Ambrosio – The den and blood

The fiction story about young Ambrosio almost getting in trouble with his mate Athelstan and then seeing red after going home

“Mum, what’s happened”? He had no idea why his mum Althea was sat there on the floor. He looked up and all he could see was blood on the walls.

Athelstan

Ambrosio had just got home from school. He was super excited because his friend Athelstan had come back from a long holiday. Well, that’s what Athelstan and his family had told the school. What really happened was his mum had sent him to another town because he was being very naughty at school and also causing trouble on the streets. Athelstan wasn’t a bad kid at heart but he did have a naughty side to him and from time to time, also liked to steal small things from the local supermarket. He and Ambrosio would go to supermarkets at lunch time from school and steal food. Neither were allowed free school meals for some reason and didn’t have enough food to eat so decided the only way was to steal.

On this day, Ambrosio and Athelstan had ventured off after school to a supermarket which also had a huge kid’s shop next door with toys and little house huts that can be purchased by families for kids to play with and play in.

Both were excited because they could never afford stuff like that.

What happened next was not cool but at that time, it was pretty cool and both had fun.

The Den

After buying some sandwiches from the supermarket with their pocket money, both ventured next door to the toy store and made their way around the store, jumping on each bed they came across. As they made their way to the upper floor, it was pretty quiet and there was hardly anyone else around. They found a little play house with curtains and decided to go and sit in there in private and could close the curtains – it was their little den. Although both were only 12 at this time, they seemed out of place but didn’t care about that; fun and food was the goal here!

They opened up their sandwiches which were both ham and cheese. Hungry and eager to tuck into these, both finished them off and chatting away about girls and teachers they did not like. Once the sandwiches were done, Ambrosio said he was still hungry. Athelstan, like a magician pulled out a jam Swiss roll from under his jacket. “Did you steal that?” asked Ambrosio He didn’t see Athelstan buy it so it could’ve only been stolen. “Maybe, do you want some” replied Athelstan. The answer was a big yes from Ambrosio and the swiss roll was gone in 60 seconds between the pair.

Athelstan: “You got the lighter?”

Ambrosio “Yeah, why?”

Athelstan “I want a fag mate”

Ambrosio “Let’s go outside then and have one. I want one too”

Athelstan “Why go outside, we are in this house, we own it, let’s smoke here”

Naughty lads

Both of them burst into laughter at that comment and thought of being naughty. The lighter was passed over and both lit their sovereign cigarettes. These were the cheapest cigarettes they could buy at that time. As they both started smoking their cigarettes and chatting about life again, they could hear footsteps around the upper floor where they were. Then, men speaking loudly, all wondering where the cigarette smell was coming from. Both Ambrosio and Athelstan were laughing at this time and couldn’t keep quiet. The laughter was so loud, what they then heard shook them,

“Over there – Oi, get out of there and come here”

Athelstan peeped his eye out of the curtain and had a look. 3 big security men were walking towards their little den – all were wearing black and looked very mean. Walking is maybe a slight understatement – the walk was fast and with an angry look.

GO!!

“SHIT, FOLLOW ME” he shouted to Ambrosio. He leaped out of the den with Ambrosio close to his heels. Both still, like idiots, had the cigarettes lit and in their mouths. It was rather comical. They zig zagged around the toys, huts and other stuff in the store and made it to the stairs. Athelstan then suddenly stopped.

“What are you doing? We need to go.” Said Ambrosio frantically, just about catching his breath after that sprint.

“F**K YOU, YOU 3 FATTIES CAN’T CATCH US” shouted Athelstan to the men, followed by a 2 fingered V sign and then turning and running down the stairs with Ambrosio, this time, already half way down the stairs, he was too scared of getting caught.

Both now out of the store were in fits of laughter as they ran for what seemed like forever, into the estate behind the supermarket. The cigarettes by that time had been dropped during the sprint and as a prize for getting away, both decided to have another before saying their goodbyes for the day and week (it was a Friday). As Ambrosio made his way home, smiling from ear to ear, but also slightly scared he may get caught. He was still hungry and was slightly late for dinner. Ambrosio could almost smell the food whilst walking, that’s how excited he was. As he entered his house, expecting Althea to ask where he had been and also to have dinner ready. What he was about to see, was a nightmare, one that haunted him up until his late teens

The nightmare

As he walked in, his brother Daunte was walking out. He barged past Ambrosio shouting for him to get out of his way. Ambrosio didn’t like Daunte. He was very mean to Althea and Daunte hated that but was scared of him.

He walked into the living room and saw his mum on the other side of the room, laying on the floor, curled up, holding her arm. As he looked around, he could see blood everywhere around her, the wall close to her was covered in blood and the ceiling also had blood scatter.

As he ran towards her, he asked her What’s happened. She was in floods of tears and held on to Ambrosio very tightly but as she did that, blood shot out of her wrist as she let go of it. It was like a sharp spray of blood. He had never seen anything like it. It almost hit him straight in his eye but luckily it went over him. More blood started to shoot out and onto the walls and onto Althea’s face, covering her cheeks red.

Ambrosio shouted “MUM”. He started crying and grabbed her wrist to stop the bleeding. It was his instinct to do this. Althea slowly stopped crying and told him she was fed up of Daunte and he was too much to handle and was too much like his dad Constantine. She said to Ambrosio

“Let’s leave here, I don’t want to live here anymore. He can stay with his dad. If not, I will kill myself. I don’t want to live anymore. Why is God doing this to me”

Lost

This was the life Ambrosio was living. He didn’t know where to turn and who to ask for help. His father Constantine was drinking heavily, attempting suicide almost weekly; his brother Daunte had started getting into the wrong crowd and was taking recreational drugs but the worst bit was his temper and anger issues. He would regularly shout at Althea and scare her with his anger and also throw stuff around the house and punch doors and walls; his mum Althea was his true love but he couldn’t help her much either other than help her with house work so she didn’t have to or to treat her illness episodes with medication and sometimes have to save her life by giving her medication during critical moments.

Although he was very mischievous with his mate Athelstan, he had found a friend who he could get lost with and felt like he was a somebody around him and had a status where others were scared of him and Athelstan. He felt wanted but the most important factor here was, he felt protected by Athelstan. Athelstan was the firs person that made Ambrosio feel protected in life. Although he knew he would one day get in serious trouble if he carried on hanging around with him, he was his best friend and it gave him something else to focus on, other than the trouble’s he would witness at home on a daily basis.

Ambrosio took his mum into the kitchen where the bandages were kept so he could treat her wound, He also picked up the knife that she slit her own wrist with and threw it into the sink he told her he was ready to leave whenever she was and that he also hated Daunte. He also was fed up of things and was so for as far back as he could remember. He had had enough