Pianos and Shortcake
"L, darling, why don't you come over? " The sound of his mother's voice was like a melody to the young boy's ears. He stood up from the floor after leaving a bookmark in between the pages. His mother was on the other side of the room, sitting on the black leather bench seat of the grand piano. When his father was at work, she liked to spend time with her little angel. Sometimes they would read together, sometimes she tutored him, and sometimes she liked to teach him how to play piano.
She helped him up onto the bench so he sat next to her. He could smell her perfume as he leaned on her shoulder, which was covered by the sleeve of her plain white, cotton dress. He always thought his mother was pretty. Not entirely gorgeous, but pretty. With her pale complexion and her long dirty blonde hair and her steel grey eyes that had passed on to him.
"Would you like to play a song with me, sweetie?" Even though she knew he'd say yes, she always felt like she should ask. Ever since his fifth birthday she's been teaching him to play the piano. She knew this boy was a pure genius and that he would catch on quickly, which he did.
Laura was an expert when it came to the piano. Ever since she was little she'd been fascinated with it beautiful sound that can make anyone emotional, whether with happiness or sadness. If she hadn't quit the piano to marry that horrid man, she'd probably be performing in front of large crowds. She wanted her son to follow in her footsteps. She wanted to see posters and flyers around, people buying tickets just to see L Lawliet play the grand piano. She would teach this prodigy everything she knows and she knew that he would make her proud.
"How about we play…Chopin?" she flipped the pages and found the music sheet for Nocturno. As they always did, they started off slowly and played the song one or two times before moving on to the next one. They played for about an hour until one of the few maids walked into the room.
"Mrs. Lawliet, your husband has returned."
"Er…thank you, Madeline. Alright, L, let's get you something to eat and you'll get ready for bed."
"Yes, mother."
L didn't like it when his father was home. His father wasn't exactly a saint, as you can imagine. Just because he can afford a nice house with plenty of room didn't mean he made a great father. In fact, that's probably why he was so callous in the first place.
The man was a disgusting brute. He would always find ways to manipulate people into getting him what he wanted, including Laura. Probably the only reason why he married her was because she was raised in a high class family, just like him. There were nicer women, but they were always too poor for him. So now he has resorted to having multiple affairs with his clients and the maids while he took full control of Laura's life.
You can only imagine what happened when he found out about her pregnancy.
Bennett couldn't care less about his son. To him, he was just a rugrat that got in the way. The only reason why he ever bothered him was because of his intelligence. This boy was able to deduce how many affairs this man had just by observing how he talked to the women. He could tell which ones were more serious and which ones were temporary.
The moment Laura and L reached the kitchen, they were greeted by a very drunk and very upset Bennett. His tie was undone and his eyes were dazed. His black hair was messy and he held a wine bottle in his right hand.
Laura knew what was coming and she didn't want her little angel to see it.
"L, darling, why don't you go to your bedroom and I'll bring you something. How does strawberry shortcake sound? Madeline, please prepare a cake." She said it so lovingly and yet so nervously. L would've stayed, but he knew it would make his father even angrier, so he shut his mouth and did as he was told, bringing his book with him.
An hour has gone by and L was just finishing up his book when his father barged into the room. "Y-You…you stupid piece a-of…shit!" his words were slurred out as he cornered L. "You fucking tol-told that bitch everything, di'in't ya? I'll teach you to get 'n the way…you stupid…fuck!" And with that, he raised his fist and slapped the boy across the face with one arm, using the other to pin him against the wall as the boy struggled and screamed. The monster continued to slap and punch him until he began bleeding in his mouth.
"Get off of him! I SAID GET OFF!" Laura shrieked as she pulled Bennett away from L. "Sweetie, go wait outside!" Madeline came rushing in to get L away from his parents and set him out at the front lawn before rushing back inside. He wanted so desperately to go back inside and help his mother, but he was too afraid. From where he was he could hear screaming and see silhouettes of his parents fighting and running, Madeline trying to defend Laura.
He saw three silhouettes in the kitchen. Two women backed up on a wall. One drunken man with a gun.
There were quite a few gunshots. The first three hitting his mother and Madeline. The others were misfires that hit the wall, the floor, and a heated oven.
Needless to say, the house was set of fire and L could only watch as everything burst into flames.
The police and firemen arrived soon after and residents in the neighborhood stepped outside to see what the commotion was if they couldn't see it from indoors.
L turned around to see a middle-aged woman. "Margaret Jones. Child services. Come with me." She commanded. You can just tell how much she smoked a day. The lady put L in the back seat of a car and drove away. They went to hospital first to take a look at his bleeding mouth. Once they determined it was nothing serious, she dropped him off at an orphanage which happened to be in a rough neighborhood.
"I'm Mr. Myers. I'm going to take you to your quarters and you'll get some rest. We will go over the rules of this establishment first thing in the morning." And so off they went. Mr. Myers dropped L off t his room and closed the door behind him. It was awful. The paint on the walls were peeling off and there were stains on the bed as well as the ceiling. The room in general smelled like rotting garbage.
L laid down on the bed with his knees curled up to his chest, and bit on his thumb. He could still taste the salty blood in his mouth.
He could really go for some strawberry shortcake.