Chapter Text
"Thank you Harold for agreeing to look after Ash while we're away." Harold's younger brother by two years said to Harold with a smile that will never shine again. Harold, who was 27 years old at that time, was holding his newborn nephew on his arms as he looked at his younger brother and his wife, Harold didn't show a smile, he just accepted to take care of his nephew while his brother and his wife were going on vacation with two of their friends, who have a child together.
"I guess that I can take care of Ash while you two deserve a good vacation, from the overloading amount of work that you have to put up to, and from the pregnancy as well." Harold said, he didn't mind looking after Ash, despite the fact that he hated kids and he was a single man, he was trusted to take care of his nephew anyway. Ash was on Harold's arms, he was just born and he was sleeping peacefully on his uncle's arms, a pacifier on his lips, wearing some plain white baby clothes.
Harold's sister-in-law said to Harold "We will be back in a couple of days, since my boss did pay for our vacation it seems, and I did double check on the schedule for my next appointment with my doctor. Obviously, because I just gave birth to my precious son, and I'm taking my pills for my postpartum depression." Harold smiled slightly at his sister-in-law, who he appreciated having her in his life due to his struggles during his childhood and he is for current that Ash won't get the same thing as he did.
Harold's brother checked his watch, saying in surprise "Oh dear brother, we better get going! Our bus will be here in a few minutes and we don't want to be late." Harold's sister-in-law agreed before the couple walked away, with the sister-in-law waving goodbye to her brother-in-law and Harold waved goodbye, not knowing that it was going to be the last time he would ever see them.
It was only 2 hours after he last saw his brother and his sister-in-law in person, he was in the basement, having Ash inside an old wooden crib that he had, he was keeping an eye on his newborn nephew, who was peacefully sleeping inside the crib, and in that moment, Harold got a phone call from one of his friends. It was Jim, a friend of his brother, once he answered the call, and said with a confusing expression "What's going on Jim?"
"HAROLD! IT'S YOUR BROTHER AND YOUR SISTER-IN-LAW! WE HAD A BUS ACCIDENT A FEW MINUTES AGO! MY WIFE AND MY TWO YEAR OLD SON ARE OKAY BUT YOUR BROTHER AND YOUR SISTER-IN-LAW HAVE VERY FATAL INJURIES FROM THE WRECK, ACCORDING TO THE PARAMEDICS! WE HAVE THE AMBULANCES HERE ALREADY TO TAKE THEM TO THE HOSPITAL! I'LL GIVE YOU AN UPDATE WHEN I CAN!"
Those words shocked Harold, he couldn't believe what Jim have just informed him, his brother and his wife were involved in a terrible bus accident a few minutes ago. Harold was trying to calm down, his brother was the only person who actually cared about him when his parents despised him, and now, he became worried that his brother might not survive with his wife. Harold responded calmly "Okay Jim, give me an update when you can."
Harold hung up the call, he tried to remain calm, he had hope that his brother and his wife would be okay, well that hope didn't last long when he got a call from the hospital. Harold curiously answered the phone call from the hospital number, he said "Yes?"
"Are you Harold Jackson?" A female voice asked on the other line, sounding very remorseful for what she was going to tell Harold.
"Yes." Harold answered, curious but worried about his brother and his sister-in-law.
"We hate to inform you that your brother Henry and your sister-in-law Maddison have unfortunately passed away from the bus accident that occurred today. Their injuries were too fatal from the wreck, none of them survived unfortunately and are you willing to let us pay for the arrangements of their funerals?"
After hearing the news that his younger brother, the only person in the whole wide world who cared about Harold when he was being abused by their parents, and his wife have both passed away from their devastating injuries. The bus accident have costed their lives, Harold only responded to the message "Alright, thank you for informing me. Please pay for the funerals and the arrangements."
That was when he hung up the phone call, staring at the ground, emotional about what he was informed about his dear younger brother and his sister-in-law, he threw his flip phone across the room with anger, he started stomping harder on the floor. When he stomped on the floor with one shoe, he suddenly heard the cries from the baby, he made a quick look at Ash and stared at the newborn nephew with disgust, refusing to deal with him at the moment.
After that tragic day, Harold have changed completely...
Harold was granted fully custody of Ash after the death of Ash's parents, Harold decided to take care of Ash, he lied to the court, saying that he would take care of his nephew since Ash's aunt, the sister-in-law's younger sister couldn't afford raising Ash at that time due to financial problems. Unfortunately, Harold didn't kept his promise and he took his anger out on his nephew, when Ash was a baby, Harold didn't hit him physically, he just hardly fed him, mostly getting a neighbor or paying a babysitter to watch over his nephew while he was working.
