Beaten

“Tssss….. That really hurts!” Kane leaned back against the dirty brick wall behind him. He was currently sitting in a trash heap. He wondered when it was that he had been beaten this badly. For the first time in his life, he had decided to hit on a girl he saw on the street only to walk up and say hi and then end up dragged into the alley by her boyfriend and his friends, beaten black and blue.

 His black hair was a mess, and his deep blue eyes looked a little aggrieved as he scratched his head in frustration. “Damn. I only said hi… I will never do that again….”

Lesson learned the hard way or, in his case, mainly just really unlucky. He gritted his teeth as he got up and held his arm that felt like it had been broken or dislocated. He decided to get checked out at the hospital just in case.

As he walked the streets with his hair a mess and the people avoiding him like the plague, Kane wondered just what he was doing with his life. He had promised his grandparents that he would make something out of himself, but he even quit high school without so much as a plan as to what he was going to do. 

His love for music was something he enjoyed the most. He loved writing songs, and singing was what he enjoyed the most, but he had no way to make money off it. 

As far as he was concerned, the people who did the yotube videos and other video platforms were lucky because they had the money to get the equipment needed. While he was not in school, he had been working, but the money all went to trying to support his grandparents. 

He did not live an easy life. Both his grandparents were disabled and were screwed over by the government. This meant they had nothing, and they all lived in the small two-bedroom apartment that he had used the money he had gotten in the settlement from his parents’ life insurance after they died to pay the rent for ten years. 

At first, he planned to continue school while looking out for his grandparents. He even worked a part-time job after school to pay the bills. But it was not enough, and he ended up dropping out to take on more hours.

 They did not have much to pay since the place included everything. This was the reason he paid ten years of rent and had a contract signed so that if he moved out, he could be reimbursed the remaining money. It was just that food prices were going up. He could not feed three people with so little money coming in and also give his grandparents enough money to live off of as well. 

But at least he knew for the next ten years that he would have a roof over his head which was the most important thing. So even if he did move out, he could let his grandparents take the apartment if they did not wish to move with him.

“Shit… Will I even be able to work tonight?” Kane furrowed his brow as he walked into the emergency room doors and pressed the call button to speak to a nurse.

After a quick check-up and paying the co-fee, which hurt his heart to dish out, he found out that he had only bruised the bone and it would heal in a few days. But his face was a mess. Even after a bit of extra care to try to reduce the swelling, he still looked like a pig. 

He made his way home and walked through the door of his apartment, only to stop after taking two steps when a loud, angry voice echoed through the entire apartment. “Kane!”

“Geh!” Kan made a strange sound as he covered his head on instinct. And sure enough, the broom in his grandmother’s hand came hammering down. “Grandma! Don’t hit me! I am already hurting enough!”

“Good! Maybe you will gain some brain cells and not go around fighting!” Kane’s grandmother yelled out. She swung her broom like a sword master as she stabbed and smacked him with the bristles. 

“If you keep hitting me like that, I will lose brain cells! I have already gotten beaten once today!” Kane tried to plead his case, but that only resulted in him being hit harder.

“Old lady, why are you hitting him this time!?” An old man walked out of the living room and looked at the old woman in front of him with a sour expression. “He already pays all your bills, so why are you still beating him?”

“Old coot! Don’t yell at me! This grandson of yours was out fighting! Look at his face!” Kane’s grandmother did not even ask why he had been beaten or if he was okay and just assumed he had gotten into trouble again. This was not the first time he had come home with bruises on his face.

“What!? You little brat! I told you to stop fighting! You are only working one job and doing nothing with your life besides fighting!” The old man, who was Kane’s grandfather, joined in on the beating. 

 Kana could only cover his head and run to his room and close the door. This was the only way to get them to stop. He sighed as he lay down on this bed and looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t always fight….”

Kane thought back to the past few weeks and realized he had been in about six fights already. But he had to admit he did not start a single one of them. It was mainly because he was roaming the streets on his time off. He was not doing anything in particular, but he kept running into trouble. He had already found six places he could not go near, or he would be beaten again. It can be said out of all the fights; he had not won a single one.

It was not like he wanted to fight either. He did not want to laze around all day, but he had nothing to start his dream with. He had no instrument, so he could not make a name for himself as a street performer. He did not have a computer or even a cell phone, so he could not record himself singing. He loved music and wrote songs but had no audience.

“If only I could find a way….” Kane sighed once more as he placed his forearm over his eyes and closed them. His body ached, and he felt very tired. He still had work later. He could hear it now. Once he walked into work, he would get an earful for being all beaten up again.

A knock came on his door as it slowly opened. His grandmother walked in with a bag of ice and placed it on Kane’s face. “Try to reduce the swelling. If your mother saw you like this, she would turn over in her grave. Instead of mopping around all day doing nothing and getting into fights, you should just follow your dream. Your grandfather and I know how much you like singing and composing music. If it is us who are holding you back, we can….”

“No!” Kane sat up, the ice on his face falling into his lap. He looked at his Grandmother and shook his head. “You and Grandpa are all the family I have left. I will not allow you two to leave when you have nothing. Don’t worry. I am sure I will figure out something.”

His grandmother looked at him and placed her old hand on his head, and smiled. “You should take care of yourself more then. Use some of the money you spend on us to get the things you need. We know you love us and want us to have a good life, but you are giving us all your extra money. We are old and do not need much. You are young and still have a life ahead of you. So Kane, follow your dreams….”