City of Angels

5

"It was dad."

The look in Lucas' eyes said everything.

Death.

He held a grudge against dad for what he did to me years ago, and I don't think he's ever going to forgive him. Not now, not next year, not in the next five years, NEVER.

The room was dead silent. So silent that if a gnat were to fly in, we'd hear its wings flapping. My breathing was heavy as I tried to calm myself down. It wasn't working. Before I knew it, I had burst into tears, collapsing to the ground. Joseph came and held me, and I buried my face in his chest. There was a large bang, and a little crackling noise.

I looked up to see a hole in the wall, and Lucas standing right next to it with bloody knuckles. After going over to the sink and rinsing his hand off like nothing happened, he sat down at the kitchen table, and put his head down. This was all too much for me. I'm supposed to be happy on my birthday, but I won't be if I keep thinking about him.

For a few more minutes, we were all still silent, until the phone rang. Lucas got up and answered,

"Hello?"

"Yes, this is him."

Joseph and I looked at each other, before looking back at Lucas.

"What? Who is this?"

"Put it on speaker." I quietly said. Lucas did so, and the person stopped talking.

"Hello?" Lucas said.

No response.

"Hello?" He said again.

Dial tone.

"What the fuck?" Lucas mumbled before hanging the phone back up. "I ain't got time for these mystery prank calls and shit. If I find out who it is, I'm beating ass."

"Don't stress over it Lucas. It was probably some little kid." I said.

"Oh it was a little kid alright. A little kid sounding like a grown ass man."

"Maybe they'll call back." Joseph suggested.

"Probably." I said. Getting up off the floor, I began grabbing my bagged presents. "Can you guys help me carry these to my room?"

They nodded and grabbed the rest of the bags I couldn't carry. Just as we reached the stairs, the phone rang once again.

"They can leave a message. I ain't dealing with the bullshit." Lucas said. When we got to my room, we dropped the bags off, and I started putting things away. Luckily, all the clothes still had the hangers on them, and I was greatful for that. Lord knows what happened to half of the ones I had.

"I'll go check to see if they left a message." Lucas said before he left the room to go downstairs.

I continued putting my clothes and shoes in the closet while Joseph looked at the paintings I did on the walls. His eyes grew in astonishment.

"You painted all of these?" He asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"These are amazing. Is there a story behind them? Or did you just do it for fun?"

"Some have stories, some don't."

He walked around and looked at each of them. "What about this one?" He said pointing at the painting of palm trees.

"I just love palm trees. There are so many here in L.A, it's--"

Lucas ran into the door.

"Ah, fuck!" He said holding his forehead.

"Lucas! What's wrong?" I asked.

"We gotta move. He's coming for us."

"What? Who's coming?"

"Dad! He's getting out of jail in two days! He's coming to get us, and he's going to make us move back in with him in Fresno!"

"Fresno? The fuck is that??" Joseph said.

"It's a city in California dumbass." Lucas said.

"It sounds like a drink they sell at Starbucks"

"A Frappuccino?" I said.

"Yeah!!"

"WOW!" I laughed at Joseph's childishness.

Lucas glared at the both of us. "Are ya'll just going to sit there and laugh about drinks? This is serious! We have to pack right now!"

"How does he even know where we are? We left the old house! Momma found us!"

"I don't know, and I don't want to find out. Pack all of your stuff, now!"

"Where are we gonna go??"

"Somewhere!"

"I'm not packing until we figure it out then."

"Come on Monroe! We don't have time for these games!"

"Tell me where we're going and then I'll start packing."

Lucas started massaging his temple. Go ahead and massage away buddy. I'm not moving until we know exactly where the heck we're going.

"I think I know a place where you guys can stay, for a while." Joseph said.

"Where at?" Lucas said.

"Well, my parents have another house not too far from here, and we never really go over there unless it's for a big event. I'll ask my parents if it's alright with them, which I'm pretty sure it is."

"Thanks man. See, this is why I fuck with you. You got my back bro. So now, get to packing Monroe."

"We need boxes." I bluntly said.

"We need what?"

"Boxes. We are staying at the other house for quite a while... right?"

".....Yeah.."

"Okay, so we'll need boxes to put all of our clothes in while we move the stuff."

"Moe, we're not going to be living there the rest of our lives. It's only until Dad gets off of our case! So just stuff as much stuff as you can in that big suitcase of yours, fill those gift bags back up, and wait downstairs when you're done." He walked out of the room leaving me and Joseph standing there.

"Here," Joseph said, "I'll help you."

"Thanks." I said with a smile.
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//Just A Little Something, Something To Tie You Guys Over Until I Make The Next Chapter.

Heads Up, Im Probably Not Going To Go Into Much Detail About The Whole "Moving Process", But I'll Do Something Short For That.

Happy New Years, Stay Safe, Make Sure Those Fireworks Are ACTUALLY Fireworks And Not Gunshots (Trust Me, You'll Know The Difference)

Until Next Time👋//

🌚Mickey🌝