Disability is the inability to see ability
★

Nicky's dad was back.

Nicky could tell because his mother was banging things around in the kitchen. It was the banging that had woken him up. Nicky knew that his mom was trying to make everything spick and span because his dad liked the house that way. He also knew that the banging was the only way his mother vented her anger, her frustration and her fatigue.

The banging abruptly stopped and the door to Nicky's room squeaked open. His mother came in to check on him. Nicky pulled the covers over his head, pretending to be asleep. He felt the bed dip, indicating his mother had sat on it. His mother stroked his head through the thick duvet. Nicky could hear her stifled sobs. He wished he could make everything stop; The suffering, the torture, the screaming —so much screaming. But he couldn't do anything at all. He couldn't even talk for crying out loud and he was ten.

After what seemed like forever, his mother soundlessly crept out of his room. It was as if she had not even been there.

Nicky threw off the striped duvet and checked his watch. He still had ten minutes before his mother came back to call him down for breakfast. He sat at his study table, turned on his laptop and surfed the internet for the latest news. Nicky knew that he shouldn't be reading the news. His father had banned it in their house. But he couldn't just sit back and twiddle his thumbs. His curiosity overpowered any fear he had for his father.

Thelma's face dominated the front page of the news. Nicky almost laughed at the picture. The picture was a misrepresentation of Thelma. The lighting was too harsh and she had no makeup on. To be honest, this was the first time Nicky had seen Thelma without makeup. To say she looked horrid would be an insult to the word horrid.

Nicky read the entire article on Thelma. The police considered her a person of interest in Harleigh's disappearance. They were also offering a reward for anyone who had any vital information that would lead to her apprehension. There were numbers to call at the end of the article. He could call the police and tell them what he knew. But would they believe him?

Nicky's watch beeped, indicating that it was 8:00 a.m: breakfast time. He contemplated feigning sickness so that he could miss breakfast and continue reading more news articles. But that would mean his father's captive would miss breakfast as well. Nicky knew that he couldn't just steal food. His father would notice. That meant that he had to take breakfast so that he could sneak food into his pocket. It wasn't the best plan hygiene-wise but it would have to do. For now.

His mother spotted him the moment he entered the kitchen and smiled. A smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Nicky hugged her, inhaling her signature exotic vanilla scent that always seemed to comfort him. He wished he could stay in his mother's arms forever.

"I thought I would have to come and pull you out of bed." His mother laughed awkwardly like she was not used to laughing. "I made some breakfast. It's the pancakes with the strawberry sauce you like. You want some?"

Nicky nodded.

"Alright I will plate some up for you."

Nicky surreptitiously sneaked pieces of the pancakes into his pyjama pockets while he ate. It was difficult because his mother kept eying him like she knew he was up to something. Or maybe it was just the paranoia taking root. If Nicky's father ever found out that Nicky was feeding his captive, he would be punished. And his father was very innovative when it came to punishments. Emphasis on very.

His mother's mouth hung open when she saw his empty plate. "Did you grow two stomachs overnight?"

Nicky smiled sheepishly, showcasing his teeth that were smeared in strawberry sauce. Nicky wanted to tell her that he was indeed feeding two stomachs, just not in the way she was thinking. But he couldn't. He didn't want to rope his mother into his problems.

"You want some more?" His mother asked.

Nicky shook his head.

"Alright then go freshen up. Your tutor will be coming in the afternoon instead of in the morning. She is currently caught up at the hospital because her sister got a stroke. Oh and Special Agent Paddington is fresh from the dryer."

Nicky picked Special Agent Paddington, his custom made teddy bear, from the dryer and left but not to go prepare himself for the tutor. He was going to feed his father's captive in the basement. The tutor could take the day, the week or even the month off. Nicky wouldn't mind. He could use the break from her and her pedantic ways. Nicky liked studying but he just didn't like his tutor. She was a bitter old woman. Nicky suspected that her bitterness stemmed from the fact that she couldn't have children.

The basement door was locked just as he'd expected. His father was not stupid enough to leave it open. Not after what had happened the last time. Nicky would just have to use the vent again. First, he needed to know where his father was. Nicky couldn't have him entering the basement while he was in the vent. That would be catastrophic.

Nicky searched the entire house and didn't find his father. That was odd because Nicky was sure that he was home. Nicky checked for his car. It was safely parked in the shed. So where was he?

In the garden was where Nicky found his father. He was shoveling dirt. Nicky watched as his father dug a hole and buried something that he couldn't quite see from his position behind the car shed. He needed to get closer without being seen. For that to happen, Nicky would have to go incognito.

The hedge that surrounded the garden provided a good spying spot for Nicky. Now he could see the open treasure chest containing driving permits and Identification cards in the ground. His father pulled out a batch of hair from a duffle bag and placed it in the hole along with the treasure chest.

Hair? Why the heck was his father burying hair? Was he a sorcerer?

