I have always been a solitary creature. A lone wolf. Never married, dated a bit but that’s all.
My brother always have looked out for me and although he never said it, was afraid that I died alone. Thus we ended up living next to each other and although he was married, his wife and him always allow me to hang out with them as long as I want. In the summer of 1980, they gave birth to a boy whom they named Deene.
I think it means “Hope” in French or something. My brother and his wife was so amorous towards Deene and spoiling him like crazy. He had a lot of toys and my sister in law quit her job so that she can take care of Deene full time. When I said take care, it means waiting on him hand and foot. What Deene wants, Deene gets. He doesn’t even need to pack his toys, some one did it for him. Sweets, soft drinks, cake are all given to him despite my pleas for his future health.
Speaking of toys, family getaways and fun times for Deene… it was no mean feat that he gets so much. My brother is struggling in his job with the recession of 1981 to 1982 when harsh monetary policy in to control inflation led to a deep recession. The changes were made because of inflation and the knock on effects of the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis.
My brother and I suffered big pay cuts in order to keep our jobs, but we manage to get by albeit by the skin of our teeth. I also helped to chip in to ensure Deene does not miss out on anything. At this point, he kind of grew on me and I treat him as my own. Although we struggled financially, I think my brother and his wife are happy that at least we are happy on the domestic side.
As Deene grew older, my brother sort of impose stronger discipline on Deene. Being pampered Deene, it was a big change for him and he grew a temper and discovered sulking and show his unhappiness. There was this adjustment period where my brother is trying to instil discipline and some responsibility like keeping his toys and placing his clothes in the washing baskets.
Deene started to show his short temper and make no effort to hide his unhappiness. It pains me to see Deene unhappy and always crying. However, back in my mind, I knew he have to grow up, learn things and do things on his own. What I notice during this period of adjusting, the economy was doing great and the USA trade hit a peak in 1985, fuelling a period of high commission and pay growth for me and my brother.
For those who have kids, you know they go through phases right? Due to hormonal changes or something, they can be upset or moody for periods of time and be perfectly fine and easy going for other periods. Well, my brother, his wife and me noticed an eerie co-relation between Deene’s mood and the economy/happiness of the whole world in general. I pointed it out over dinner while Deene was in his room playing with a new action figure I gave him. I don’t remember exactly what now, but I think it is a Star Wars Jawa action figure. At that point, they kind of skeptical until Deene got his first love in 2003 and the Iraq war happened.
A few more incidents happened after that world wide and in the USA and we still found the eerie connection: good things happen when Deene is upset and vice versa.
From that point on, my sister in law began a personal crusade to make Deene unhappy. She scolded him any chance she gets, restricted his movements, and withheld his rights to a social life.
During this time, her property agent job is blooming and she quickly became flush with cash. The whole world is peaceful: no disasters, no wars. Everyone seem happy and progressing forward. Only one unhappy with the situation of course is Deene.
My sister in law became an expert in psychological manipulation and is able to make Deene upset using a variety of words and actions. He fell into a mild depression and even then, she restricted his intake of medicine and therapy, leaving enough for him not to commit suicide outright
I felt pity for Deene. Seeing him as a bubbly toddler to a wreck now, unable to stand up for himself and not capable to be giving self love or receiving any love. I knew him from birth and I knew him to be on the verge of breaking point then. I tried to reason with my brother and his wife, but they pointed out that billions all around the world benefitted from Deene being sad. Why should this be stopped? All the happiness and prosperity in the world outweighs a single man’s happiness although he is the only son.
Note: I could write an entire book of the things Deene went through at the hands of my sister in law. But they are horrible, demeaning things that in my opinion, ventures deeply into the area of physical and mental abuse. Writing it here would render this post to be deleted due to the graphic nature.
One day, something in me just snapped. Ironically, I snapped before Deene. I decided that this cannot go on and Deene got a right to happiness as much as anyone else on this planet. Co-relation or not. I sent my brother and his wife to an event 2 hours away from town. I gave them “free” tickets to a show. I paid for them, a pretty penny too. But I needed the time. I went into their house, found Deene’s passport and the key to his door. Quickly explaining that I need to rescue him from abuse, I pushed him into my car and we left the country.
We touched down in Thailand and into a prepared apartment. I had everything prepared: clothes, household items, toiletries. It was in a ready, move in condition. I felt proud of myself not missing a beat. I even got Deene a job there. Deene settled in well and one night he passed me an ice cold beer while I am on the couch. He thanked me for everything and said something to me.
I went to bed after the beer and the soccer match, feeling happy that the kid appreciates it. You know how guys are, they never really express what they feel. I went to bed happy, but jolted up in the middle of the night in a massive panic attack.
I was sweating, gasping for breath and pure fear gripped me. I never felt such fear before in my life. It was just darkness and pure panic. It took sometime before I calmed down and gradually let my rational brain take over my raw animalistic instinct and fear. The words Deene spoke to be replayed loudly in my head “I never have been happier in life before and will continue to be happier each day”
Panic rose up when the words are replayed and I started to hyper ventilate again. The rational part of my brain tried to calm me down and I can hear it saying “It’s the first days of January 2020, a whole new year. What can go wrong?”