The Family

The Family
By Zakfar (zakfar2000@yahoo.com)
An autobiography of the daughter of an abusive wife.

Author:
Zakfar

Title:
‘The Family’.

Secondary Title:
‘Daughter of an Abusive Wife’.

Author’s Note:
This short-story is written for Adults, so exposure to underage is highly prohibitted. Although it is written with a ‘Femdom Fantasy’ theme, it includes many critical thoughts about the families where abuse is involved. You are ALLOWED to post this story anywhere on the internet if you post it without changing the name of the ‘Author’, ‘Title’, and ‘Author’s Note’. The story is titled as an autobiography and might give you the feeling of being a true story; however, it is not. Any similarities with any person, situation, incident, or scene would be only coincidental.

Short Description:
Initially named as ‘Daughter of an Abusive Wife’, “Family” is a story of a female dominated household. The story is told by their daughter. Her mother is an abusive wife. This story reveals her point of view about her family. On contrast to many other novels and short stories written by the same author, this story DOES NOT include the open scenes of ‘Sex’, ‘Spanking’, ‘Whipping’, or any other kinds of kinky plays, as those things never occur in front of the daughter. Also, there are much lesser dialogues in the story and you will not find nudity in writing. However, this is still considered as of adult nature, as the topic is too critical for underage. The story includes the types of beating that usually the abusers use, which you will find while reading the story.

Word Count:
12,000+

Type:
Short Story.

DISCLAIMER:

THE FOLLOWING STORY IS A FANTASY WITH NO RELATIONSHIP TO ANY EVENT, PERSON, AND PLACE OR TIME. ANY SIMILARITY IS BY ACCIDENT AND TOTALLY UNINTENTIONAL. THIS WORK CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED HARMFUL BY SOME. ALL THEORIES, SITUATIONS, AND IDEAS DISCUSSED ARE SOLELY IMAGINARY; AND AUTHOR TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY IF PRACTICED BY THE INDIVIDUALS. IF YOU ARE NOT 18 (21 IN SOME JURISDICTIONS) AND DO NOT ENJOY SEXUALLY EXPLICIT AND PERVERSION STORIES, PLEASE LEAVE NOW. THIS WORK IS CREATED FOR BDSM AND FETISH ACTIVISTS, AND IS BASED ON THE FEMALE DOMINATION FANTASY THEME.

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“Curt! Come here!” Mom shouted with anger. It was late in the evening, but we did not have our dinner yet. I was sitting in my room at the second floor, watching the television while waiting for the call for dinner. The door of my room was open so I clearly heard mom’s shout. I slowly stood up to see what was happening. Mom was standing outside the restroom carrying anger on her face. Both of her hands were placed on their respective sides on her waist and her legs were spread widely to show the seriousness of the situation.

“Please Diana. . . I’m sorry.” Dad said with fear in his voice. I needed to walk further towards the door of my room to get the full view of the situation. From the voice of mom, dad might have realized that he was in trouble. That was why he was walking towards her with small steps. However, I could not understand what he was apologizing for, as mom had not disclosed the reason of her anger.

“Come here!” Mom said without being worried about dad’s condition.

“I am sorry. . .” Dad said again while moving towards mom. Due to fear, the upper part of his body was leaned slightly backward.

“Get close!” Mom said. “Stand straight!” Mom ordered when dad was in her range. During all this time, mom stayed in the same position, with her legs spread and her fists clenched to rest on her waist. By the order of mom, dad slowly moved to straighten his body. As soon as he was in the position she wanted, mom’s right hand lost its position and moved towards dad’s right with full force.

“Slap!”
This hard blow of her palm was printed all across the left side of dad’s face. Due to the force, his body leaned towards his right. However, he saved himself from falling on the ground.

“What do you think? Why I am angry? Han?” Mom asked while looking at dad with the same anger.

“I am sorry Diana. . .” Dad started to apologize again but he was quickly interrupted with another shout of mom.

“Stand straight!” Mom shouted and this time, dad did not waste any time. He gulped and quickly pulled up his body. Once again, mom’s right hand moved when dad was in her desired position.

“Slap!”
Once again his body fell towards his right but he successfully managed to save himself from reaching the ground. In both of the slaps, mom’s left hand never left its place and stayed with her waist. Only her right hand was doing the whole job.

“I am sorry Diana.” Dad said as if he wanted to cry. However, I knew that he would not cry. He had a good control to save him from crying, at least when I was present in the house.

“I didn’t get the answer. . . and you are not straightened yet.” Mom said and then quickly moved her right hand. This time she did not wait for dad to get back. Instead, mom grabbed the left ear of dad and started to pull his body up. As soon as he was straight again, she left his ear and stretched her hand back to give him another hard blow.

“Slap!”

“I am sorry Diana. . . I don’t really know what happened.” Dad said while slowly straightening his body. His left hand was covering his left cheek now.

“Remove your hand!” Mom said while waving her right hand and dad slowly moved his hand away. The whole left side of dad’s face was painted red. The joint of his ear with the face was slightly cut, spilling a small drop of blood that was good enough to redden his whole earlobe. “Curt! What do you think?. . . What’s there in the restroom that can piss me off?” Mom asked with anger.

“This. . . the toilet paper. . . I am sorry. . .” Dad said with the same fear.

“Slap!”

Mom’s right hand moved again to bend dad’s body towards his right. This time, she did not say anything and took a small step towards dad. Her left hand had left its place now, which she needed in order to increase the force of her right hand. Without wasting any time, mom moved her right hand with full force.

“Slap!”

Although dad had saved himself from falling after the first blow, he could not position himself well. So the sudden second blow forced his body to leave the ground and his whole body fell sidewise and struck the floor with a big sound.

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”

“When you know that. . . why don’t you keep it filled?” Mom shouted and grabbed the collar of the shirt dad was wearing. She had a great strength in her body. So she started to pull him up. Within a few seconds, dad was on his feet. “Listen Curt! I, myself, don’t like to hurt my hands because of you. I have many other important things to do besides disciplining you. There are only a few responsibilities assigned to you and you still don’t fulfill them properly. All you are required to do are few chores and you still don’t do a shit. If you don’t correct yourself soon, I will give you a hiding you will never forget.” Mom said and left his collar while pushing him a bit. Once again mom’s hand moved, but this time it was her left hand, as the right side of dad’s face was currently covered with his left hand.

