Lucre

Two

"Maybe if you could stop shoving me, I would be able to see," I whisper right into Josh's face and he gives me an offended expression. A twig pokes at my ankle annoyingly while the strong wind has a wrestling match with my hair. Similarly, the thunder roars above us followed by a strike of purple lightning, as if the God's are at battle. Josh and I crouch uncomfortably in a sharp bush full of twigs trying to glance into the dining room of my house. I peer over the thick leaves and watch as a silhouette of a little girl, around the age of five, waltzing with my father.

Who is that?

He laughs and so does she. He appears happy, happier than he had been when I was still around. I swallow the lump forming in my throat and turn towards Josh to distract myself.

"Are you okay?" He frowns at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say. "There should be a ladder at the back of the house and hopefully my bedroom window is unlocked."

Josh's eyes fill with childish wonder. As if he has never done anything as exhilarating as breaking into a house. 

"Great, let's go." He rockets out of the bush and I follow behind him. We pace low even though it is dark and we have not much to hide from. As I turn the corner, Josh has already positioned the ladder to my bedroom window.

"I can't see anything, is it open?" He squints.

I scatter towards the ladder and turn to face Josh.

"Hold the ladder steady while I climb up. If anyone spots you, run. Leave me behind, got it."

"Leave you behind? But-"

"No, I don't need you getting involved in my mess." I begin to ascend the ladder.

"But Denis..." He's too far down for me to hear him mumble on. As I've said before, I am not usually a massive fan of heights, so I whole-heartedly regret choosing to have my bedroom upstairs right now. A cold Northern wind blows heavily, giving me nausea.

As I reach the window peering intensively, I spot two figures intertwined under my blankets. My face scrunches in confusion until I recognize the figures as my older brother and a girl I've never seen before, viciously kissing. I stare disgustedly for a moment, not moving.

Why the hell is he in my room?  A wave of neglect washes over me.

"Is it open?" Josh whispers loudly from below me. My brother, Dylan opens his eyes for a moment and my heart drops. He catches a glance of me while kissing his lady friend and frowns.

"Denis?" he blinks. I bolt down the ladder hearing the window open as I reach the bottom. I tackle Josh onto the ground and as he's about to yell I slap my hand over his mouth. We crawl into the darkness and peer at Dylan with half his body out the window.

"Hello?" he stares at the ladder placed perfectly at the window for a moment and steps back inside. I grab Josh after a three-second count and sprint toward the other side of the house. My heart hammers against my chest in momentum.

"What? What happened?" Josh urges me.

"My brother," I scowl at the thought.

"What about him?"

"He was in my room with some girl."

"Oh," Josh's face twists in confusion.

Suddenly the porch lights turn on, blinding me.

"Shit," I snatch Josh's arm again without thinking and dart into the empty street. Wide awake with adrenaline we race into the darkness.

"Denis?" I hear my father's voice echo into the humid air. It's too dark for him to see even with the street lights falling over us. Josh pulls me behind a parked car.