Daddy came home late last night. He was drunk as usual. I could hear him shouting at my mommy. I hid under my bed as the screaming got louder. My mommy yelled back at him. Daddy was mad because mommy didn’t make dinner for him. Mommy hadn’t made dinner for us in a long time. We usually only had cereal and milk in the house. I would make my own dinner of cereal and eat it in front of the little TV while mommy went to her friend’s house to party. I waited at the door when she came home. I smiled at her and offered to make her dinner. She just pushed me out of the way and sat down on our worn-out couch. Mommy took out some cigarettes and lit one. By the time daddy got home, mommy was on her last cigarette. I knew that there was going to be a big fight that night. Mommy and Daddy were both really drunk. I raced into my room before they started to yell. As it always did, the fight became about me. The teachers at school were worried that my parents couldn’t take care of me. Daddy shouted for me to get into the kitchen right now. I slowly opened the door and tip-toed down the hallway to the kitchen. If I didn’t tip-toe, I would get in trouble for being too loud at night or when mommy passed out around mid-afternoon. Daddy pushed me into the wall. He said that my teacher had called for a parent-teacher conference. He swore at me, screaming that I had been bad and that he was going to teach me a lesson. I knew what was coming so I ran and hid behind the couch. Mommy stumbled in from her room and sat on the couch, not realizing that I was hiding behind it. I heard daddy stomp into the living room. He shouted at my mommy to get out of the way so he could teach me. She didn’t move. He grabbed her and threw her on the floor. Mommy got up shakily. She hit daddy over and over again. Daddy went to his room and got his gun. He pointed it at mommy and told her to leave and never come back. Mommy just shouted at him more.
“Bang!” Daddy pulled the trigger. Mommy fell down in a bloody mess. I screamed from my hiding place. Daddy was in shock; he never meant to go that far. He turned to where I was hiding and said, “Sorry.” He carefully placed the gun to his head and with another loud bang, he fell to the floor too.