Phase Three : Break Free

He was five back then.His mother was pregnant with her second child.Home was nothing short of hell.There was rarely a night when he could sleep without having to hear all the shouting, all the noises, all the crying.
Like all kids, he loved his mother more than anything.But they shared something more than just that.There was a feeling of camaraderie- of going through the same ordeal everyday, of being totally helpless against all that was happening.A pregnant woman and her little son.Each other was all they had .

There were nights he just wished he was somewhere far, far away.Wished he were someone else.Wished to fast forward to the future and be done with this ordeal as his mother kept assuring him that the future would be bright and full of happiness.
"Have faith," she always told him.
As a refuge from all the suffering, he started reading kids comics.Lots of them.One story that left an impression on him goes like this :

Cheeku the rabbit is in his room, playing loud music.Meanwhile, some burglars enter the house and take all his mother's jewellery away.And the rest of the story shows Cheeku's mother telling him why it is wrong to play music so loudly that he couldn't even hear his mother scream in the next room.

From the moment he read that story,he stopped playing music completely.He also started watching the television on mute.
He always wondered what his mother was doing in the next room.
Was she alright? Or had she set herself on fire or was she hanging from the fan as they showed on television?
Slightest of sounds or its absence would make him shout out very loudly :
"Ammaaaa...What are you doing?"
Amma, as he called his mother, who had heard this question a million times before would shout at him for shouting so loudly.He'd be relieved to hear her voice.

Now, tell me, how many kids feel relieved when their mothers shout at them?

He is no more a kid.
As an adult, he knows the word for what used to go on at home when he was a little kid : domestic violence.
And he trusts his mother ever more.They did get through it and they were happy.
Very happy.Just like she always said.

With Metallica blaring through the headphones now, he suddenly presses mute and goes :
" Ammmaaaa...What are you doing?"

On hearing no response, he smiles.

Certain habits stay forever.People don't.