“Slap!”

Although the blow at dad’s right side was a bit lighter than the slaps on his left, it was still hard enough to force his body to turn left.

“Put the toilet paper in!” Mom said and started to walk towards the dining hall. “Call Jasmine to come down for dinner! I believe that the dinner would be ready by now.”

I heard this and started to walk towards the stairs without waiting for dad’s call. My hands had moved towards my face to clean my wet eyelids, as I did not want anyone to see that.

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My name is Jasmine and this is my story. It includes everything about our small family. This is actually the story of my parents – Diana Collins and Curt Collins. This story reveals many things that I have been hiding since a long time. My story begins with the age when I started to understand things. My initial thoughts were that woman were dominant partners of every household. However, when I started to look around, things felt different. In our neighborhood, usually woman stayed in the house and man went out to work. It was usually woman doing cooking, cleaning and all other chores in the house. I saw my fellow students having entirely different behavior towards their parents. They usually seemed to be more afraid of their dads then their moms. Studying all this made me believe that what was happening in our house was not very common, and that was why I stopped sharing the stories of my house with my friends.

It was not as if woman did not work in early 90’s. Those days, we could find some househusbands as well. However, my dad was much more submissive than a husband was supposed to be. Even slightly widen eyes of my mother could make his body thrill. This usually happened in the parties, but only I was the one there to understand the feelings of dad. For others, mom acted like a cool and softhearted person.

Although mom worked out every day, it was not as if she was a hardcore body-builder or something like that. She just had a little more than an average-woman body. Actually, it was my dad’s lower-than-average body that caused the real trouble. There was no doubt that his almost equal weight and height could not balance the strength of my mother. Dad’s most of the weight was due to fat. As compare to that, mom’s arms, hips, thighs and chests, all were swollen, and were filled up with mass of flesh. With his shabby body, dad could never beat mom in a melee fight. In fact, I was sure that he could not even stand for more than a few seconds. However, I never saw that happening. It was because my dad could not dare to stand against her. Mom could easily beat and slap dad, and all he could give in exchange was an apology.

When I was young, sometimes I heard loud voices from the room of my parents. My friends usually discussed about their parents having fights. Therefore, it was natural for me to consider that my parents fought a lot, as there were shouts coming out of my parents’ room many times a week. However, soon enough, I learned that those voices were not of any fight. My parents did not fight. It was simply mom beating dad brutally. Soon enough, I started to understand the cries of dad filled with his apologies. Sometimes, there were another voices added with those. This included the voices of belt and cane. I knew what was happening in their room. However, I never discussed this with anyone. It seemed to me that even dad wanted to keep that a secret, as he always seemed to have some good excuses for his swollen eyes and bruised faces. He never disclosed the facts behind those, not even when his whole body was terribly hurt.

Mom loved me very much. She never punished me for anything. She even avoided shouting at me. Instead, she always told dad to correct me. Still, I was afraid of her like death. I could even piss just because of the feeling of my mother being mad at me. As compare to that, I always found myself comfortable in the presence of my dad, who even gave me hidings on several occasions. It was always my dad, whom I wanted to share my thoughts and feelings. However, this could not bring me the total satisfaction. I did not realize at that time, but I needed both of my parents for my mental development. Mom’s abusive behavior towards dad had brought some hatred for her in my mind. Due to this, the distance between mom and me kept growing with the time.

Mom was not only physically stronger, but she also superseded the mental skills of dad. She was a smart and intelligent lawyer, one of the most popular ones in our city. She was famous for not losing any case since many years. She dealt the matrimonial cases, especially ones involving some kind of aggression. She had a good understanding of how the marriage system worked, and how it was supposed to work. This was actually a surprise for me, as I knew that my mother was well aware of the fact that she was abusing her husband.

I was sure that she knew what she was doing was illegal and unacceptable by the society. However, I believe, she was confident that her husband could never go against her. If we look closely, mom was right as well. Dad could no doubt never go against her. He was so afraid of her that he never did anything against her orders, even in her absence. I sometimes felt that mom had such an authority over my dad that if she would say no for visiting the restroom, my dad could not have a leak for the whole day.

The system of our house was much similar to those of any family in 90’s. The only difference was in the roles and responsibilities of the members of the house. Instead of my dad, it was my mom going out to work. Dad stayed in the house to take care of all the chores. He even had all the responsibilities related with me. He woke up early in the morning. While preparing the breakfast, he assisted me to get ready for the school. In the mean time, mom kept playing with some exercising machines. As we lived in a rich society, my school bus picked me up just from the door of my house. Mom usually did not have a good mood in the morning. Therefore, she avoided have a contact with me and seldom had breakfast with me. The reason of her late breakfast was also because of her short workout in the morning. However, if she finished that earlier, usually her face was lost behind the newspaper. After the breakfast, I left to school in my school bus. It was always my dad leaving me at the door.

After I left, dad had to spend his worst time of the day. At least in my presence, mom tried to be soft and had a bit control on her anger. However, once they were alone, there was no obstacle for mom to do anything bad to him. When mom left as well, dad had to deal with all the chores of the house. For lawn, swimming pool and windows, we had a housekeeping service. They visited our house twice in a week. So, all dad was usually left with was dusting, mopping, emptying the trash cans, laundry and cooking the lunch for both of us. Usually all this was done a lot before I got back from my school.

After the lunch, he had to visit the grocery store or some other place like that. It was up to me to decide if I wanted to accompany him or I should be dropped off at my friend’s home. If nothing of those was desired, we could decide to visit the park close to our home. We even picked some of my friends to play with me there. None of those visits lasted for more than 5 hours, as we were supposed to get back before mom.

Mom did not have any fix hours to get home. She could be back anytime in the evening, sometimes even before us. However, if we were back on time, she did not mind. She even joined us in the park sometimes. If she was already aware that she would be able to come back early, we did not leave the home after the lunch. Instead, we waited for her to take us to a mall or the grand city park. Eating fast food was not that common those days, especially in our family. Therefore, those visits seemed to me like short picnics as these were mostly accompanied a dinner in a fast food restaurant.

