Life passed by, and Mr. Fa's presence in our household waned. Seiji had been coming home a lot recently, and it was dangerous for Mr. Fa to even be in Momma's line of sight.

Seiji was abrasive as ever. He screamed obscenities and shattered any glass object he could get his hands on, whether it was plates, glasses, jewelry, or keepsakes.

Often, he vomited his guts out before passing out on the floor, where he always ended up on. And then he disappeared in the middle of the night to get more alcohol, only to come back the next night and have the process repeat again.

Momma longed to see Mr. Fa, but she forced herself to keep her distance; the slightest clue could give them away.

Slowly, money kept getting less and less, and without Mr. Fa's financial aid (since Momma didn't want Seiji to find out), we were basically broke.

I babysat overtime, and since Midori had somehow found out about our situation, Mr. Gui apologized and gave us a few extra yuans.

"I wish we could help more, but I can't endanger my children. Best of luck to you though, and I promise to give as much yuans as I can afford so that you can sustain yourselves until Fa earns the money," he promised. Grateful for his kind words, I accepted the extra yuans and scurried back home before Seiji returned; it would have hurt his pride to see me working when he was the "man" of the house, and he would have thrown another tantrum.

But lo and behold, when I got home, Seiji was sitting on the couch, downing a glass of ale.

"Ah, so you're the breadwinner now?" he mocked. Seiji struggled to get out of his seat. "You know, since you're the breadwinner now, and I'm just some irrelevant fool, there are better ways to get money, don't you know?" he said, reaching for my cheeks. I slapped his hand away and stepped back.

"Don't touch me," I declared. But he merely inched forward.

"You're a pretty little girl, just like your Momma. I'm sure using your body in the proper manner could get'chya tons of yuans, don't you think?"

Disgusted, I slapped him.

"DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT YOU DRUNKEN PIECE OF SHIT!" I screamed, my blood boiling with a murderous rage. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to torture him. I wanted him to feel so much pain, so much hurt, that he would die from it. My rage blinded me, I didn't even notice Momma shield me with her body, holding me back from strangling Seiji and preventing him from hitting me.

But from the corner of my eye, I saw Akash covering his ears and sobbing his eyes out. All I heard was the sound of hatred ringing in my ears. But Akash's crying conveyed another emotion: fear.

Beneath my hatred for Seiji, I had an intense fear of him. What made me say that to his face I had no idea, especially since he could have killed me. I stopped my screaming and ran into my room, grabbing Akash and Momma on the way, and barred the door with every heavy object in my room. We sat against the pile of furniture, trembling with terror. I cradled Akash's head in my lap, and rested my own head on Momma's shoulder. Seiji pounded and pounded on the door, screaming.

But after about 15 minutes, we heard a groan and a thump, and assumed he had collapsed.

Akash and I began crying. I couldn't take him anymore; he was out for blood.

But Momma stayed strong. She hushed us and sang lullabies until Akash was asleep. Then, after believing I was asleep, she closed her eyes and rested.

But I couldn't sleep. Seiji had almost hurt us physically. If I went to sleep, he could've entered the room. So, I decided to stand guard.

I was up for hours, terrified that the pounding would resume, and he would break in. But it never happened. Instead, I heard the shuffling of feet, and I heard the front door slam shut. Thank spirits there was no earth in the house, otherwise, we would have been screwed.

I gently ushered Momma and Akash to my bed before removing the furniture from the door. I stuck my head outside.

My head swiveled left.

Then right.

Seiji was nowhere in sight.

I ran out the door, right to Mr. Fa's doorstep. I pounded on his door, trying not to cry.

"What in the-"

"We have to leave now!" I whispered. "Seiji attacked us, Mr. Fa. He left but we don't have a lot of time. Momma and Akash are sleeping. We have to leave. Please, Mr. Fa," I begged. I didn't know when Seiji would come back, but I didn't want to find out.

Mr. Fa suddenly looked really distressed. He slunk to the ground and put his palm on his forehead.

"I don't have the money, how are we going to do this?" he asked. He sat in thought for a while.

"Okay, pack your things and sleep. We can't afford a trip right now, but I am going to make as many calls as I can and see if anyone is willing to help us escape," he reasoned. "I will knock on your door three times when we are ready to go. Stay alert and stay safe. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise," promised Mr. Fa.

I ran back to our apartment.

"Momma, Akash, pack your things. Mr. Fa is going to make sure we leave tonight," I ordered. Momma and Akash immediately got up, and, after explaining to them what had happened, they began gathering their possessions. Once we were all packed, we waited.

But by about 2 in the morning with no signal, Momma crooned, "Hush my children, and go to sleep. I will wake you when the time is right."

Unable to keep my eyes open, I let sleep overcome me.

CRASH.

I woke with a start.