The Casanovas (2)

16 | The Casanovas

The houses on the cycle home whipped past Amelia. The more she thought back to Michael's last words, the quicker she peddled and the tighter her grip became on her handlebars. She arrived home in record time and abandoned her bike near the back garden gate.

Amelia paused on the front lawn in front of the kitchen window. The light that slipped through the blinds looked a warm orange. She could hear male voices coming from inside and as a result, dread pinched at her insides.

When she left the house earlier, Amelia never doubted her and Sam would be back to normal by the time she returned home. She had been naive. No matter what had happened in the past, they always worked it out in the end. They were each others crutch, propping one another up in difficult times, one consoling the other. When Sam's mum struggled with drugs, she was there, and when her father was at his lowest, Sam was her safe place.

However, Charlie's grudge had grown to new levels of viciousness with each passing year. The older he got, the more menacing and narrow-sighted he became. Amelia had noticed, and she hated how he used her as an excuse to justify his actions. Now the inevitable had happened. Sam had reached his limit, and their friendship and history weren't strong enough to overcome the problems forced upon them.

Now someone had truly wronged her and she had to find out from Michael because her brother had directed all his rage and ego at the last person to actually protect her. Sam looked out for her, prevented goodness knows what from happening, and still took the fall. It was disgusting how unfair things were in their town, no in her family.

Amelia entered the house and kicked off her shoes just inside the doorway. She peered into the kitchen to see who was around but it was empty. However, the cupboards had been ransacked. Her shoulders sagged and her remaining energy fled. Not again. She walked straight to her father study and opened the door.

There he sat, slouched in his armchair with a half-finished bottle of Jack Daniels on the side. He was still awake, staring at the fireplace. This room was a facade. Supposedly a gentleman's study, there were bookshelves and an antique desk. Her mother brought the armchair so he could appear intellectual while drinking a whiskey and reading.

Her upper lip drew back in distaste. So much for appearing intellectual, all she saw in front of her was a bitter old drunk. Her mum would be so disappointed. As quickly as the thought crossed her mind, her heart softened. He was lonely, even when dating Michael's mother, no one could replace her.

Gently, Amelia approached the chair and placed a hand on her father's shoulder. At the same time, she reached for the open bottle to remove it.

"That's enough" she murmured.

His arm swung out to grab the bottle, elbowing her in the process.

"No" he mumbled, "leave me."

Amelia scowled down at him. "Please dad, you've had enough" she responded with more force. After the day she had had, Amelia couldn't bear to deal with his self-destructive antics. She tried to prise the bottle out of his grip.

"I said no!" He barked while resisting her. The bottle bounced off of the side table in the process and whiskey sloshed and leapt from the bottle.

"For fuck's sake, now look what you've done" he bellowed. He ripped the bottle out of her hand and slammed it back down on the side table. "God damn it, Fliss, I told you to leave it!"

Amelia stepped back. Hearing that name on her father's lips sent her heart into a frenzy.

"I'm Amelia" she half-choked, the tears she'd held back all day rising to the surface.

With clenched fists, she stalked out of the study and into the living-room where Charlie sat with Nathan and Tom watching sports with the volume loud. She walked in front of the TV and glared at her brother.

He sat up and gestured at the TV. "Hey, what are you doing!" He snapped, "you're blocking the game."

"You're supposed to stop dad from drinking, I told you I couldn't do it on my own" she retorted fiercely, barely keeping her tears contained. "He's sat in there pissed out of his mind."

Charlie held his arms open, "what do you expect me to do, fight the old man. If he wants to drink let him drink."

"Oh yeah, sure," she exclaimed, laughing harshly. "Let's leave him to drink himself to death. Fat lot of good you are as a son."

Charlie sat up straighter, glancing at Tom and Nathan briefly before he turned the TV down a little.

"What's wrong with you!" He half-chuckled.

"Everything!" She exploded, her voice raising alongside her distress. "Dad's so drunk he's calling me by mum's name. You're in here ignoring him as usual, leaving it all to me. I'm so sick of you, you never help, everything you do makes life harder for me. You're selfish."

Amelia didn't care if Nathan and Tom were witnesses, she hoped it embarrassed Charlie, even more, to be called out by her in front of his friends.

"Oh give it a rest, I do plenty! You're the mug whose always trying to clear up after dad" Charlie pointed towards the study. "He's too busy with work or getting drunk to be a father, now that's selfish." He tossed the Tv controller on the coffee table. "Don't tell me I don't help, I'm always looking out for you."

"Oh sure, like at the Halloween party" Amelia quickly clipped back. "Something happens to me and oh, surprise, surprise it's all Sam Hanz's fault." She shook her head at Charlie, her body trembling with emotion. "You couldn't give a shit if something really happened to me or who bloody well did it. Everything you do is all about you."

Charlie stood, making Amelia jump. "I know he touched you, that's a fact."

"Oh yeah? Did you see it?" She challenged, wiping fiercely at her nose which had begun to run. "If not, then how do you know, how do you know what happened, who told you?"

"He did it," Charlie clapped back angrily.

"Who told you that?!"

He scowled down at her, his face struggling to settle on a look that fully expressed his anger and disbelief. His eyes momentarily darted to Nathan and Tom at her question.

Amelia looked at Nathan and Tom too. As usual, Tom looked perplexed, caught between concern and a smile due to the magnitude of drama taking place. Nathan appeared anxious as his eyes flitted between the Johnson twins. Was it one of them? It occurred to Amelia as she demanded to know who told Charlie, that the person who did something to her was caught by Sam and would have the most to lose. Whoever told Charlie was most likely the culprit. It made her skin crawl.

Tears spilt over and she wiped at her face with a forearm once again. "I can't deal with this family right now" she murmured tearfully. "You only care about yourselves."

Amelia stalked out of the room and ran upstairs before her body was overtaken by sobs.