The Brokewell Kids

Chapter 1 {Joy Ride}

"Woooo!" Zac shouts as he stands on the bed of the moving truck with his arms spread wide as the wind rushes through him like a gust of newfound relief. He pounds on the roof of the truck and shouts to his two buddies inside the truck. "Faster!"

The truck speeds up as his friends smile grows bigger with every mile traveled down the road. Zac closes his eyes for a moment and instantly regrets it because he realizes by closing his eyes he has allowed memories of that day to consume his mind like wildfire. He quickly opens his eyes and at that exact moment the truck comes to an abrupt halt, sending Zac to the ground in one loud thump. He groans in pain as he lies on the bed of the truck and the sound of police sirens slowly begin to fade out along with every part of reality. The eight beers from earlier finally have their way and he drifts off into the black abyss.

 ~~~

"Mrs. Gregory?" The officer inquires as he glances down at the notepad in his hand for confirmation.

Ava Gregory nods once while tying the strings of her bathrobe tightly around her body and trying to awaken from the deep sleep she was under before the high pitched scream of the doorbell woke her with a jolt at 3am. "Yes? Can I help you, officer?"

 The officer takes hold of Zac's shoulder and pulls him into view of the woman while using his other hand to shine a flashlight on Zac's face. Zac squints into the light and lowers his head as she gives him a look of disappointment. "Does he belong to you, ma'am?" She nods and glances back at the officer with a soft sigh. "Yes, he's my nephew."

 ~~~

"Zachary, what the hell were you thinking?!"

 "Aunt Ava, can we do this tomorrow?" Zac groans as he slouches back on the couch and his aunt hovers above him with a frown.

"No, we can't because tomorrow I have an appointment for doing the same damn thing with you once again." She sighs loudly and runs a hand through her disheveled hair before starring down at Zac as her eyes turn to sympathy. She sits down beside him and places a hand on his knee. "Zachary...I know this is difficult for you...it's difficult for all of us, but you are the oldest. I need you to set the example for your brother and sister. We are going to get through this, all of us...together. Your parents would want it that way."

Zac slowly begins to open his eyes as his head lies on the sofa. He slowly looks over at his aunt with a scowl and talks roughly. "How the hell would you know what they would have wanted?! You weren't ever around long enough to figure it out. You don't want us, you just got stuck with us so don't pretend to care."

His words cut through her like knives and she watches in silence as he stands up from the sofa and begins walking towards the stairs. "I'm going to bed." He says briefly before slowly trudging up the stairs.

Ava shakes her head and runs a hand through her disheveled hair wondering why in the hell her sister gave her custody of these kids that she obviously had no clue how to care for.

Zac opens his door and rolls his eyes at the silhouette of a person sitting on his bed. He sighs and turns to face his sister who is sitting cross-legged on his bed. "Go to bed, Destiny."

"You have to stop this. Logan and I need you here, not locked up in a jail cell."

 Zac rolls his eyes and pulls his shirt up over his head, flinging it across his room in silence. He walks over to his bed and pushes Destiny off so he can get under the covers. "You need to quit worrying. I can take care of myself."

She shakes her head and stares down at her brother as he lays motionless, slowly drifting to sleep. "You couldn't care for a fish...much less yourself." She whispers before walking over to where he flung his shirt and putting it into his dirty clothes hamper.

Ever since their parents died, Destiny had been taking the place of their mother. She was the younger than Zachary, but she was the girl so she was naturally the one to pick up after the boys and make sure they were eating their vegetables. Aunt Ava always offered to do that stuff but what she didn't realize was that trying to take the place of her mother was how Destiny coped with the loss. She was trying to make the emptiness, of not having a mother, less noticeable and in turn, she found herself slipping away more and more with each day that passed.