After three years, Harold stopped hiring a babysitter, he stopped getting a neighbor to watch over Ash, and that is where the abuse became visible for the small child. Ash, who was three years old at that time, started noticing that his dad (who is actually his uncle but grew up thinking that he is his dad, although Harold never told Ash about his parents), was hardly paying attention to him, feeding him once a day, and was only focusing more on himself than Ash. Ash took notice of his dad always drinking alcohol when he returns from work, he would smoke, take drugs, and lays down on the couch, watching TV instead of focusing on Ash.
Ash, at first, was very confused about his father negligence towards him, thinking that he was just sad or something, but as time goes by, he decided to do something about it, and one day, he wanted his dad to play with him. As he approached his dad, holding an old teddy bear, walking, he tapped on his dad's back, Harold looked down at Ash, who asked with a cute smile "Daddy, can you play with me?"
Harold looked at his nephew, he was holding an empty bottle of alcohol on his calloused hands, he faked a smile as he answered "Sure thing, but first. Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you."
The young boy closed his eyes, complying to his dad's suggestion before he felt something sharp touching his face, he fell down and he weakly opened his eyes, seeing his dad staring angrily at him as he shouted at Ash "I DON'T WANT TO PLAY WITH A MISTAKE LIKE YOU! YOU ARE A MISTAKE TO THIS FAMILY! NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Ash quickly got up, running back to his room, which is the basement, he closed the door and laid down on the floor since he wasn't provided a proper bed to sleep on in the beginning. Ash started sobbing quietly, clinging hard on the old teddy bear on his arms, he felt the trail of the blood running down his eyelid to his cheek, he was sad and heartbroken that his dad called him a mistake.
After that day, Ash's life became more chaotic and disastrous. That is where the abuse became more physical and verbal, Harold have started abusing Ash physically, he would throw alcohol bottles at him, slap him every single day after daycare, he would use a whip to hit the poor boy, and he would yell at the small boy whenever he wanted to. Ash hated this treatment that his dad was giving to him, Ash have sobbed every single night in the basement, clinging close to his teddy bear, and whenever he needed help, his dad wouldn't help him at all for anything.
Like one day, Ash needed someone to take him to school because the school bus have broken down, he looked around the house to find his dad anywhere, he opened the door of his dad's bedroom to see his dad kissing a woman, who appears to be in her mid thirties, she was wearing a revealing outfit, Ash approached his dad and asked "Hey daddy, can you drive me to school?"
Harold suddenly pulled away from the woman, facing Ash as he said with frustration "Ugh! Have you ever learn how to knock!" Ash gulped with nervousness, he said his question again to his dad "Daddy, can you drive me to school? The school bus broke down and I need a ride to school."
"Since you have interrupted by time with my girlfriend, you'll be walking!" Harold scrolled at the poor five year old boy "As your punishment for not knocking on the damn door, and for interrupting my time with my girlfriend! Not get out of my sight and go walk to school!"
Ash nodded, walking out of the room, having his head down, leaving his dad alone with the woman, who looked very bad for the small child "Um, Harold? Should I take him to school instead?"
Harold looked at the woman, saying "No. Now let's continue kissing."
"Fine." The woman replied, feeling bad for Ash but she didn't want to risk losing a boyfriend, they continued kissing.
Ash exited the house, walking to school all alone, having a sad expression on his face as he makes his way to school, then a car pulled up, the windows rolled down to reveal... Logan's dad, with Logan sitting behind the passenger seat and Ash looked at the man in his early thirties, smiling warmly.
"Hey little one, do you want a ride to school?"
"Sure." Ash appreciated the offer, he got inside the black colored car and closed the door. Ash talked to Logan all the way to school, Logan is well aware of Ash's abuse but he was scared to tell his dad about it at that time.
Eight years later, Ash is thirteen years old, nothing changed at home but at school, Ash had friends who appreciated him more than anything, and unfortunately, Ash have never told them about the hell that he had to experience at home. During that time, Ash became used to his dad hitting him, barely feeding him, and rarely paying any attention to him. It was until Ash have reached his limit, while his dad was yelling at him for being in his way, Ash just snapped:
Ash's hands became fists, his expression changed from expressionless to anger, he suddenly raised his voice "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU ABUSING ME NONSTOP! ALL YOU HAVE EVER DONE TO ME IS HIT ME, NOT FEEDING ME A LOT, AND BARELY GETTING ME ANY CLOTHES, TELLING ME THAT SECOND-HAND DOWNS ARE ENOUGH! I HAD TO STEAL YOUR CREDIT CARD TO BUY SOME CLOTHES AND I HAD TO EAT AT TIMES WHEN YOU AREN'T HOME TO SURVIVE! I CAN'T TAKE THIS PAIN ANYMORE!"
