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There I sat on my bed in my room with a burning cheek and tears in my eyes. My burning cheek had the form of a hand print. And the tears were more from shock then from pain. It was the first time that my dad had hit me. It was stupid really, if I was not so upset at it I would have laughed, because he hits like a girl. I was not doing so well at school. I got this new school lesson this year called Economics, to be honest I thought Math was hard. But Economics did it all. Not only where the numbers flying around, they all had different rules to use. It was not like I was going to start my own company and I knew Math good enough to know how to do things if I would be working in a shop. But THIS! Nope I give up. So after my 5th bad mark for a test my school decided to send a letter to my dad. Who was not happy at all. Sanji has been trying to teach me some Economics. And it was working, I began to understand some. But apparently not fast enough. Because then I would not have this hand mark on my cheek.
I listen to my dad yelling downstairs, I suppose it was at the television. He does that a lot. This was my chance to get out of here. Yes he told me to stay in my room the rest of the evening. But he would never check on me if I still was there and he does not care if I’m out. At least he does not show it if he cares about it. The last months I have been going a lot to Sanji’s restaurant. It was weird but since that night in the alley I have been going there a lot, he makes me feel safe. I really liked his company. He has never really asked me why I was sitting there that day, neither does he ask about my home situation. He knew it was not ‘good’ at the least. It was written all over my face, even if I tried to put a smile on my face. He never asked, I know he wants to know and wants to help. Sometimes when he thinks I am not looking he has this look on his face like he is trying to take a guess how my live is. Still he does not ask. He knows I will tell him when I am ready.
I looked around my dark room full of memories. The purple furniture my dad had painted purple for me. My white greenish walls my dad and I had painted together, we had so much fun and were both green from head to toe. Not only is there stuff that reminded me of how my dad used to be, there is also memories hidden in my head from my mom. The make-up table I’ve got from her. She knew I would never use it for putting on make-up, instead I sat at that table to make traditional art. My stuffed rabbit my mom had bought for me when I was little and had a high fever. The ‘1000 story’s for bed time’ my mom used to read for me. EVERYTHING in this room reminded me of the past. And at this moment I could not stand it. I slipped out of my bed, silently making my way downstairs. My dad was still yelling at the television. Something about politics. I looked carefully around the corner at the couch. My dad was draped over it, pointing at the television, good. His hearing was crappy as hell so he would not hear me open or close the door. I carefully opened the door and closed it after me. Well that went smooth. I took a deep breath. Lately it felt suffocating in that house. I still love my dad, but we just could not handle each other anymore. I began to run, faster and faster. I passed the park, which was pretty creepy at this time skip. I passed through the street with shops and markets. I was almost there. The further away I was from home the more I relaxed and more calm I became. There it was. Sanji’s little restaurant ‘All Blue’. He would probably lock up soon. It was pretty late. But to be honest it was never that busy there. The most came around dinner time.
I opened the big glassy door and was greeted with the smell of delicious food. It always smelled so good in here. From behind the counter stood Sanji talking to a costumer with an awesome color of green hair who was enjoying his drink. Sanji waved at me and went to the kitchen. I took a couple of seats to the left from the green man. A few seconds later Sanji came back with a steaming mug of cocoa.
‘Oi Marimo, this is Kim. I told you about her before remember.’ The man turned his face to me and scanned me up and down. A little smile came on his face ‘Yeah I remember, the girl from the alley. And the name is Zoro, not Marimo.’ When he turned his head back to his drink his three earrings chimed playfully, it was a lovely sound. ‘Oi cook, I’ve got to go again. Have to take care of some business.’ Without waiting for a reply he stood up. He patted me on the head before walking off. ‘See you later Kim.’
I looked at Sanji with red cheeks. I mean I don’t know the green haired man but apparently he knew me? And I kind of liked him patting me on the head. ‘He is an old friend of mine. He may look a little grumpy but he is a decent guy... sort of. It looks like he likes you.’ Well that was a good thing, I think. “He did not look that grumpy to me, he looks real nice. I like his hair!” Sanji began to laugh. ‘You should tell him next time you see him, it’s his natural hair color by the way.’ Since when did persons have natural green hair? Apparently Sanji saw my confused face. ‘Something about the genes in his family. So tell me, how was your day?’ Crap, the how was your day question again. He must know by now I always lie about it. I mean school was crappy excluding my grades. My classmates and I could not really go through one door, to put it lightly. And at home, yeaaaaah, also pretty shitty. Something positive…. “Good, I bought this new book about drawing techniques!” Well that was positive right? “I can’t wait to master them. I want to keep improving my drawing skills.”
‘I think your drawing skills are already very good, from what I have seen.’ Yeah sometimes I like to draw here. I get more peace drawing at the bar then at home at the make-up table. “Thanks Sanji!” We fell in our old rhythm. just talking about weird and stupid stuff. Before we knew it, it was already 2 am. “Crap its really late, I have to go Sanji! It’s a good thing I don’t have any classes to follow tomorrow.” It was true, tomorrow the school was closed. So it did not really matter if I went to bed this late. If I was lucky my dad would already be asleep without having checked on me. ‘Should I bring you home? It is late and it is very dark outside.’ “No thank you Sanji, you don’t need to. Besides I like to walk alone at this time.” With that said I stood up said good night and went on my way home.
The silence and calmness at this time of hour was like a sharp knife slicing the air. But I liked it. There were not many times where I could stop thinking about a thing. There were always questions and uncertainties going on in my head. But right now, there was only nothingness.
When I came home all the lights were out. The only sound in the house was my father snoring away in his bedroom. I quietly made my way upstairs. I have survived another day. With that I fell on my bed and went to sleep.