Neglect (AoA)

I saw a man beating a child today.

It was a Hume man beating a little Galka boy. The Galka boy must've been 8 or 9 years old, though it's hard to tell with them. He had his big arms up around his head and he was crying in a thin, wailing voice; he'd lost a lot of weight for a Galka, and the man was hitting him around the head and shoulders with a switch. He was putting a lot of force into it.

I was "one" that day. I don't like being "one." I feel like a different person when I am "one" rather than when we are "two."

"What is that called again, Ally?"

"Child abuse, right?"

"Yeah. Why would anyone beat a child like that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because he was bad, or because the man was mean."

"It was a Hume, so it wasn't like it was his papa."

"Grown-ups are so careless."

"Yeah, they have kids they don't want."

"They don't take responsibility."

"They treat them harshly, or leave them all alone to raise themselves."

"But that's what Papa and Mama did to us!"

"So we've been 'abused' too?"

"Yeah, they did just the same. But we turned out okay, didn't we?"

"Of course! We're okay because we're never alone."

"If I didn't have you, it'd be impossible."

"I know."

"Does that mean Nii-chan was 'abused'?"

"No. Papa and Mama wanted Nii-chan. He was with them alone for six years."

"They must've been so happy. Nii-chan looks a lot like Papa."

"Nii-chan is a lot like Papa, too."

"He's more like Papa than us."

"We must be like Mama."

"Nii-chan thinks he's the only one that was hurt when Mama died."

"Nii-chan would laugh if we said we'd been neglected."

"Maybe he's right.... he's 'one' after all."

"But he has memories of Mama."

"Yeah."

"We're the ones that killed her."

"Yeah."

"So, does that mean we're the reason Nii-chan was 'abused'?"

"He's lonely because of us."

"We really are the bad people."

"Yeah, we're the bad people."

"This is why he hates us."

"He hates us."

We're together, but we're alone. I never had to ask what it means to trust someone. I've always known the meaning. The "A" burned into my chest was proof.