~The Tragic Childhood of Caledon Hockley~ Part Two
It was dinner time at the Hockley home, and as Nathan, Laura-Beth and Caledon sat around the dinner table in the dining room, eating dinner that was cooked and served by Nathan and Laura-Beth's African American maids, Nathan was telling Cal and Laura-Beth a story of his day from work. When one of the maids gave Cal a glass of punch to drink with his meal, Cal looked up at the maid and smiled.
"Thank you, Miss Sullivan." Cal said politely in his child voice.
Nathan raised an eyebrow at Cal as the maid walked away from the table smiling.
"Cal, I DECLARE, you and your ridiculous manners." Nathan said coldly. "You DON'T thank the servants of this house. It is their JOB to serve, we have NOTHING to thank them for, they're POOR CLASS, do you understand?"
Cal looked into his father's eyes and saw that Nathan had a cold, stern look and Cal knew his father meant business by what he was saying. Cal swallowed hard and nodded.
"Yes daddy, I won't say it again. I'm sorry." Cal said in a low disappointed voice.
Nathan smiled.
"Good, I'm glad that's settled." Nathan said.
Cal gasped and smiled and laughed as he looked down at the food in front of him—mashed potatoes, steak, rice and sweet potatoes. Cal was laughing excessively while Nathan was continuing to tell his story from work. Laura looked at Cal and smiled.
"Cal, what ever are you laughing at, dear?" Laura said with a smile.
Cal looked up at his mother with a childish smile.
"Look mommy, daddy! I made a happy face and a silly face with my potatoes!" Cal said before laughing again excessively.
Laura put her hand to her mouth to hold back laughter and seeing her son laugh.
Nathan looked angrily at Cal.
"STOP IT!" Nathan yelled loudly, so loudly that it made Cal jump and look up at his father with a shock of fear. "You do NOT play with your food that way. Eat it up or so help me GOD, every meal you have from now on will be eaten IN your ROOM!"
Cal looked at his father with sadness, and as if he was about to cry. Cal looked down at his plate and began to slowly eat up his mashed potatoes. Laura frowned at Nathan for yelling at Cal like that, but knew she daren't say anything for fear of getting another beating from Nathan.
"Daddy, can I go play with the Baker boy and Albertina Spaulding down the street tomorrow?" Cal asked in a low voice.
Nathan looked at Cal with a raised eyebrow.
"The Baker boy and Albertina Spaulding?" Nathan asked. "You mean Johnny Baker—that nigger child and Albertina Spaulding—the penniless child of those poor third class pigeons she calls parents'? ABSOLUTELY not!"
Cal looked up at his father with angry eyes.
"WHY NOT? I LIKE them! They're my friends!" Cal said in the angriest tone he could make, although it still sounded like his seven year old child's voice.
Nathan looked with wide, surprised eyes.
"You DARE question me!" Nathan asked. "Because I SAID so! No Hockley son of mine will be out parading with some nigger and some poor rat child! I told you about that one time before Caledon! You are royalty! You are a CHILD of royalty and DAMN IT! You will act like royalty if I have to beat you to a pulp to do it!"
Cal stared at his father with rage, a rage that he didn't even know his small, short, seven year old body had.
"I HATE you daddy! I hate you!" Cal yelled loudly with anger.
Nathan and Laura gasped loudly and Nathan jumped up from his seat and looked at his son with rage.
"Well!" Nathan yelled. "I'll whip your as—"
Laura interrupted as Cal got up and ran out the room and ran into his bedroom and slammed his bedroom door shut.
"Nathan, please, he didn't mean it. Don't be so hard on him." Laura said in a calm but pleading voice.
Nathan looked at her with rage.
"WHO ASKED YOU!" Nathan yelled.
Nathan walked away from the table, on his way to Cal's room when Laura grabbed his arm.
"Nathan please—don't." Laura said in a pleading tone.
Nathan sighed and yelled out loudly in anger and spun around and punched Laura in her jaw, HARD, making her fall to the floor with a loud scream. Nathan didn't know that Cal was watching it all, and Cal came running out of his bedroom, into the dining room where he saw Nathan kicking Laura in the abdomen repeatedly as Laura tried to block Nathan's kicks, while crying severely.
"YOU-WILL-NOT-TELL-ME-HOW-TO-RAISE-MY-SON!" Nathan said loudly with anger while kicking Laura in the abdomen.
Cal ran over to Nathan and kicked him in the leg.
"Don't hurt my mommy!" Cal yelled loudly in anger.
Nathan looked down at Cal with anger and grabbed Cal by the arm roughly and tossed him across the room violently.
"Nathan! No!" Laura yelled hysterically through tears.
"SHUT UP!" Nathan yelled with anger.
Cal lied in a corner, where he was thrown and cried severely and loudly, his arm had been dislocated. Nathan dragged a kicking and fighting Laura out of the dining room, towards the bedroom that he and Laura had shared together.
"I think its time for me to teach you a lesson in wifely duties, damn it!" Nathan yelled loudly in anger.
As Nathan dragged Laura in their bedroom and slammed the bedroom door, Cal could hear his mother crying and screaming loudly and severely as she was being punched and thrown across the room by Nathan violently. The sounds which were all scary to a seven year old Cal, made him cry even more. He felt like he was living in a nightmare, a child's nightmare that was filled with horror and abuse…
TO BE CONTINUED….
Tomorrow