your mother."
With that, he shoved Tobias inside and locked the door, leaving the boy alone in the dark. Tobias felt his breathing pick up, the hairs on the back of his neck standing to attention. He felt the walls with his hands, but that only made it worse. At least in the dark he could pretend that he was in a large room.
Tobias curled up on the floor, tears rolling freely down his cheeks. He put his hands over his ears, desperately trying to block out the sound of his mother screaming, begging, pleading. Trying to block out the terrible laughter and the terrible threats and the terrible voice. He rocked back and forth slowly, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
His heart hammered away, dashing itself against his ribs like waves crashing on black rocks. Fear ran through him, consuming him and making him dizzy with terror.
The screams stopped. He knew that it was now the worst part of the evening for his mother. It was the part where she had to pretend to love him.