During the weekdays, mom avoided to go out of the house in late hours. So, almost all the weekdays, we were at home with the same routine. After the dinner, mom sitting in the lounge, reading some books, while the television was on with a news channel. In late hours, mom drank some wine. Not just once or twice, but almost to the level when she was out of control, which usually resulted in some bad consequences for my dad.

I am not sure whether dad did not like drinking in weekdays or he was prohibited from that, but I never saw him drinking any alcohols. Well, I think mom would have stopped him from having that privilege as dad could be seen enjoying those in some occasions during the weekends. However, I never saw dad in a boozy state. He might have developed his level of drinking to stay in control, as something bad might have occurred to him in the past. Knowing my mother, there was no doubt in my mind about that.

Mom had a younger sister named Rebecca. She lived in the same city as of ours. During the weekends, sometimes we visited her house. My aunt was a single mother who had a son named Kim. Although Kim was 11 months younger than me, we both enjoyed each other’s company. Sometimes it was Aunt Rebecca to visit us on weekends. Whether they were in our house or we were theirs, Kim and I played many games, both indoor and outdoor ones.

Aunt Rebecca was pretty close to our family. She was the only one beside me, whose presence did not hinder mom from being involved in any bully actions towards dad. However, I knew that my aunt did not like that, as she had shown her irritations many times. I even saw here once interfering mom from beating dad. I don’t know what had exactly happened. Aunt Rebecca had visited our house. As usual, I was playing with Kim outside the house. He was running to catch me and I was trying to save myself from being caught. It was when I entered the house and stopped with a surprise to get the scene in my view. Dad was lying on the floor while Aunt Rebecca was pulling mom away from him. However, she was having trouble to control Mom from kicking dad’s back. Mom was wearing high stiletto heel court shoes and there was no doubt that every strike of her shoe was giving a hard blow of pain at dad’s back. I think Aunt Rebecca informed mom about me presence as just after a few seconds mom turned towards me. She saw me and quickly left the place without saying anything.

In our house, it was a norm. However, even when we visited Aunt Rebecca’s house, it was dad’s responsibility to cook meals for us. Mom and Aunt seemed always busy in talking with each other. This is all I saw them doing when they were together. However, I never tried to understand their boring conversations. Instead, I spend most of my time to play with Kim. We played many games, most of those resulting in our clothes getting filthy. Sometimes we even fought, but as both of us were highly afraid of my mom, none of those fights could enter the house. The reason our fights did not last for long was also that we usually met after weeks, and we could not waste our precious time in being mad at each other.

Kim was not the only reason for me to enjoy my time with them. I also enjoyed the company of my Aunt. She had similar facial cuts as of mom and she looked much like her. However, besides the face, there was nothing in common between them. Aunt Rebecca had short, slim and soft body. She was kind and gentle, and seemed to care about everyone, including my dad. She might not be as intelligent as my mother, as she worked only as a salesgirl in a store. However, she had a better place in my heart than that of my mom. I loved her, much more than I loved my mother. When I was young, I sometimes had my childish dreams of mom changing into Aunt Rebecca, or my aunt becoming my mom. Later, those thoughts brought smiles on my face.

Besides the visits to my Aunt’s house, we had many other activities for weekends. Sometimes we visited some parties, arranged by the friends of my mom. In those parties, mom never showed any aggression towards dad. In case of something wrong, she only gave a sharp look at my dad, which seemed to be good enough to stop dad from doing any silly mistake. During those parties, dad usually avoided talking and drinking much. However, mom usually did both in excess. Even though, there were always some kids for me to play with, I usually did not enjoy those parties.

We also visited the theatres, play lands, and other places for recreation and entertainment. Some of those visits further proved the brave mentality of my mother. She enjoyed sporting with the most dangerous rides available. Sometimes she even dragged dad with her even though she knew that dad was afraid of those. However, he never said or denied her for anything. The only thing seemed to be missing there was a collar belt around the neck of dad. Otherwise, he always walked behind her like a pet, and never seemed to have any will of his own. Mom did not even ask him his preference for the snacks and meal. She just ordered something for everyone, and we ate. However, sometimes I added some things of my choice, which mom never denied.

Almost every year, and sometimes even twice, we had our vacations. Usually, Aunt Rebecca and Kim accompanied us as well. During those vacations, dad was given some liberation. He could roam around freely and have drink as much as he wanted. For vacations, we visited many different places in and outside the country. As Mom liked beaches, most of the destinations of our vacations had them. Sometimes we stayed in the motels, and sometimes we rented the private huts or beach houses for ourselves. There was no doubt that my mom had good taste for setting up the vacations, as we all enjoyed our vacations more than we previously expected. In addition, mom controlled everything in a better way. This includes her anger, and she was far more lenient with dad than I could imagine.

Once we were having our vacations in a beach of Cancun. Mom and Aunt Rebecca were lying on the sand backward. They were having a sunbath. Kim and I, we both were playing in the water of the beach. Dad was close to save us from going further in the water. We were playing there for more than an hour, and that could be the reason of his carelessness. Suddenly, a big wave came and pulled me towards the water. I do not know how that happened, but my feet left the ground and I started to move towards the water. This made me shout with fear.

For a few seconds, I kept moving and then suddenly I felt a couple of hands on my body. I was unable to understand anything, as I was too afraid from the situation. Much of the water had entered my stomach and lungs. As soon as I was out of the water, I was placed on the sand forward. It was my mom who had saved me from drowning. Many people had gathered around us, but I was unable to see or understand anything at that time. All I was doing was crying while someone was pushing my back to make me spill out the water. Maybe, it was a doctor or a coast guard. I did not bother looking at him. During the treatment, mom, dad, aunt and Kim, they all stood there with fear on their faces.

“I am sorry Diana!” I heard the voice of dad after a few minutes.

“Curt! Stay away from me.” I heard mom’s angered reply. “Stay away from me for a few days. Or I might kill you.”

Surprisingly, mom did not punish dad even when we were back to the beach house. If something like that would have happen some other day, I believe dad would be dead or something close to that. But as I said, mom’s reactions on the vacations were entirely different than her usual ones. I could never understand how come mom to saved me that day. Dad was standing too close to me before water pulled me. As compare to that, mom was very far, more than four times distance as that of dad. However, she not only saw me drowning, but also she ran all the way and jumped in the water to save me. Sometimes it seemed to me as if mom had some supernatural strengths as well.