Nicky's eyes widened in realization. The hair was black and silky just like Thelma's. Oh God, his father was tying up loose ends. And if he did that, he would probably move them to some new city or he would take them back to California. Nicky couldn't go back to California. California was his father's playground.

Nicky didn't even realize that he was backing away until he stepped on a twig. His father turned and Nicky ran. He ran as fast as his scrawny legs could carry him. All plans of feeding his father's captive were long forgotten.

Nicky tripped at the entrance to the house, dropping Special Agent Paddington in the process. Shit! What did he do now? Nicky needed to find a way to get his father caught before he moved them back to California. But how? And then he got it.

The phone.

Nicky pulled his mother's phone from the charger, ran into his room and locked the door.

When he was safely sequestered under his bed, he dialled 911. A female operator answered.

"This is 911. What's your emergency?"

Nicky opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Stupid vocal chords. Stupid trauma induced disability.

"Is anyone on the line? You know it is illegal, and just plain wrong, to prank call the police."

Nicky had recently learned how to growl. He could do that. But then the dispatch officer would think that he was a deranged lunatic and hang up. He banged the face of his watch against the metal of his bed in frustration.

The dispatch officer caught onto his distress. Sort of. "Is someone listening to you speak?"

Nicky couldn't bring himself to explain. He hit his watch against the metal again.

"Okay, we need to establish a mode of communication. We already have your location so don't worry about that. I'm going to ask you a few questions to guide the officers who are on their way. You bang once for no and twice for yes. Do you understand?"

Bang Bang.

"Great. Are there weapons in your house?"

Well, his dad was a cop so of course there were weapons in the house. Nicky's heart stopped. He was calling the police to report a police officer. Did that even make sense?

"Hello? You still there?"

Bang Bang.

"I was asking if there are weapons in your house?"

Bang bang

"Are you hurt?"

Bang

"Is anyone in danger. Like maybe your mother or your father or your siblings?"

Bang bang.

"Nicky could you open the door." His mother called. He quickly hang up and hid the phone in the tangled sheets of his bed.

He opened the door. And his mother smiled at him.

"The tutor called. She won't be able to make it today. Her mother has just passed on. What about we go out for ice cream? Does that sound good?"

No, they couldn't leave the house. The police were coming. Nicky shook his head furiously.

"Wow, okay. What about we cook up something together?"

Nicky stared at his mother. Really stared at her. When was she going to stop pretending that everything was okay? When would she finally acknowledge that there was a woman trapped in their basement? Did his father have some sort of leverage over her?

"Nicky you zoned out on me. Are you okay?"

Was he okay? He wouldn't put it that way. He was wired. Adrenaline was coursing through his system. He felt like he had the energy to run a whole marathon.

Cooking wasn't that bad. It allowed him to stay home and spend time with his mother at the same time. Nicky nodded.

"I'll get everything ready." Nicky's mother got up to leave then turned abruptly. "By the way, do you know where I left my phone? I remember leaving it to charge but when I went to check it wasn't there."

What should he tell her? The truth?

Nope that wouldn't work. He could say that he took it to play games. That wouldn't work either. His mom's phone did not have any games. He didn't want to lie to his mother but he couldn't risk his mother finding out that he had called the police. At least not until his father had gone to work.

Nicky froze at the sudden appearance of his father at the door. He gulped. His mother sensed his distress and turned towards the door sharply, her auburn hair flying with her.

"Get out of my son's room. Now!" The venom in her voice was unmistakable.

His father waved Special Agent Paddington in the air. "I only wanted to give Nicky his toy."

Oh God! His father knew that he knew about the hair and about his treasure chest containing driving permits and IDs. The color drained from Nicky's face.

"Give it to me and I will give it to him." His mother countered.

"Yasmine. I want to see my son"

"No."

"What?!"

"You heard me. I said you are not entering my son's room. Not today. Not ever."

"Yasmine? Get out of the way."

His mother's chin came up, a sure sign of defiance. "No."

"Yasmine, I am warning you."

"What will you do huh? Kill my mother like you have been threatening to do for the passed ten years? If you enter this room, Matthias, our deal —if you could call it that— will be off. And I will ruin you. Because if I am forced to choose between my son's life and my mother's life, I will choose my son in a heartbeat. So leave. NOW!" His mother —his superhero— yelled.

Matthias pointed at his eyes and then at Nicky as if to say that he was watching him. Nicky had the good grace to smile sheepishly. He watched his father leave.

Nicky's mother slammed the door and crumpled to the floor. Nicky ran to her and hugged her, crying into her bossom.

Nicky made a move to wipe his mother's tears and she flinched. That's when he noticed the bruise under her eye. He hadn't noticed it before because it had been expertly concealed with a layer of makeup. His mother hurriedly stood up and limped out of the room.

Don't worry mom. The suffering will all be over soon. Very soon, Nicky thought. He sat on his bed and pretended to hear the wailing of sirens.

★

We've met Matthias's wife and son. What do y'all think?

Excuse you. Where do you think you are going? The next chapter is  already out. It's a double chapter update.

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