Seven-year-old Ryan Atwood sat in the closet. He covered his ears and tried to drown out the sounds of Dawn and her boyfriend of the week screaming and fighting. He sat there and sang himself to sleep.
Ryan is sick of this. He hates his mother and her boyfriend fighting. He hates having to cry himself to sleep. He hates his life. He wants things to be like they were when his father was still around. He wanted to talk to Theresa.
Ryan snuck out of the closet and went over to Theresa's. She was still awake and her mother let him in. He always went over there when his mother was fighting. Her mother would make him cookies and let him spend the night. She would deal with Dawn in the morning.
He went up to Theresa's room. She was playing with dolls and her dollhouse. Ryan joined her and they played together until Theresa fell asleep. Ryan picked her up and put her in her bed. He took out a blanket and a pillow and fell asleep next to her.
Every year they got worse. When Ryan was eight, they started hurling and chucking things at each other. When he was nine, she would become beaten unconscious. When Ryan was ten, he witnessed the worst fight of them all.
On his tenth birthday, his mom bought him a cake. It was chocolate and it said HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN. He looked at the cake and smiled. She said that she had another surprise for him. She bought him a new bike.
Ryan was outside riding the bike when a car pulled up. It was A.J. Ryan knew what happened next. He pedaled as fast as he could and put the bike in the shed. Ryan ran inside and went into the closet.
Part of the closet was missing, so he watched the fight. A.J started screaming at her for buying Ryan a new bike when she could have bought him a gram or two of coke. She screamed at him and he punched her. She didn't get up. They had a brutal fight as Ryan tried to hold back the tears that wanted so badly to escape. A.J had punched Dawn unconscious. He took off her clothes and raped her.
When he left, Ryan ran over to Theresa's. He didn't want to hold the tears back. He let them flow freely as he ran through the doors. He sat at the table and put his head down. Theresa's mother came over and comforted him to sleep.
When he woke up, he was on a couch. He quickly recalled the night before and started to cry again. Theresa's mother came over and he told her everything. She hugged him tighter and let go. "Ryan, I know when you are sad. I just look for he boy with the broken smile and I know it's you," she said. Ryan smiled at the joke, but it never left him.
When Ryan was thirteen, three guys had come over to the house. Dawn forced Ryan into the closet and he listened.
"We want our money Atwood. NOW!!" One screamed.
"I don't have it1 I can give it to you Wednesday," she said. He smacked her unconscious and looked around the house. They came into the closet and found Ryan.
"Where does the bitch hide the money?" he demanded.
"I-I-I don't know," Ryan stammered. The man smacked Ryan.
"You exactly where that bitch keeps the fucking money. Tell me before I smack the shit out of you like I did with your mother," another one said.
"I seriously have NO fucking idea!" Ryan hollered at him. The smacked Ryan and he also fell into a state of unconsciousness.
Ryan woke up sore. He looked at his legs. His left ankle was swollen and his right leg was sore. He stood up, but fell over because his leg hurt too much. It was broken. He looked to his side to discover Dawn missing. He found a wheel chair there with a note on it.
Ryan,
I am so sorry about what happened to you. I never wanted any harm done to you. Trey promised he would look over you. He is a better parent than I would ever be. Follow him, but make your own choices.
Brighten up. Get rid of your reputation as the boy with the broken smile.
Love,
Dawn.
Ryan got into the wheelchair and went to Theresa's house. He saw Trey there. "
"Little bro. We are going to be all right. I promise," Trey said.
But Trey was wrong. They were fine until Ryan was sixteen and Trey stole a car. Trey would be in jail for at least five years for possession of drugs and stealing a car. Ryan couldn't take it. He went over to Theresa's
Her mother wasn't home, but the front door was open. He went inside and smelt something really foul. He went into the bathroom and saw what it was.
Theresa killed herself. She wrote him a note telling him how sorry she was and that she never meant to hurt him. She told him how she would watch over him in heaven. But that didn't comfort Ryan.
He looked at her slit wrists and the bullet in the side of her head. She had been dead for hours or even days.
Ryan took the gun. There was another bullet in it. He looked at the mirror, which said I'M SORRY written in blood. "Me too," he mumbled as he put the gun to his head. Ryan smiled his first and only smile. He lost his reputation. He could die happy.
The shot pierced through the quiet, night sky as the Boy with the Broken Smile was no more.