From the stories of my childhood, I found that I might be very aggressive when I was young. However, with time, I changed into a stay-in-the-hole kind of person. Besides a few friends at school, I had no one else. Even those were my friends since I was very young. I was not sure if I could make new friends if those would leave me. However, even with those friends I never shared my personal feelings and the stories inside my house. That was why I kept my friends away from my house. Instead, I visited their homes myself.

It was not as if I was ashamed about my dad being a househusband. In fact, it was completely opposite to that. I was actually proud of my dad for being such a hardworking guy. I do not care what other people think, but I always considered my dad to be a strong person who bore someone like my mother, keep getting terrible beatings from her just because of me. Yes, I believe that he accepted his ill fate just because of me. He knew very well that if he was separated from mom, he would have to leave me, which he could not afford. However, those were the things, not other people could understand. I knew that if they learned about what was happening in our house, they would chide about it and make fun of my dad. I loved my dad and respected him more than anyone.

My only true friend was Kim, with whom I could share my feelings for mom and dad. There was no reason for hiding anything from him. He was already aware of the relationship between my parents. He had even seen mom beating dad many times. He was the only one who could truly understand my problems. Whenever I was upset, it was Kim to give me the mental support and his words always soothed the pain inside me. As he did not have a dad, he even had the same childish dream as I used to have. He informed me that he sometimes saw his mom changing into my mother and vice versa.

It was not as if dad was beaten only for his mistakes. Sometimes it happened just because of mom’s bad mood or excessive drinking. In the morning, many times she slapped dad for some silly reasons. Once she grabbed him by his hairs and threw him on the dining table. This made his head strike the table to start bleeding. I was having the breakfast on the same table. This whole thing made me scared and I started to cry. Either it was mom’s unintentional act, or mom realized just after that that those things could have bad impacts on my mind. However, nothing that hard ever happened so close to me again. If she wanted to be hard, she usually kept enough distance from me or waited for the time they were alone.

I knew what exactly happened in my absence. The swollen face and bruises on dad’s body were self explanatory. Those were usually given to him when I was in my school or bed. However, whenever I asked him, he gave me the same silly reasons that he fell on the ground or down the stairs. I believe he knew that I knew everything. However, it was humiliating for him to accept that in front of me.
I was either 9 or 10 years old when I first time saw dad crying. When I got back from the school, I entered the house, as the door was not locked. When I entered the kitchen, I saw dad crying, facing the dishwasher. For some reasons, he was unaware of my presence. Otherwise, he always learned about my school bus and picked me at the door.

For a few seconds, I kept standing at dad’s back with sadness on my face. When my feelings reached the peak, I started to cry as well. This made him shocked and he turned. While stopping himself from crying further, he quickly moved towards me to hold me in his arms. He tried to stop me from crying but he failed. Looking at his bruised face and swollen forehead, I felt some kind of pain in my heart and started to cry louder. While trying to soothe me, he started to cry as well. That was the first time dad shared his pain with me.

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As usual, dad got up early in the morning and woke me up. On contrast to other kids, my sleep was very light. A single call from dad was good enough to wake me up, even though I was only 9 years old.

“Honey! Move to the restroom. . . Quickly!” Dad said while leading me towards the restroom. I kept walking with my eyes half shut. He opened the door and moved me towards the sink. Once he opened the valve, I pushed both of my hands in the water coming out of the faucet. While I was splashing the water on my face, dad left me and almost ran towards the kitchen.

Our house only had 3 rooms, all of them being at the second story. The stairs were at one side of the lounge, just where we had the main door of the house. There was a big lounge on the ground floor, covering almost everything. All the exercising machines, television, sofas, everything was there. At the left of the lounge, we had a joint portion of the dining hall and the kitchen. There was a wall to cover half of the dining hall, so from the lounge, entire kitchen was visible, but only half of the dining hall could be viewed. Behind the kitchen, we had the door entrance to the garage and the store.

When I was done with the restroom, I got out and started to walk towards the door. When I came out of the room, I saw mom running on her treadmill. As usual, she was in her exercising clothes, the skin-fit trouser and a sports bra, which were tightly fixed with her swollen hips and big breasts. When I was walking down the stairs, I saw dad coming out of the kitchen with a jug of orange juice and an empty cup. I kept walking and sat on a chair with the dining table, where my breakfast was already served. I knew that dad would take some time to come back, so I did not wait for him and started to eat. As usual, dad stood behind mom without saying anything and waited for her to finish her exercise. Once she dropped off the treadmill, dad gave her the orange juice and came back. By the time he was back, I had finished my breakfast, washed my hands and started to move towards the lounge to open the television. This was my usual way to pass the time while waiting for my school bus. Therefore, I started to watch the television.

In a few minutes, mom finished her exercise and started to move towards the dining hall while drying up her wet face and head with a towel placed on her shoulder. My back was towards her as I was watching the television. It was when I heard a big noise of something falling on the floor in the dining hall. I did not know what exactly happened. When I turned to see, all I could watch was the back of my mom and even that was lost as she quickly moved forward. Therefore, I stood up and ran towards the dining hall.

“You bitch!” I heard mom’s angered voice before I could reach there. When I got close, I saw mom, carrying dad’s shirt from his back, and moving towards the dining table. I stopped going further and stood there looking at what was happening. There was a dish with the broken pieces of ceramic plates on the floor. The food that was placed in those was scattered around, some of those stuck on the bottom of mom’s clothes. I believe dad might have collided mom while he was moving to serve her breakfast on the table.

“I’m sorry Diana.” Dad apologized quickly but mom did not stop. She thrashed dad’s body forward on the table and rested her left hand on his face that was turned left already, towards the way mom was standing. The palm of mom’s left had fixed dad’s face with the table with full force, making him unable to make even a slight move. Without wasting any time, mom’s right hand moved and gave a hard strike at the back of dad with a hammer fist.

“Dhumb!”

“You don’t do anything right!” Mom shouted while moving her right hand.

“Sorry. . . Sorry Diana!” Dad kept apologizing.

“Dhumb!”

“Dhumb!”

“Dhumb!”

“You bitch! You can’t do anything properly!” Mom shouted again. It was at that time, I heard the voice of my school bus.

“Dhumb!”

“Jasmine’s bus is here. . .” Dad tried to say, in order to divert Mom’s anger, but he was quickly interrupted.