Harold stared in surprise, still angry at Ash but didn't gave a damn about what Ash had been through, he just scolded at Ash "DON'T YOU EVER YELL AT ME AGAIN! I AM THE ONE WHO RAISED YOU AND YOU DECIDED TO YELL AT ME! DON'T YOU EVER TREAT ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!"
Ash rolled his eyes, storming out of the kitchen but Harold grabbed his wrist, dragging him to the bedroom and after a few minutes, Ash had torn clothes, blood on his hair, and bloody wrists. Harold's hands were covered in blood, he walked away from Ash, leaving him cold, and Ash just didn't care anymore. After that day, Ash would have frequent arguments with his dad nonstop until he got beaten up, he stopped caring about anything, and he started having his own issues that approached him from miles away.
Ash started cutting his wrists whenever he wanted to, he would steal his dad's drugs and take them, he would smoke cigarettes after school, he would hang out with the bad kind of people, and he just, stopped caring about anything now.
That went on for three years, that was until Ash was sixteen years old when he was expelled from a previous high school for having a fight with someone who was bothering him badly, and Ash was expelled from that school. Harold was informed about what Ash did, he didn't take it well, and when the two got home, they immediately got into an argument, with Harold yelling at Ash "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING OF BEATING UP THAT POOR BOY!?"
"I ALREADY TOLD YOU! HE WAS BULLYING ME, HE HITS ME, HE MADE FUN OF ME, AND HE ALWAYS HURT ME IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY!" Ash yelled back, trying his best for his dad to understand what he has been through at school, like every single day since freshman year.
Harold didn't care, shouting at Ash "WELL YOU DESERVED IT! FOR BEING A DISAPPOINTMENT, A MISTAKE, AND A UNWANTED MEMBER OF THIS FAMILY! YOU GOT WHAT YOU NEEDED AND DESERVED!"
After those words, they started arguing nonstop and that was until Harold accidentally revealed something "MAN, I WISH YOUR PARENTS DIDN'T LEAVE YOU WITH THEM!"
"What?" Ash asked, surprised.
"YOUR PARENTS ABANDONED YOU TO ME WHEN YOU WERE A BABY! THEY DIDN'T WANT YOU! SO I WAS LEFT TO RAISE A CRYBABY LIKE YOU ALL ALONE!" Harold admitted, lying about Ash's parents' whereabouts. Harold grabbed an empty bottle of alcohol, he was about to throw it when suddenly.
He collapsed onto the floor, hitting his forehead hard on the floor.
"Uncle?"
He waited for a response.
Nothing came.
Then, he got down and tried to wake him up, Harold wasn't responding.
"UNCLE!" Ash shouted in pure panic, he grabbed his phone and called an ambulance to take his uncle to the hospital.
Unfortunately or fortunately, his uncle didn't make it that afternoon. Apparently, he suffered a heart attack and died when he was at the hospital, Ash was informed by the nurse about the death, he went home and stayed home for three days straight.
Ash didn't move...
Ash didn't eat...
He just laid on the couch, helpless, grieving, and sad about his uncle's death, he felt free after years of abuse. That was until he got a door knock, Ash stood up and approached the door, seeing a female police officer asking the boy "Are you Ash Davidson Jackson?"
Ash nodded, that was a female's voice can be heard.
"WHERE'S ASH!?"
Ash noticed a woman with blue hair, in her late thirties, wearing a plain white shirt with long sleeves, some black pants, brown shoes, and her hair was pretty long "ASH! IT'S YOU!"
"The woman is your aunt Marina." The female officer informed Ash, Marina hugged Ash as she said "I'm so glad that you're okay!" Ash hugged back, feeling the unconditional care for the first time in his life, and after that, he was able to have a normal life.
Ash went to live with his aunt, who treated him very well, and he had to attend the funeral of his uncle, seeing him being buried in the backyard of his house. The teenage boy said to his uncle "You got what you deserve..." quietly.
Ash is now seventeen years old, having a better life, and doing very well.
The end.