THE RECORD: From Behind The Camera, He Keeps Watching
CHAPTER 4: The Broken String

My heart went so far in front of the house. The distance between the big road and my house was far enough that I had to run as fast as I could to get there. My house was the only one with a fence around it and now it's locked. I painstakingly climbed up the small iron footing between the bushes and jumped into the courtyard of the house.

Hup!

I landed carefully so as not to make a sound. The middle room light that is still on indicates that Nena has not returned home. The old lady who had been helping me take care of my mother would have nagged me all night for coming home late.

From the outside, I heard the sound of television. Nena slippers are still neatly tucked away on the shelf. I had prepared my ears for Nena's scolding when I opened the door, but I rounded my eyes as soon as I saw the old woman lying on the floor with a bloody head. In front of her, my mother stood holding a rolling pin and remained silent while looking at Nena with a blank look. Both of his hands hung limp beside his body. Blood was pouring from the hair.

“Ibu–” I who was at a loss for words immediately ran towards her. Rolling pin I secured to under the sofa and immediately brought mom into the room.

“It's okay, Mom. Nena's just asleep. Mom has no intention of hurting him.” I don't know what I'm saying. I don't know if Nena's alive or not. I just talked anything to the origin to calm him down. Calm myself.

Mom didn't show any expression. Both eyes looked at me blankly without life. It was as if his soul was going somewhere leaving his body alone. Even so, his body trembled. I only know that his heart and mind are struggling in there. My heart is broken in a painful way. I rubbed the blood flowing at his temple before closing the door. Forced to lock mom in the room.

Nena was still lying in the middle room. With an erratic feeling–afraid mixed with anxietyI close my index finger to his nostrils. I'm afraid my grandmother is dead. I'm afraid that mom will be blamed.

As soon as the warm wind caressed my cold skin, I called out the name of God gratefully. I rarely remember before.

Most importantly, he's alive. Nena is okay.

“Nena, Nena.” I tried to shake her body to make her realize. I sighed more and more relieved as soon as I heard Nena moan while opening her eyes weakly. Then after her consciousness almost recovered, Nena looked at me horror and inched away while shouting.

“D-he wants to kill me! That crazy woman wants to smash my head!”

The woman you call crazy is my mother, Nena. I bit my inner lip trying not to say anything. I understand, he's still traumatized. Nena was getting hysterical as I approached her. His frail body I rubbed slowly. I looked at my father's mother quietly.

“Nena is fine. I'm sorry for coming late. Mom just sak-”

Plaque!

My face was thrown to the side as soon as his palm slammed hard at me. I of course looked at Nena in surprise. “You don't understand! Your mother is crazy! Her eyes–” Nena's gaze did not focus on running here and there as her lips hung up the sentence. It was as if he had found no suitable explanation to tell of the terrible event he had just experienced.

“He's not your mother! He's demon! I should never have kept him. I should have let them take him to Lawrenceville!”

Hearing the name of the mental hospital made me duck–gut my jaw. They wanted to take my mother where she wasn't supposed to be. Enough with the past. I don't want my mom to experience it either.

Emotions suddenly entrenched in my blazing chest. I got up without saying anything else. Nena looked at me with hunting breath as I went towards the kitchen to bring the first aid kit.

I poured alcohol over the cotton and started to clean the wound on my grandmother's head. Maybe the panic attack had subsided because Nena was silent while looking at me fixedly. I don't know what this mother of my father was thinking, but I think she just realized her words were spoken to me. There might be some regret on his mind even though I'm not quite sure.

“Rowen suddenly hit me as I made her tea,” she explained in a vibrating voice.

“I just told him it was time to get back up and forget what happened. That tragedy has been many years and he can't trouble you any longer! Suddenly he hit my head! Then his eyes .. I don't recognize those eyes, Izzy. She's no longer Rowen!” obviously at length.

His eyes were full of horror as he spoke. Maybe it was the first time Nena had seen such a mother because usually the mother was just silent like a statue.