“Jasmine! You can leave by yourself. Your dad won’t accompany you today. He is busy!” Mom said without changing her position.

“Dhumb!”

“Dhumb!”
.
.
.

I understood what this meant and I turned slowly towards my schoolbag, placed on the center table of the lounge. While I was walking, my hands were busy to wipe the tears coming out of my eyes.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

My school bus dropped me in the house and left. Dad usually greeted me on the door. Surprisingly today, there was no one there. I moved towards the door and turned the doorknob. It was open. I entered with confusion. This all seemed weird to me.

“Dad!” I shouted loudly but there was no reply. I kept walking and entered the Dining hall. He was not there as well. Then I came back and walked up the stairs. All 3 rooms were lined up at the second floor, starting from the first one as mom’s bedroom. After that, there was my room. The third one served as guestroom, mostly for Aunt Rebecca. Kim usually stayed in my room when they were here.

I moved the knob to enter dad’s room. Before even the door was fully open, I was shocked. Dad’s body was lying on the floor near the bed. I quickly ran towards him.

“Dad. . . Dad!” I shouted while trying to move his body but he was too heavy for me. I kept punching his body. I did not know what I was supposed to do and my hands and tongue kept moving randomly. I had started to cry. For a few seconds, I kept trying different things to wake him up. When I failed, I stood up and ran towards the telephone. I knew that I was supposed to dial the emergency number. I was 11 years old, and was well aware of all these things. I called up the emergency number and informed them about dad’s condition. After the call, I moved towards dad and then stopped. I felt that I should call Mom as well.

“No!” I said to myself after thinking for a while. “She has done this. . . I will let them know.” I said with anger.

I knelt again and kept crying on dad’s body. After a few seconds, dad moved slowly.

“Dad! Dad! Are you alright?” I shouted when I realized the movement.

“Oh baby!” Dad said without opening his eyes. It seemed like he had recognized my voice from his subconscious.

“Dad! Please say something. I have called ‘911’. They will be here soon.” I said while crying. This seemed to shock dad, as he quickly turned his body. There was fear on his face.

“What?. . . What did you tell them?” Dad shouted with fear.

“I. . . I told them that you are lying on the floor. You are not moving. They asked me what happened. I said I don’t know. They said they are sending the help. They will be here soon. I should not panic.” I kept saying and dad did not interrupt me. Now, he seemed to be calmed a bit.

“Ok!” Dad said while trying to get up slowly. It was clear that his body was hurting him much. “Come with me Jasmine.” He said while walking slowly towards the door. I followed him and came out of the room. When we were walking down the stairs, we both heard the sirens of the Ambulance approaching our house. Dad started to speed up a bit and reached the ground floor. “Honey! Now listen to me very carefully.” Dad said while leaning his body on the floor. “Don’t tell them anything. . . but if they ask you, tell them that. . . you found me here and you don’t know what happened.” Dad said while lying forward just in front of the stairs.

“But dad. . .” I shouted with confusion.

“Please Jasmine! I will explain to you later. Right now, do as I say. . . Please!” Dad said with a request in his voice.

“But dad this is mom. . .” I said while understanding what he was doing.

“Please!” Dad requested again. I kept watching him for a while. There was some irritation on my face, which was interrupted with the doorbell. Dad had stationed his body as if he was still unconscious. I slowly started to move towards the door, as I knew what I was supposed to do.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After the dinner, I moved towards the stairs without wasting any time. I was in 8th grade now, and every day they gave me enough home assignments to keep me busy for many hours. I had to finish those before I went to bed. Therefore, I entered my room and started to walk towards my study table. I pulled out the desired books and notebooks, and sat on the chair.
I did not know how much time passed before I heard loud noises from the adjacent room. This was not something new. Many times in the week dad was beaten by mom, which resulted in his loud cries. Although the rooms kept most of the voices within the rooms, I heard some of them through the walls. For a while, I kept ignoring the voices. However, this all seemed to trouble me to concentrate on my studies. I was 14 years now, and I was well aware of the things. Suddenly, a flash of anger came across my face and I stood up with my clenched fists. I quickly moved and came out of my room. I stood on the door of my parents for a few seconds, thinking what I was doing was whether appropriate or not. Then I moved and quickly moved the doorknob. It was open, so I entered the room.

I saw dad lying forward on the bed completely naked. His whole back was bruised with the marks of the cane mom was carrying in her right hand. She was standing just beside the bed in her night suite. When she heard the door being opened, she quickly stopped moving the cane and turned to see me with confusion.

“What are you doing here Jasmine? Don’t you know that. . .?” Mom started to say with anger.

“Stop mom!” I shouted with anger. “Stop this! I won’t let you do this to my dad!” Nothing like this had ever happened. This was obviously a shock for all, including me. I did not know if I had the strength to stand against my mom. However currently, my mind was out of control. For a few seconds, the only sound in the room was that of my dad’s crying. Neither mom, nor I said anything. We both kept watching each other. It seemed like mom was lost in her thoughts, as she was not carrying anger but some confusion.

“Jasmine!” Mom broke the silence between us. She started to say with some softness in her voice. “You are just a kid. You don’t know these things. It’s better if you leave us. . .”

“No mom! I won’t leave. I won’t leave you to keep abusing my dad. You know this is wrong. I don’t need to tell you this.” I replied in a strict voice.

“What do you think you will do?” Mom asked bringing a smile on her face.

“I will take him out with me! I will take him out of this asylum!” I said without thinking much. Dad was listening to all this, but he did not change his position. Even he did not know what would be the consequence of all this. Once again, nothing was said for a while. Now mom turned towards her right and started to walk. After she placed the cane at the corner, she sat on the chair and started to look at the ceiling in front of her. This was her usual way of deep thinking.

“Ok! If you want, you can take him with you. I don’t mind this.” Mom said while thinking. This made me shocked, as I was not expecting a reply like this.

“You mean. . . you don’t have a problem with that.” I said with confusion.

“Yes! You can leave. . . Both of you. . . you can leave my house and go wherever you want.” Mom said in a serious voice and now I understood what she meant. I was not sure about the dad, but at least I did not know where we could go. I stood there for a while looking at my mom and then started to walk towards dad. I took a sheet of fabric and gave it to dad so that he could cover his naked body. He rounded it up on his body and slowly got out of the bed. When dad was back on his feet, I turned towards my mom.

