mlm

Living in such a family was like walking on thin ice—every step could be your last. Emil had known this since childhood. Their home was steeped in a strict, almost Soviet-style order: his father was a cop, an old-school officer, with a straight back and a heavy gaze. For him, the world was divided into "good guys" and "bad guys." His mother merely nodded along with his words, as if afraid to think otherwise. His older brother, back from the army, became a coach—a strong, reserved man. He and Emil had been close since childhood: they'd run off into the yard together, share secrets, and Andy always covered for the younger brother with their father. He supported him as best he could... but he didn't know about this, the most important thing.

Emil, from childhood, sensed he wasn't who people wanted him to be. In the quiet of his room, he allowed himself to be himself: dresses, neat hairstyles, delicate earrings. It was his little refuge, a world beyond the gaze of others.

But one mistake ruined everything.

He forgot to take off his earring for dinner.

The father noticed it right away. First, silence. Then an explosion. Screams echoed throughout the apartment, the words cutting like a knife. And then pain. Sharp, searing: the father had ripped out an earring, tearing his earlobe. Blood, fear, and emptiness inside. That same night, he turned his son's room upside down, found everything... and burned it. He threw it into the yard, into the fire, as if he were burning not things but Emil himself.

— The street will educate you.

Emil stepped out into the cold darkness, unsure where to go. All he had in his pocket was his phone. He stared at the screen for a long moment… and finally dialed his brother.

Waited for a scream. Condemnation.

But Andy arrived silently.

He got out of the car, looked, and, without asking any unnecessary questions, said:

— Let's go home.

And for the first time in a long time, this word sounded real.