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Chapter 29

Chapter 29

       Calvin has been crashing at our house for the next couple days and my parents go used to it. In fact, they were the ones who suggested he stay for as long as he wanted because they knew how hard it was for him at his home. Everywhere he went, he was reminded of his brother and what he did.

       So when I heard a noise at one in the morning coming from downstairs, I immediately knew it was Calvin. Or Kenny. I knew Kenny went looking for him because he didn't come back at night and he wasn't with his parents.

       Luckily, I was still awake. I didn't have work tomorrow, so I was just laying in my bed while I read a book. As soon as the noise came, I placed a bookmark in my book and set it on my nightstand before getting out of bed and heading down the stairs.

       It was Calvin, who was heading towards the kitchen, only to crash into the island counter. I really hoped Mom and Dad wouldn't wake up now. They hated when people drank underage, and Calvin had been drinking a lot recently. I mean, Mom and Dad knew he did, but I felt like the more they saw Calvin drunk, the less they were going to approve of him and Kenny.

       It was hard enough accepting that Kenny had a boyfriend, no matter how much they liked Calvin, so him doing something they didn't approve of was going to make things worse.

       "Calvin?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

       Calvin gripped the edges of the counter with his hand and nodded. "Yeah. I'm just feeling a bit dizzy."

       Okay, so not drunk.

       That would make things easier if my parents did come downstairs after hearing all the commotion.

       "Did Kenny find you?" I asked. "He went out to find you."

       Calvin shook his head, so I grabbed the landline phone and called Kenny, telling him that Calvin was here now. Kenny said he was one his way back anyway since he couldn't find Calvin.

       When I hung up, I looked back at Calvin. "I know you're struggling with what happened to your brother, but staying out really late isn't going to help with you staying here. At least you didn't go out drinking this time."

       Calvin rubbed his forehead with one of his hands. "No, I think I did. I don't remember too much. Just that I left here and went walking in the village. My mind is blank after that."

       When he moved his hand away, I caught sight of a red streak on his forehead. "Is that blood?" I asked, then noticed it on his hand as well.

       Calvin saw me looking at his hand, so he looked down at his hand. I grabbed his arm and led him to the sink to rinse his hand off with cold water, which allowed us to see that the source of the blood was coming from a long cut on his palm.

       "How did that happen?" I asked.

       "I don't know," he said. "I don't remember."

       I grabbed the first aid kit and began digging through its contents as the front door opened and Kenny walked in. "Calvin, where were you?" he asked.

       "I think I was at the bar," Calvin said as Kenny took off his shoes and closed the door behind him.

      "You think?" Kenny asked, walking over to Calvin, then noticing the blood on his forehead and the cut on his hand. "What happened?"

       "I don't know," Calvin said. "My mind is just blank. I probably went drinking and drank too much."

       Kenny sighed. "Calvin, drinking won't fix anything. If you need to release your stress, you can always talk to me."