“Does this mean. . . it has ended now?” I asked with confusion. She was sitting on the chair with a calm face, still watching somewhere on the ceiling.

“Well! You can leave. . . but before doing that, it is better if you ask your dad if he has a place to go.” Mom said while bringing a smile on her face. She did not move her eyes from the spot they were currently stuck. Her words brought some irritation on my face and I turned slowly to look dad. By the slow side-to-side movement of dad’s head, I got my answer. Dad’s face was dropped carrying sadness on his face. I kept watching him for a while with irritation and then turned.

“Ok! We are leaving.” I said loudly in a stern voice. This was obviously a shock for mom and dad, and they both moved their faces towards me with confusion. “Don’t worry mom! I know where I have to go.” I said and started to walk towards the door. “Come on dad!”

“Wait!” Mom shouted with confusion.

“No Mom! There is nothing to talk now. It has been more than enough already.” I said and got out of the room.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I rang the doorbell of Aunt Rebecca’s house. My Aunt opened the door with a smile on her face. It seemed like she already knew that we were coming to their house. I did not know if Aunt Rebecca could go against her sister, but I had no other option. Dad had no place to go and even if we could not stay in Aunt’s house, at least she could guide us what to do. In a few minutes, all 3 of us were sitting in her living room. Dad was wearing some appropriate clothes provided to him by my aunt.

“So! What do you want to do now?” Aunt Rebecca asked while thinking. This was the first thing she had said after the greetings. It further proved that she was well aware of what had happened in my house today.

“I don’t know.” I replied slowly. Dad’s face was dropped as if he wanted me to decide his fate. His reaction was irritating me now, but I did not say anything. I could not understand how he could rely so much on his 14 years old daughter.

“Well Jasmine! To be very honest with you, I love your mom and I don’t know if I can go against her. In fact, it is not just the love that prohibits me from doing something like that. You just don’t know your mom. What you are doing right now. . . It will give you nothing.” Aunt Rebecca said in a sad voice. For a few seconds, there remained silence in the room.

“So. . . Does this mean. . . We should leave?” I asked with a dropped face. It felt to me that I had lost.

“No! You can stay here.” Aunt Rebecca said and I pulled up my face to look at her with confusion. “Well Jasmine. . . Just after you left, your mom called me. She told me that you would be coming here. And if it happens, you can stay here for how much time you want. She doesn’t have a problem with that.” Aunt Rebecca said to confuse me further.

“She doesn’t have a problem with that? I don’t get this.” I almost shouted with a shock.

“Well! I am confused as well. But she has allowed this. In fact, she has told me to take great care of both of you. If you want anything. . . I should just provide you. . . and help you in whatever you want.” Aunt Rebecca said with confusion as well. Once again, there was silence in the room. I did not know what was happening. All I knew was that I did not need to worry about our accommodation anymore.

“What should we do now?” I asked when I failed to understand this change of scenario. There was no doubt that we could stay in the house, but for what conditions, I did not know.

“Well, you can live here. It’s better to know what actually your mom wants.” Aunt Rebecca said while dropping her face. Her words actually irritated me but I did not emit my anger on her. There was no doubt that she was afraid of my mom as well.

“Ok!” I replied while trying to calm down. “What if. . . what if I want to make the divorce papers?” I said to give shock to everyone there. However, the kind of surprise on Aunt Rebecca’s face was slightly different from dad, as it soon changed into a smile.

“Well! Your mom told me that you would ask me this. She knows you more than you think.” Aunt said smiling and I understood the surprise on her face was not due to my words but because of my Mom’s awareness of me.

“Then?” I asked quickly.

“She said. . . If you want this. . . and Curt doesn’t have a problem with that. . . I should help you in that as well. She told me that she would bear all your financial expenditures. I should only help you in your needs.” Aunt said and this time, I was highly shocked. I could not understand why mom was being so lenient.

“I. . . I need to talk to mom.” I said with confusion and stood up. This made Aunt to smile once again.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“What kind of game you are playing with us mom?” I shouted with anger over the phone.

“This is not a game honey. This is life. . . our lives! I know you don’t have anyone except me to help you out. So, I take this responsibility and I am helping you out. You can do whatever you think is good for you and Curt.” Mom said in a soft voice.

“No mom! You are doing something. . . Why don’t you tell me what do you want?” I said and then shouted again with irritation. I was feeling as if there was something hidden from me that I could not find out yet. For a few seconds, mom did not reply.

“Jasmine! It is better if you come home. I need to talk to you in person.” Mom said after a few seconds. There was no doubt request in her voice, which seemed different to me.

“No! We won’t come back!” I said in a stern voice.

“Hmm. . . Well, you can come alone if you want. . .” Mom said after thinking for a while.

“No Mom! I said no one will come back.” I replied in the same strict voice.

“Ok! Then I come over there. Don’t worry, I won’t force anyone into anything. I am coming there just to have a talk with you. You don’t need to panic.” Mom said. This obviously irritated me.

“I don’t panic. Ok! I’m not afraid of you anymore. You can come here. I am ready to talk to you.” I shouted loudly with anger and quickly hanged the phone. I did not know what was happening to me. Today, I had found something inside me. Aunt Rebecca was standing beside me. She had heard the whole conversation. I turned to see her smiling face and started to walk towards the living room.

Dad was still sitting on the sofa with his eyes dropped. He did not even ask me what happened, even though this whole thing was directly associated with him. He did not even comment about the ‘Divorce’ idea that I had proposed. I moved and sat on the sofa placed on the left of the one he was sitting at. For a few seconds there remained silence there.

“Dad! What do you say?” I asked with some anger when I was sure that he would not say anything by himself.

“Jasmine! I don’t know. . . I just don’t know what is happening. This all seems like a dream. All my life, I wanted to be out of her life. . . I knew one day you will help me out. . . And the day has come. Please don’t ask me. Do whatever you think is best. I trust you!” Dad said slowly without pulling up his head. Although his words did not give me much information, those actually brought some confidence that I was not doing something wrong. At least, he was with me in whatever I was doing and I was happy for that.

“Ok dad! Then go to the room and wait. I am going to have a talk with Mom. She is coming here.” I said with authority in my voice and dad stood up slowly. “And dad! Latch the door from inside. If anything seems weird, please don’t hesitate to call the cops.” I gave another order to him, ending my sentence with some irritation.

