A Punch with Love | Teen Ink

A Punch with Love

May 23, 2015
By Orchid7 PLATINUM, Plano, Texas
Orchid7 PLATINUM, Plano, Texas
21 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
if you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will award you with a new hello!


"Mama can you play with me?"
" You bet tiger! But let's practice some punching first."
My mother was an ordinary woman but an extremely strange mother. Papa said that the reason I found her weird was because she was stronger and bigger than other mothers.
My mom was a wrestler.
She was a very stereotypical wrestler. Her patience level was about the size of a sugar grain,her anger was contrastingly the size of two Hulks. Her kindness was the size of nothing because it didn't exist. At least I thought it didn't exist.

Her motto was 'Use your fists to talk.Most people ignore your mouth." And she lived every second of her life with that motto. She never hit me,however,because the one thing my mom had that she never knew she had was awareness of the right or wrong. She wasn't a bad person,just a very aggressive one with no tolerance for vulgar people.

I on the contrary was a very weak and sensitive person with quiet ways and shy mannerisms. But mama still desperately tried to toughen me up and make me more 'woman like.' Honestly her idea of woman like was the feminist twisted version of it.
"Tiger put more force into that punch.It looks like you're a zombie trying to relive his glory days as a wrestler."
"What even...? What does that even mean Mama?"
"It means your arms are so lifeless that a corpse could knock you out."
"But it's a corpse. It's already dead."
"That means you're twice as dead as it is. Come on now I want you to punch so hard that folks back in Canada hear em."
This was part of our daily workout sessions that the puny person I am hated. I always just wanted a quiet even with my pen and paper in hand,writing my novel. However my mom never understood that.
"Mom I hate this."
"You aren't doing this for anybody but you."
"I just want want to write my novel."
"And just how do you think writing is going to save your life if someone attacks you?"
"What the heck Mama!No one is gonna freaking kill me! This isn't the Hunger Games!"
At this comment my mom would tell herself 'At least she isn't into boys or makeup like other teenagers' and give me a fearsome glare. That day I decided I was done learning defense and decided to finally use it.
"I'm going upstairs Mama."
"No you aren't Tiger."
At that remark I just turned around and began to jog upstairs letting my mother's deafening screams die down behind me.I took out a pen and opened my novel to write when I heard a noise that I always remembered throughout my life. Mama pushed the door and grabbed my book. She ripped the pages right off.
I just stared open mouthed as I watched half a years worth of ideas and stories get torn to shreds. Mama glared at me with anger in her eyes at first and then fear.
I screamed in anguish like someone had stabbed me with a knife.The pain I felt instead felt like my heart had been run over with a car and tossed in the trash. My mother soon realized that ripping my novel had ripped me along with it.

I never spoke to mother for a few months. "How was school?" she would ask but all she got in reply was a tear from my eye. Every single day she tried to talk to me but every single time the only thing I said was,"You were right.I am twice as dead as a corpse."
My friends never understood what the big deal was but all I ever cared about was in that novel. My mom never bothered to read it even when I asked her if I wanted to check it out. I used to think she never really cared about me.

Our workout sessions stopped and all I did was homework. Mama became concerned and tried to apologize but in vain. It felt like an eternity had passed when one day,things changed. Permanently.
I came home from school and my mom was waiting for me with something in her hand. I ignored it and tried to go straight up to my room when she said,"Here it is."
I swirled around and gazed in awe at the thing in her hand. It was a notebook with the words
My Daughter on it.
"Mama what is.."
"You think I never read your novel? Wrong. I didn't just read it,I copied it word for word because it was so beautiful. And if you ever lost it I thought you would have a spare copy."
I tried to say something but instead,I said something I hadn't remember saying in a decade.
"I love you mama"


The author's comments:

This is dedicated to my parents who have been the wheel that gets me places. Even if you don't have parents you are loved and you matter becuase someone out there cares for you. Never forget that you are important and this world needs all of you!


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