It's All You - Lando Norris

03

I grabbed dinner on the way home, just an oven pizza as it was quick and easy. My mum was in bed already even thought it was only eight in the evening. I put the pizza in the oven and found my dad sat out in the garden. He looked over to me as he heard the door opening, I could see it in his eyes that the day had gotten to him. I took a seat next to him and looked up at the stars in the sky. They twinkled so brightly sometimes it took your breath away, it would make you realise just how tiny you really are on earth. I turned my head to look at my dad, he looked tired, the skin under his eyes sagged, his lips dry and cracked. "How was it today dad?", he didn't look at me, just kept looking upwards. "I think I can get a divorce and it would lean on my side financially. I would get enough out of the house to rehome myself, you and the boys and, because of her past, it will help me more". I didn't speak for a moment, I let it sink in that a divorce may finally be happening. "Hey dad? Why did you never press charges after she put those pills in your food. The police said themselves she could be charged for attempted manslaughter... but you chose not to pursue it". He stayed quiet, thinking back to that day.

My mum developed an alcohol addiction from when I was younger. I started with having a gin and tonic in the afternoon in summer, to then having two, three, four and more each day. she then moved onto having vodka, claiming it was water. now she drinks wine, and tries to hide the alcohol from us. She's nasty when she drinks. she turns into someone else entirely. The alcohol consumes her so much that I no longer see her as my mother. I don't know why, but she seems to hate my dad. He wasn't around much when I was a kid. My parents had 5 kids in the space of 9 years. My mum stayed at home to raise us whilst doing her degree at home, and my dad was out working long nights and sleeping during the day. He would wake up to cook our dinners and then he headed off again back to working on the railways. The alcohol in my mum made her resent him but I don't know why, he's never done anything to harm her in any way. One day my dad was cooking his dinner just a quick vegetable curry for himself as he was working late and my brothers had already eaten. He stepped into the back garden for some fresh air before he dished it up, whilst doing so my mum put some white tablets into his food and stirred it around. Luckily as he began to eat, he noticed a white clump in his food, and then another one. He stopped eating, questioned my mum on it. She claimed to of not done it for a while but soon enough admitted it. He took the white powdered tablets in a container to the police. They tested them and found out they were just some Panadol painkillers which in small doses don't cause much harm, but continual use or large quantities can cause real issues.

"I didn't feel like it was the right thing to do in the end. It wasn't fair to put you all through it. I know none of you are exactly kids anymore but to have a divorce happen that way would have been absolutely brutal on you kids and myself. They would have delved into every little thing they could of and god knows what your mum has up her sleeve". He looked at me and gave me a half smile as the oven dinged letting me know my pizza was ready. I grabbed a glass of water before having dinner in the garden next to my dad. Both of my brothers came down from their bedrooms. I was the youngest sibling at the age of twenty-two, almost twenty-three. Then there was Liam, he was twenty-five, Sean was twenty-eight. We three still lived at home, after Sean there is Conan, he is thirty but he lives in New Zealand with a wife and three kids called Theodore, Jenson and Zara. Lastly there was Ashley, he is thirty-two but he no longer lives at home. He moved about four hours away from us with his girlfriend Jo. I liked having a big family, however sometimes my older brothers could be over protective. Even more so after what happened to me on a week-long school trip back when I was sixteen. Unfortunately, I was sexually assaulted by a boy from another school from Essex. There were multiple schools at this education centre in Wales. Unfortunately, it happened. I've been having therapy on and off for the last few years because of it. My brothers have been extra protective since then.

Liam and Sean came and sat in the garden with my dad and I. We chatted nonsense about past memories, holidays, Christmases, fun times with my parents and grandparents. It was nice to relax after a long day with work. "So how was work Eleanor? Dad said you had a busy day with the events lined up" asked Liam. I finished a bite of my pizza before speaking. "Yeah, it wasn't too bad. I was working the bigger event for the McLaren F1 team. I got to work the head table, so I waited on the drivers and 4 of the top people in their F1 team. I didn't really get to speak to them but they seemed like a nice group of people". I had a sip of my water as my brothers bombarded me with questions. They were all really into F1 which is why I had seen some of the races. I answered as many questions as I could stomach before my body shut down and the tiredness hit. "Anyway, I'm off to bed. Shattered. Thank god it's a day off tomorrow". They all wished me goodnight as I headed back inside and up to my bedroom. I placed my phone onto the table by my bed and shut the curtains so I could change into my shorts and t-shirt. As I pulled my jeans off a piece of paper hit the floor. It was the number left on the table for me. I sat on my bed and picked my phone up. Adding the number into my contacts as 'L'. My thumb hovered over the text button; I wasn't sure what to do. I pressed the button and simply typed out 'Hey?'. I put my phone back on the table after I plugged it in to charge. I got ready for bed in the bathroom, brushed my teeth, took my makeup off and washed my face before climbing into bed. My phone screen lit up with a text. 'Hello Eleanor, Sleep Well'. I chose to ignore the texts until tomorrow so I set my alarms and decided to go to sleep.