My fault. I let her be with Nena until eight o'clock. Everything's my fault.

“We have to send it to Lawrenceville! You can't keep your mother here as long as–”

First aid box I closed a little hard. Stopping Nena's sentence.

“It's done. I'm sorry I hurt Nena. He's just a little lost his way, I guess. I'll call uncle Joe to pick up Nena,” I said with a smile. I got up and walked towards the kitchen to clean up the mess.

“You don't understand! Just staying here won't make it normal. Lawrenceville will heal your mother from trauma!” Apparently Nena is still trying harder. I tighten my jaw to hold myself back.

Then suddenly a foreign document located on the kitchen table caught my attention. I approached to read it–back Nena. The old woman was still grumbling behind my back and as I looked at the document, my ears were ringing as I saw the letterhead I knew printed there. The Lawrenceville Neuropsychiatry Institution.

I of course know that it means you'll be taken there forcibly.

I'm ditching. Angry and disappointed. I thought Nena was sincere about helping her daughter-in-law out of empathy. It's only right that he's been persuading me all this time. Because it didn't work for me, he tried it on my mom. Tried his luck.

I should have known that no human being would help another human being for free.

“You can go to school quietly and leave all your mother's business to someone who knows this!” Maybe Nena didn't realize I was reading the documents she showed me. I'm still trying to hold on.

“Dan .. everything will be easier because Lawrenceville will also support your life. Try to imagine how much you will get for your life in de–”

“Nena!” Defense's collapsed.

I turned my body to face Nena. Look at the same eyes as my father's, I was fixed. I tried to hold my lips back from shaking from holding back my emotions.

“If Nena is not able to finance and take care of mom, I do not care,” said I try maybe not to raise the voice. “But I would never sell my family to anyone. No more.”

I threw the letter on the floor. Right in front of Nena. I no longer care what is called manners. Who could think of that at a time like this?

Nena looked surprised and opened her mouth before closing it again–lose the words. Maybe he forgot to put the document in any place and now I know his wits about selling my mother.

“I'm sorry for bothering you all this time. From now on let me take care of everything. And this debt, let me handle it. After all, all this is already used for Mom, right? Nena don't have to worry.” I don't know why I said it like I had a lot of money. My heart was thinking about how to pay for it.

Maybe Nena's embarrassed that I found her intention of putting my mother in a mental institution was money. “Good. Just look at it later. In the end you will give up and look for me,” he threatened. My grandmother left while slamming the door with emotion without waiting for Uncle Joe to pick her up.

I breathed a tired breath.

“Mother?”

The door to the room where I locked my mother opened and a moment of stuffy air came out from inside. The light of the lights instantly filled the room as soon as I pressed the switch. My mother was still standing at the door exactly like the last time I left. The blood flowing from his temple had almost dried up.

I led my mother to take her to sit on the side of the bed. I painstakingly cleaned the wound in his temple with a sliced heart. The wound is deeper than Nena's. I can imagine that Nena provoked him with that document. It's possible that mom's subconscious was lured away until she scared Nena and ended up hitting her first.

Nena had fainted when I found her while my mother was still conscious of her injury. Doesn't that make sense? I don't know, I'm just making it up. Maybe that's true. Maybe not.

I'm not a detective but my gut feeling is much stronger about this.

My mother looked at my face with her empty eyes. I did not look back at her face for fear of crying.

Mind confused.

Just now I took off the rope that supported me so as not to fall into the well. And now the rope is loose and I'm falling into the darkness. Take mom with me.

Surprisingly, even though my problems got a lot heavier, eliminating Nena in this affair relieved me. Even if it means I have to build a ladder alone to get out of this well.

How-to? What am I supposed to do so Lawrenceville doesn't take mom?

Maybe my brain is being smoothly due to desperate circumstances because that second I suddenly thought about Primrose and his plan.

If at first I felt burdened if only he would take advantage of my fame, now I wonder.

Maybe I can use it back.

...***...