“Ok!” Dad said and left the room. In a few minutes, Aunt Rebecca entered the room carrying a tray with two cups of coffee.

“I think this would be a long night.” Aunt said with a smile and placed the tray on the center table. I did not reply but just pulled one cup and started to take small sips of hot coffee. The sofas were placed on all the 4 sides of the room. At one, I was currently sitting, on my right dad was sitting a while ago, and on my left, Aunt Rebecca sat. She was sitting at the same place before we left the room to make a call to mom.

A few minutes passed and both of us heard the voice of mom’s car. Aunt Rebecca stood up and started to walk towards the door. Soon, I heard her greeting followed by mom’s reply. I did not say or did anything until mom entered the room and sat where dad was sitting a while ago. Aunt Rebecca did not enter the living room. Mom sat on the sofa and started to look at me without saying anything. For a few seconds, I did not even see her and waited for her to start the conversation. I was still filled up with anger.

“What do you want to say?” I asked with anger when mom did not say anything.

“I love you.” Mom replied with a smile. This obviously irritated me and I clenched my fists tightly.

“And I love my dad!” I replied with anger.

“Jasmine! Think about this. I know you want to leave me. I know you want to live with your dad. I won’t stop you. In fact, I will give you whatever you want from me. We both know that Curt would not be able to get a job. But you don’t even need to be worried about that as I will provide you all the financial support you want from me. However Jasmine, just think about this. . . Is this really the solution to all this? Is this really what you want?. . . Living with your dad. . . taking care of him for the rest of your life?” Mom said in a soft voice and I started to think. It seemed to me she was playing with my mind now.

“No Mom! Just forget about taking us back with you. I don’t care if you want to support me or not. I just can’t let dad be with you anymore. You can’t force us into anything.” I said with passion in my voice. For a few seconds, there remained silence. Mom had got irritated as well.

“Jasmine! What do you think? If I wanted to take your dad with me by force, who could have stopped me? Do you think your dad would accept in front of cops that he is being abused by his wife? Do you think he can stand against me?” Mom said with some irritation this time.

“Ok! You think I am just a kid. . . I know that. . . But you are wrong mom! I will find out the way to stop you.” I said with anger. My face was red with anger now.

“Baby! I am not saying that I want to force you into anything.” Mom quickly said bringing back the softness in her voice. “I am just saying that if I was that bad, no one could have stopped me. You don’t know about the laws Jasmine. Even if you somehow prove that I beat him, your dad’s one statement can change the whole idea. If someone voluntary submits as consent, there are many laws for sadomasochistic plays. There are many ways to force someone into accepting the pain.” Mom kept saying, which kept increasing my anger.

“I know you are a good lawyer, but I will find the best one for this.” I replied in a loud and furious voice.

“But why baby? I have already said I am not going to force you into anything. You can do whatever you want. You want to live alone with your dad. . . you can do that. I will rent a house for both of you. You want money. . . I will give you that. You want me to divorce Curt. . . I can even make the papers by myself and sign it. You can tell me what you want. I will just help you.” Mom said with a smile. Her words seemed to make me feel that there was no reason to get angry. For a few seconds, I kept watching mom with confusion on my face.

“You. . . Are you really going to let us have all this?” I asked after a few seconds. From her voice, it seemed like she was not lying. However, this whole thing did not make any sense to me.

“Yes baby! I will give you all this if you want. I love you and I don’t want you to ruin your life because of me. You might be old enough to understand all this. But still, you are too young to give the kind of support your dad needs. However, if you really want that, you can have me on your side. . . I just want you to think for once, is this what you really want? Is this really the solution to all this mess?” Mom said in a sad voice. Once again, there was silence for a while. I was not sure where this whole thing was leading. For a few seconds, there was silence in the room. It was clear that my mind was currently spinning with high confusion. If mom agreed to all those things, then there was no sense in fighting with her. But still, I was not sure if this was some kind of game she was playing or she was really guilty.

“What do you want mom?” I asked after a few seconds in a slow and a bit calm voice.

“Don’t you know that? I want you to come back baby.” Mom replied with a smile filled with some sadness.

“But you. . . you beat dad every day. What do you have to say about that?” I shouted bringing back my anger.

“Listen Jasmine! I know how you had been feeling all this time. If I was in place of you, I would have had the same feelings. I know you love your dad and you don’t like what had been happening between us.” Mom said in a soft voice and stopped. I waited for her to continue, but she did not say anything.

“Then? If you love me and you know I hate all this. . . Why had you been doing all this?” I said loudly with anger. Now mom turned her face towards a side of the wall, as if she was thinking. She did not reply me for a few seconds.

