sades' short stories

Out for Smokes

Tags: contemporary, mystery, family, loss, short story, 2.5k words

Heavy flakes of snow momentarily stuck to the living room window before melting against the warm glass. Josh barely paid them any attention as he sat on the couch. All light had been extinguished except for the sole lamp seated on the end table next to him. He was deep into rereading the third book in his favorite series, and not even the sounds of the furnace blasting could draw his attention away. He couldn't stay up much longer, as it was a school night, but he allowed himself one last chapter.

Footsteps broke the unseen tension in the room, created by loud boots connecting with the old wood frame of the staircase to the second floor. Tom appeared from the entryway, layered under thick winter clothing. He reached into the coat closet beneath the stairs, stirring up enough noise to finally break Josh's focus.

"Here, Josh, take this." Tom lobbed the coat his way, which covered the book in his hands.

"What? Why?"

"I've gotta head to the gas station real quick for a pack of cigs, and Mom said to take you with."

An exasperated sigh left his lungs. "I'm good. Mom says your smoking is a bad habit, and I don't want to go. I'm almost done with this chapter."

"I understand, but I don't think she'll like that answer."

"Is she having an episode again?"

"Yeah."

"You could have led with that."

Josh carefully set the book down, doing his best to remember the page he'd left on, and slipped effortlessly into the coat. Then he threw on some sandals and joined Tom out the front door.

The biting wind immediately hit him. It whistled across the yard and through the pine trees that lined the road, carrying with it a sizable amount of snow. The pathway to Tom's rusting red truck was buried under six inches of the stuff.

"Hold on, I need to get different shoes."

"Jesus, Josh. Come on."

He stepped inside, threw on a pair of boots much larger than his own feet, and rejoined his older brother. Together, they made it to the sputtering vehicle, and he reached for the passenger door.

"Absolutely not," Tom said. "Backseat."

"But Mom lets me sit—"

"But I'm not Mom, and right now, you're my responsibility. Backseat."

Josh did as instructed, taking his spot in the back passenger seat. His brother turned the key in the bucket of rust, which struggled to start. He seemed more frustrated than usual, but Josh knew better than to prod about it. Things had been rough lately.

"Is it going to be safe to drive in this weather?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine. The truck has driven through worse. We'll just need to take it real slow. Our five minute trip to the gas station will probably actually be ten."

"Ten minutes? I should've brought my book."

"Play with the toys back there, then."

"These are baby toys. I'm too old for them. I haven't played with these in years."

"Then don't. I don't care."

The words hung in the air for a while as he slowly backed out of the driveway, making sure that there weren't any other cars dumb enough to be out in the blizzard.

"Sorry, bub. I don't mean that. I'm just in a bad mood."

"I know."

"How was school today?"