Ren
Ren wasn't really sure what he did wrong. One moment, he was playing at the local playground with his classmates, and the next he was standing in front of his mother in the dark house. His mother was furious.
What did he do?
"Let's play together, Ren!" Ren looked up from the sand he was running through his fingers. His classmate, Suzuki, was knelt down in front of him. Her hair was in little neat pigtails that poked out of her sunhat. She gestured to her friends standing near the slide. "We want to play pirates, but we need a captain. Do you want to be the captain? Pleeeease?"
Ren stood up and brushed the sand off his sweater. "Sure!" he said with a big smile, and the other kids cheered. He pulled off his sweater and tied it onto a big stick, making a flag. The slide was their ship. They battled sea monsters, other pirates, found treasure, and saved the princess. "Yaaar!" Ren yelled as he slid down the slide, holding an imaginary sword. The other kids followed. More and more kids began to join until they had an army of pirates. They could take over the world.
"What are you playing?" Another kid approached, another classmate of Ren's. Yozo. Ren paused, wary of Yozo's grin. He towered over Ren and the rest of the kids, despite being the same age.
Suzuki made her way to the front, next to Ren. "We're playing pirates! Do you want to play too?" She beamed. Yozo frowned.
"Pirates are lame. They're stupid and ugly. Like you!" He jeered.
"Th-that's not true!" Suzuki sputtered. "Pirates are cool! Like Luffy!"
Yozo scoffed. "You're an otaku! Lame-o!" With fat fists, he grabbed each of Suzuki's pigtails in each of his hands. Suzuki cried in pain. "Pirates don't even have stupid pigtails like this! Maybe I can take them off for you!" He pulled at the pigtails, and Suzuki shrieked. The other children shrunk, backing away from the terrible sight.
Ren looked for any adults, but they seemed to be unaware of what was happening. "Stop it!" He yelled. "Let go!"
Yozo laughed and only pulled harder. Suzuki began to cry. Ren, anger bubbling to the surface, did what the superheroes he saw on the TV do. He punched Yozo as hard as he could in the rib.
"OW!" Yozo let go of Suzuki, who whimpered as she crawled away. Ren's knuckles stung, but he stood his ground.
"That was mean, Yozo!" he yelled. Yozo was bent over, groaning.
"You jerk! You hit me!" Yozo whined. He began to cry, and he ran to his mom. Ren watched from afar as the mom looked at Ren, then Yozo, and as she strode over to Ren's own mother, who was reading on the bench. He could see his mother's furious eyes from there. She stormed to the playground, clutching Ren's arm painfully.
"Where's your sweater!" she demanded.
"On the stick…" he said. His mother ripped the sweater off the stick.
"We're going home," she said.
"But-"
"Ren, do not test me!" his mother tugged at his arm, but Ren fought back. He wanted to make sure Suzuki was okay. He could see her, wide-eyed, in the group of still kids watching things unfold. Her hair was frazzled, but she seemed okay.
"Ren!" his mother yelled. Ren gave up and followed his mother home.
His mother was a sour woman. She only seemed to notice Ren when he was in trouble, which he was in now.
When they got home, his mother immediately sat on a kitchen chair. The Talk chair. Ren stood in front of her, like he always did when he was in trouble. His mother pinched the bridge of her nose. Her hair had unraveled from her bun, and was unruly, in the same way Ren's hair was.
"How many times do we have to tell you to stop picking fights with other kids, Ren?" she asked. Her eyes burned into Ren's. "I am sick and tired of you bullying these kids. You need to stop!"
"I wasn't-"
"Oh, what now? Are you going to give an excuse, like you always do?" his mother sighed.
"There wasn't any other way!" Ren yelled. His mother scoffed.
"Please. Stop lying, Ren. I don't think your father and I raised you to lie." She sighed again. "Is there anything we can do to make you stop bullying? You're hurting the kids."
Ren smoldered. "I wasn't bullying Yozo. He was hurting Suzuki, and he wouldn't stop!" He felt tears sting his nose.
"Then why was Suzuki fine, but Yozo was hurt?"
"Suzuki was hurt! You just didn't see!" Ren shouted.
"Did you just... talk back to me?" his mother hissed. "That's it. Go to your room."
Ren opened his mouth to retort, but his mother was already ignoring him. He stomped up the stairs, and slammed the door to his room shut. They never listened.
Ren sat at the foot of the door, contemplating on what he should do. He could run away. He could call the police. But...maybe his mother was just tired. It had been a long week. They hadn't seen his father all month, and it was getting to her. Ren slowly opened the door and tiptoed back to the stairs to apologize.
He crept along the floor when he heard his mother muttering to herself. "God, all I wanted was a quiet, obedient child. Is that not too much to ask?"
Ren paused. A quiet, obedient child? Then his mother would be happy? His knuckles prickled. If that was all he needed to do, then it was easy. He slowly crept back upstairs, careful to not make a sound.
It was easy.