Ugly Beautiful by Sean-Paul Thomas

mother telling him how much she loved him, crying and sobbing as he walked away from her for the very last time. His domineering, gangster father looming threateningly over her in the background.
     
    'They're both... They're both dead.'
     
    'Oh.' said the woman. She sat up looking somewhat shocked by his answer. 'Can I ask what happened to them?'
     
    Enough was enough for Jason. He sat upright in anger, almost getting to his feet, but he restrained himself for the tie being.
     
    'No, you can't fucking well ask what happened to them, all right. I mean, what the hell is this? Twenty bloody questions or some other stupid fucking memory game, Jesus.'
     
    Jason took a deep breath and desperately tried to regain his lost composure. The woman looked absolutely horrified and rocked to her core at Jason's sudden outburst. She looked petrified. It was so unexpected from her point of view.
     
    'I'm sorry Jason, I didn't mean...' she continued nervously, but was quickly cut off by Jason's next outburst.
     
    'Look. I don't mean to be an insensitive prick here, but I'm going to be. I'm not comfortable talking to a complete bloody stranger about my dead fucking parents okay, I'm sorry. And that's the end of it.'
     
    Jason stood up.
     
    'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Please… Sit back down Jason, please.'
     
    Jason was about to storm away from the tree when he turned back to face the woman.
     
    'You know, I should be the one asking you all the fucking questions here. Like just who the hell are you and where the fuck did you come from?'
     
    'I'm sorry Jason. Those questions, they…they just came to me out of nowhere. And I was feeling so relaxed and happy that I just felt it was okay for me to ask them. It was like I was almost remembering something from my own past, my own parents even.' The young woman seemed lost for words all of a sudden. She struggled with what to say or do next. '…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I'm truly sorry.' she finally blurted. Jason scratched his rough two day stubble and ran his fingers through his hair.
     
    'Look. I'm gonna head back to the cottage okay and clear my fucking head for a bit, Jesus Christ! Just stay here for a while and get yourself some fresh air or something all right.'
     
    Jason turned and walked in the direction of the cottage. The young woman fell silent watching him leave. Jason half turned to face her again. He was about to say something, an apology perhaps, but his self pride and stubborn anger completely overwhelmed his emotions. So he turned away again and continued on his way. The young woman remained sitting upright. She tried to take in everything that had just happened and come to some new understanding about the whole situation and conversation. She tried desperately to figure out in her foggy head exactly where it had all went wrong. What did she say to upset him so much? What was the exact thing that had set him off? At the same time she continued to watch Jason fade away, back down the hillside. As soon as he'd disappeared from her sight she laid back down underneath the small oak tree, alone again, with her old hazy thoughts and no her newer thoughts of turmoil.
     
    Jason made his way down the hill and towards the cottage. He entered the front door and stormed into his bedroom, slamming the door shut and laying down upon his bed. He tried to rationalise his recent aggressive behaviour. He took a few deep breaths, shaking his head while staring obliviously up at the ceiling. He glanced over at the old photograph of the young newly wed couple resting upon the small bedside cabinet. The picture was of Jason's deceased parents during a happier period in their lives. A peaceful time before their brutal troubles and their doomed relationship spiralled wildly and tragically out of control. But the sheer emotional pain and memory of the loss of his mother and the recent slaughter of his own father was just too much for him to focus on and think about