As far back as I can remember, my mom treated me good as a baby. She cared for me and did everything any mother would. But when my brother, Citrus, was born when I was three years old, that's when things took a turn for the worst.
Ever since then Mom always treated me last, or if there was time. I always got less than Citrus and I was always left alone to care for myself. At first I just suffered from neglect, but after a couple years Mom physically abused me as well. It wasn't anything too bad, just the usually physical punishment any could would get, but it was for the most stupid reasons. And when I really did do something wrong, Mom hit me harder and more times.
On the positive side, my dad was always nice to me and always comforted me when Mom hurt me. But that didn't help much because he was often on business trips, sometimes for weeks at a time. So that's when I got the worst of it from Mom. Whenever I needed Dad he was never there. But at least he cared. That was better than nothing.
I remember the first time I went to school. When I walked home that day, I walked kinda slow, as to enjoy everything around me. When I got home, Mom was waiting with a furious face on. I gulped and asked nervously,
"What did I do now?"
"You were three minutes late!" Mom retorted angrily.
"What!" I cried out. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"
"And no talking back!"
Before I had time to react, Mom hit me hard across my head, making me dizzy. I tried to get up multiple times, but couldn't because of the dizziness. Mom rolled her eyes and ruffly pulled me up, then gave me a push, saying,
"Go to your room!"
I didn't need to be told twice. I bolted up to my room and slammed the door. I jumped onto my bed and buried my head in my pillow. Then I cried myself to sleep. Of coarse I got another punishment that day for not coming to dinner on time because I was asleep.
I never made any friends in school because somehow Mom got all their parents to not want their kids to play with me. Mom also got my teachers to be really strict on me. And the worst part of all this happening was that I had no idea why Mom was treating me this way! She didn't treat Citrus this way, so why me?
One day when I was six years old I decided to find out. Mom had hit me again, and this time Dad was there. Citrus was also watching. He tried to hug me, but pushed him away, saying in an annoyed voice,
"Go away!" I went over to Dad, who was on the couch, and sat next to him. "Why does she do this?" I asked.
Dad looked at Mom, giving her a knowing look, and she nodded back at him. Dad turned to me and said softly,
"Buddy, there's something you need to know."
"What is it?" I asked worriedly, looking up at him with concern.
Dad sighed and continued, "I'm not your father."
When he said this, shivers went down my spine, and I felt a lump in my throat. "Wh-what do you mean?" I quivered.
Dad sighed deeply again. "I'm just your stepfather. Your real dad is Mitious Verny. He and your mom had you, kinda on accident."
This information was coming all too fast for me, and I didn't truly understand. But I had another question. "Who is he?"
Stepdad gazed at me with sad eyes as he continued. "Mitous was a criminal, a killer mostly, but he committed all of the crimes you could think of. He is considered one of the worst villains ever. He's never been caught, and he goes from city to city doing all sorts of damage." He paused, as if hesitant to go on, but he eventually did. "Your mother hates you because she thinks you're going to turn out just like him, pure evil."
I was horrorstricken by this. It made me all nervous and sweaty, and my heart beat real fast. The thought of me being evil gave me terror. I had never been so scared in my life.
"I don't want to be just like my dad! I don't want to be like him at all!" I cried out.
"Don't worry," Stepdad chuckled. "Personally I don't think you're evil, but your mom doesn't seem it that way."
Gaining more confidence, I stood up and looked at my stepdad with a serious face. "Then I'll show her! I'll prove to her that I'm nothing like my father!"
"Good luck with that!" Stepdad said with a grin.
I didn't know how, and I didn't know when, but somhow I would show Mom who I really was. I was determined to do it! So I started by trying to be the best kid I could be, and trying to be good and stay out of trouble.