Rough Road Ahead (In Progress)

Chapter 5

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            My eyes opened the next morning; the sun was peaking through the window so I knew it was later in the day. Maybe even the afternoon. Pulling the blankets off of myself I rolled out of bed, almost falling face first onto the ground but catching myself just in the nick of time. Touching the top of my head I realized I really needed a shower, feeling grease covering my fingers as I moved them away, holding them infront of me and seeing the light glimmering off of them.

            The washroom was just across the hall from the bedroom. I opened the door, pushing it with my elbow and seeing Sam asleep on the sofa. Moving across the hall in just my white, see-through nightgown I realized that no one other than my father and myself were awake. Maybe it wasn't as late as I thought.

            Opening the door a crack I tried to make as little noise as possible but it still made a small creak. It was nothing that would disturb anyone from their slumber.

I pulled off my nightgown and replaced it with a white towel that hung behind the door. I pulled open the blue and yellow flower print shower curtain, my foot invading the tubes space and feeling that it was already slippery with water. Maybe someone had a late night shower.

            My eyes had to adjust to the bright lights within the shower and for a moment I shielded them, my hand flying to my eyes, cupping around them. That was when I felt Ice cold water spray at me, hitting me in the face and causing me to stumble backwards falling onto the hard toilet. Feeling the porcelain bowl crack under my weight as I fell onto my back. The white towel soaked up the water that spilled from the cracked bowl.

            "What the hell!" I screamed as my eyes adjusted to my surroundings and I saw Brad standing over me, his smirk growing like an infection to consume his entire being.

            "I got you, bitch, I got you so good!" Brad laughed with a red Super Soaker in his clammy hand, still pointing it towards my surprised face.

            Quickly I wrapped the wet towel around my naked body as the water started to flow from the toilet out into the hallway. "Brad?" I asked, my brain still trying to catch up with the events from the past few moments.

            "What is going on in here?" My mother said from her spot at the door, rubbing her eyes. She was still half asleep, crusty pieces of sand crammed in the far corners of her light brown eyes that were a hue of red from sleeping on her face, the print of the pillow imprinted on her visage.

            Brad shrugged, "I didn't mean for her to wreak the whole place." He was still wearing a smile, showing his gold pirate tooth.

            My eyes opened wide, "Me? You're the one that pushed me!" I shouted, standing up and walking so I was a few only inches from his pale face.

            "You going to kiss me, sweet cheeks?" He grinned, not backing away from me, his back straight and muscles clenched.

            "You pushed her?" My mother asked. I could tell she was getting angry, although she was clearly still half sleep, her eyes half shut, dried white spit leaking like sap down her cheek.

            Feeling the trailer shift, my bare feet slipped on the cold toilet water below me and my knees clasped sending me sprawling face first onto the ground again. Brad caught my arm, lifting me up before I hit the tile floor for the second time, "don't touch me!" I screamed, even though he had saved me from another body rattling experience. Shaking his hand off of me, he retracted it with a quirk of the eye brow.

             "What's all this?" My father said from down the hall. I guessed the shifting was from him pulling over onto the side of the small dirt back road. He rounded the corner into the bathroom, seeing the water flowing under the door and giving us a wild eyed look, "what happened?" There was no panic in his voice, just question.

            "Brad pushed Iris." My mother proclaimed with her arms over her busty chest, yawning after the words were spoken.

            Brad put his hands in defense position, "I didn't push her. I squirted her with a water gun and she fell." He paused, looking at me and then murmuring, "klutz," under his breath with a soft cough that followed.

            That was when I heard Sam walking up the hallway clumsily, "what's with the water?" He asked sleepily, but everyone ignored him, including me. He repeated his question insistently, but we all stayed silent.

            My entire body hurt from the fall. Originally I hadn't realized that I was injured, maybe that was because I had been so angry, but quickly I assessed the damage. Both my knees hurt along with my lower back and elbows. My eyes glanced over the afflicted spots, checking for porcine fragments imbedded in my tissue, but luckily coming up with nothing.

            "You idiots broke the toilet." Max assessed from his spot beside my father, I didn't even hear him approach. He was clad in his super-man PJ's that were too sizes too small for him, but yet he insisted on wearing them. Maybe he liked feeling like he was younger than he was, not yet wanting to give up his childhood.

            "It wasn't my fault!" Both Brad and I said in unison, pointing at one another, our arms hitting each others. I smacked his hands away and they fell heavily to his sides.

            My mother threw her arms up, "I don't care whose fault it was, clean it up!" She screamed and walked away. It was clear to me she had no idea how to parent us, having always forwarded the responsibly to others.

            My father walked away with her and then came back a minute later, towels in hand. "Here." He said, throwing them to me. Catching them with a role of my eyes I looked at him pleading silently, "please guys, don't kill each other." He looked genuinely afraid. "I'll turn off the water." He said, walking down the hall and flicked a switch. The water stopped coming from the pipe and I threw the towels on the ground below my feet, stomping on them with anger. They were various colors, one red, one blue and one a pale yellow. 

            "You do it, it's your fault." I said, looking at Brad who was just staring at the mess. "Why were you even in there?" I questioned as Sam walked over and kissed me on the cheek. "You ok?" He asked and then gave Brad the evil eye.

            "I don't know." Brad said and I realized he seemed genuinely upset, suddenly seeming like a different person all together. "I didn't expect you to fall down." His smirk had faded as he assessed the damage. My eyes watched as he examined my body, seeing where I had fallen and how bad it had been, watching for the purple bruises I was sure would begin to appear as time progressed.

            "Well I did!" I screamed, squatting and starting to wipe up the mess. My legs still ached, but there was no permanent damage. Maybe I would have a bruise to show for it the next morning like an award for the pain I felt.

             Sam helped me, and after a few moments hesitation, Brad did also. We did it in silence and then climbed to our feet, throwing the towels into the laundry bin that hung on the wall across from the sink and walking back into the living room.

            "Now I really need a shower." I murmured, but I was far too tired to go through with the notion. I could see Brad and Sam staring at each other, clearly annoyed, circling one another like hawks watching for one of them to falter. Sam stayed quiet, like always, but I knew this was the straw that broke the camels back. This was all out war, and I was in the middle of it. Great. Just great.

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