Chapter 16: (v.2) We're all Victims. We're all Victimizers.

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Night came and Christos sat in the living room with Iulia and watched TV. He didn’t plan to go out. He retained his feeling of freedom.

He heard his brother preparing himself to go out.

The thought of his brother going out and him not, made freedom disappear. In its place, jealousy and humiliation came.

Michalis entered the living room, with an air of indifference and defiance towards Iulia and Christos.

“Will you go out?” Christos asked Michalis.

“Yeah,” Michalis replied. “I will go out with my friends,” he said, stressing the last two words.

“Michalis,” Iulia intervened, “your behavior is unacceptable! You should take Christos with you!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say!” Michalis replied defiantly.

Christos became afraid again and could not speak.

Preserving his rebellious attitude, Michalis sat on the sofa to put on his shoes while at the same time, Petros returned from work.

“I saw Labadakis on the way home and he got on my nerves again with his nonsense!” Petros said.

Hearing these words from his father, Michalis frowned.

Christos felt a wave of negative energy in the air and wondered if he should go out as well, even if that meant he would be alone.

Approaching the sofa in order to sit, Petros didn’t notice Michalis’ bare foot and accidentally stepped on it.

“Ahhhhhh!!!” shouted Michalis, sounding more angry than in pain.

Petros got angry, “Easy now Michalis!” he said. “How can you yell like that!”

Without saying a single word, Michalis stood up and left the house.

“Michalakos is irritated,” Petros added. “He is always like that!”

Christos felt discomfort with his father's words.

“He went out without taking Christos with him!” Iulia said.

“Unacceptable!” Said Petros, sternly.

Becoming blocked by anger, Christos decided to go out, take a walk and calm down. He got dressed and headed towards the door.

Petros and Iulia observed his initiative angrily.

“I am going out,” he said.

“Don’t be late!” said Iulia, firmly.

Christos didn’t reply but opened the door and walked down the stairs. He went outside and then understood that he could hardly be called a free person and that he needed help. He called the Teacher.

“Well, hello!” the jocund voice of the Teacher sounded. “What is going on? Have you calmed down?”

“I did for a while,” he replied, “but within this house everything goes wrong! I don’t like this environment! I want to leave!”

“Christos,” the Teacher said, “these are your relatives and they will be your relatives for your whole life. You must find a way to deal with them!”

“And how will that happen?”

“It will happen with the work we are doing!” the Teacher said. “You must understand Christos; we all have our buttons. When the others find out what these buttons are, they can then regulate us. Our job is to eliminate these buttons!”

Christos listened to what the Teacher said with great interest.

“Your relatives,” continued the Teacher, “Are victimizers. They have raised you up as a victim. For so many years, they thought treated you like useless and they isolated you from society. It will take effort from you to stop being a victim!”

“And what does that mean?” Christos asked, worried.

“It means that you will continue to be angry with them for a long time, until you are able to stand on your feet! During the last few days, you declared your revolution! Down with the tyrants, is your message! But, you only won a battle, you didn’t win the war!”

The Teacher went on, “Your strife for de-victimization will be met with resistance. Imagine this, for so many years you were their prisoner and now you want to be free! You should expect many traps from all the members of your family! But mostly from your inner family circle, your father, your mother and your brother!”

“Will I succeed in becoming independent?” Christos asked, feeling uncertain for his future.

“That depends entirely upon you,” the Teacher replied. “If you persist on your goals, you will succeed in liberating yourself!”

The thought of having to fight alone against all these odds, made Christos shiver with fear. It felt overwhelming.

As if he read his mind, the Teacher said, “Of course, you will not be alone in your fight! We will do this together!”

The Teacher continued, “We will continue if you want it to have meetings at Thessaloniki, and there you will learn more things about yourself!" "But," he added, “you must really want it. So, what do you say?”

Christos knew the answer immediately, “Yes, I want to work with you!”

“Wonderful,” the Teacher said, delighted and then thought, “For one more time, I will become a father!”

Submitted: March 05, 2024

Literary Fiction romance therapy psychology counselling personal-development