“Jasmine! I know you don’t like this. I love you and I don’t want to do something that hurts you. Nothing like this had ever happened before. No one had stopped me before. . . No one had made me realize my mistake. . . But now, I have started to feel guilty.” Mom said slowly in a sad voice. This was the first time I had heard mom’s defeated voice. For a while, there remained silence. “Baby! It is not as if I don’t love your dad. Curt was actually my love and I sacrificed many things for him in the past.” Mom said while looking at the wall. Her eyes had started to get wet. “I don’t know. . . I don’t know why this happened like this. I don’t really know why all this turned up this way.” Mom said and took a break. Her eyes moved from one spot on the wall to another. “I had posted an ad on newspaper for an office boy to work on menial tasks in my office. Curt applied for the job and showed up for the interview. I don’t know how it happened, but the moment I saw him, I fell in love with him. To be honest, everyone seemed to be shocked with my decision, as there seemed to be nothing in common between us. Physically, mentally, financially, I superseded him in everything. The only thing he had was his face and look, with whom I had fallen in love. During the interview, I learned that he did not even have a place to live. So, without wasting any time, I proposed him to marry me. It was obvious for him that in our relationship, he was supposed to be my househusband. Within our first meeting, he agreed with everything. In fact, he was more than happy. He moved with me the same day and started to adopt my proposed lifestyle. Within a couple of weeks, we were married. Our marriage seemed to anger many people, and many of my enemies started to create jokes on us. However, I never cared about anything. I loved Curt and that was all that mattered to me.” Mom said and moved her eyes on another spot on the wall. “For a few years, we had a happy marriage. Curt took great care of me and I gave him everything I had. We had a long honeymoon and many other vacations. I gave him all that a good wife. . . or a husband with financial responsibilities should provide his or her spouse. In the mean time, you were born. Everything kept going smoothly. Nothing bad happened between us until one day. . . We had a conflict for something I slapped him. You know, almost every couple has some fights sometimes but the passive reaction of Curt was surprising for me. At that time, I felt guilty about that and I apologized to him later. However, his reply actually shocked me. He said it was his mistake and he apologized to me once again.” Mom said and took another break. I was listening to all this with full concentration. I had never seen mom crying. Currently, her eyes dropping the tears were too much for me to bear. Although I was mad at her, there was no doubt that I loved her and I wanted to see her as strong as she was. “Jasmine! I always had an aggressive mentality. What happened that day was just the beginning. In later years, I started to beat Curt for whatever reasons I felt appropriate which resulted in his apology. I know that many times it was not even his mistake. In the beginning, I actually wanted him to be a man. I wanted him to stand against me, but he never did. This kept increasing the anger inside me. . . and I don’t know when. . . but I just became fond of this. My punishments for him became a way for me to release my anger. I know I was wrong. I know it was all bad, but there was no one to correct me.” Mom said and turned her face towards me. “Jasmine! I love you and I know how you would be feeling right now. But please don’t hate me. I am your mom. . . you can think about this as I am sick. Well, I might be sick, but I am still your mom and I love you.” Mom said and dropped her face once again. She moved both of her hands towards her face and started to cry a bit louder. This had obviously hurt me much and I quickly moved towards her. I knelt in front of her and placed both of my hands on her lap.

“Mom! Please don’t cry. . . If you promise that you won’t hurt dad anymore. . . We can go home.” I said in a soft voice. My eyes had started to spill drops of tears as well.

“Oh Jasmine! I love you!” Mom said and pulled me up to hug me. We were both crying loudly now. “Baby! For you, I can do anything. Just tell me what you want. I will try my best to change myself. I, myself, want to live happily like many others. We are a small family and you have grown up now to understand everything.”

“Thanks mom! Thanks a lot!” I said while crying.

“Thanks you too Jasmine. You have reminded me many of my mistakes today.” Mom replied with the same softness. I was feeling entirely different today. I learned how much my mom loved me. She had agreed to everything I wanted. For a few minutes, we both kept crying. I had understood that today, mom was crying for all of her life. She was obviously not that bad as I thought earlier. When we were both out of tears, we started to release each other slowly. I was still kneeling in front of mom. She slowly moved her right hand and placed it on my left cheek. “Oh baby! I didn’t know you are so smart and strong. Today, I am proud of you.” Mom said while bringing a smile on her face. Her face was wet but she had stopped crying now. I started to stop myself from crying as well.

“Thanks mom!” I said with a smile, which helped me to stop crying at once.

“Baby! There is one thing you should understand. I think you are smart enough to understand these things now.” Mom said in the same soft voice. “Jasmine! My strength sometimes becomes a problem for me. In anger, I lose my mind. But this is not the only thing. Your dad is too submissive for a husband. Please don’t take me wrong, but his submissive nature has played a vital role in whatever happened between us. I love you baby, and I will try to change myself as soon as possible. But trust me, you can never change your dad. Even I tried to do that and I failed. He is just like that. . . leaving everything on others. But it is not a big deal. The important thing is how much I can control myself and I need your support in that. But to be honest, it is not going to be that easy. There is something you should know.” Mom said slowly and dropped her face as if she was hesitating to go further.

“Yes mom?” I said carrying happiness in my voice.

“Jasmine! Nothing can be changed at once. Everything needs some time. I want to change myself just as you want me to be. But this whole thing will take some time. I promise you, I will do exactly what you want from me. However, those changes will come slowly. You can tell me whenever you think I am wrong. In fact, I want you to help me to learn about my mistakes. Only you can help me to improve. But until the system of our house is reformed, you will need to be calm. You will need to be patient as well.” Mom said and I started to think. Although, this did not make sense to me, I started to nod in agreement.

“Ok Mom! At least you have agreed to change yourself. This is already enough for me.” I replied with a smile.

“Thanks baby! I knew that you will understand me.” Mom said and hugged me again.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We were back to home with some new rules in the house. Mom was supposed to control her anger and hands, as much as she could. However, if somehow she was involved in that, I was not supposed to interrupt her at that time. In anger, mom usually lost her mind and it was better for me to wait for the better time to let her know that she was wrong. Later, when it happened, she listened to me carefully about my thoughts regarding her aggressive actions. After that, she apologized to both of us. This thing seemed to work as mom’s aggression towards dad started to reduce with great speed. However, dad was still as afraid of mom as he was earlier. Mom was right when she said dad could not change. In all this time, I did not see a slight difference in him.

It is said time is the best cure to all. Well, for me, it is true. With time, dad’s beating reduced from days to weeks and then months, and even those occurred for something really bad. Now, I had accepted that in our family, mom would always be the dominant partner as dad had completely submitted himself to her. There was no way to completely stop mom from beating dad, but as those had become very rare, it did not matter a lot. I learned by now that mom did not lie when she told me she loved dad. I think she was right. All that happened in the past was just because no one was there to inform mom about her mistakes. It was also because of dad’s submissive mentality, which further increased the anger inside mom. She wanted him to fight her, protest against her abuse. But he never did. However, her mistake was that soon enough, she had learned that he would never be able to do so. But she still kept being hard with him.

I was happy that I became the reason for the improvement of our house. In every house with such a problem, there is an external or internal force is required for the reformation. The partners being involved can never change themselves without someone else. Although I was too young to correct my parents, at least I informed that their mistakes. Mom was not a bad person and she loved both of us. Therefore, she realized that she was just ruining the happiness of our house and she did exactly what she was supposed to do. In my view, it is not bad for a family to have a dominant partner. In fact, it is far better to have one. It helps to reduce many conflicts. It also helps to solve many problems with less effort. The only thing important is that the dominant partner should learn and accept his or her responsibility. You can look at our house and feel the difference. Mom loves and respects both of us, and she asks our opinions in all the big decisions of the house. However, she has the full authority for the decision and once made, none of us can deny her. This is no doubt the essence of a happy family.

End