Safe with Sam

Chapter 1: Rollie Pollies With a New Pal

It was evening, everywhere you looked there was a gentle orange layer of sunlight as the day slowly drew to an end. Despite this, Almost's neighborhood had some strange way to always seem dark. You could see every building, street sign, and fence without a second thought, but none of it stuck out. Like everything was blurry. There were no neighbors, no friends, just quiet buildings, and empty sidewalks. Despite living in the same place his entire life it was like he just moved in. He was never outside much anymore so he never had an opportunity to be familiar with the neighborhood, let alone the neighbors. It was as if despite looking directly at it all, it was a background. The fuzzy caramel color of the sky made it seem like he was looking through the opening of an empty beer bottle.

Almost continued to think of how odd this was as he carried out two cold brown bottles onto the front porch and cheerily held them out towards his mother. Salem was slouched on a white plastic lawn chair against the wall but perked up once she saw what Almost was offering. She gave him a dull smile as she grabbed them, sitting one on a metal table to her left. Almost obediently grabbed a metal bottle opener hung on a nail between the two seats, and passed it to her before plopping back down on a similar chair on the other side of the table. He looked over at her as she casually cracked the cap off. Her dark hair was held up in a ponytail with a red scrunchie and draped across her back before sharply curving upwards. She had on dark, messy eyeliner as well as a black tank top and dark red shorts. Since she was rather obviously content with staying cozily snuggled up on the porch she spent so many tipsy nights on, she was wearing soft grey slippers.

She looked back at him briefly before taking a sip as Almost awkwardly looked away, gently kicking his feet back and forth. "So, when's school supposed to be starting back up again?"

Almost felt a pit in his stomach. Nothing could make him feel so awful so quickly as much as that word did. Although being at home with his mom was no vacation, school was the last thing he wanted to think about. Just hearing the word made him feel intensely anxious. He shrugged as he brought his knees up to his chest, burying his face in his crossed arms. "Don't know huh? Well, it better be soon. Won't be much longer 'till I go nuts havin you stuck to my hip day and night." She let out a chuckle, looking over to Almost only to see him staring sorrowfully at the wooden floor.

His head was spinning and he felt nauseous, all of it weighed so heavy on him. How could he go back? He'd be picked on ruthlessly and didn't have any friends for that matter. He'd have to see him again. What if he tried talking to him in the hallway? What if he called him down into his office? What if he took him into his car? What if he didn't come home next time? Next time, is it bound to happen again? What if someone found out? What if everyone knew? What if he was blamed for it? His mom could barely stand him as he was, what if she yelled at him and kicked him out? Was this all his fault? Did he do something wrong? What could he have done differently? What could he have said differently? If he said the wrong thing would it happen again? Who else was waiting to hurt him?

Salem let out a groan, "God you're such a bummer. Every time I try to mess with you, you always just sit around with that look on your face. What happened to you bein happy all the time? Sure, you were annoying but now you're just a mopey little brat." She let out a sigh and took another swig. Almost felt a sting of guilt, he was still terrified but his mother being friendly was rare. He weakly lifted his head, "Sorry". Salem rested the bottle on her knee, legs crossed.

"How old are you s'posed to be by now?"

"I'm gonna turn nine next Friday"

"Damn, already? It's only July."

"Next week's August"

"Huh, weird."

Salem traced her finger around the lip of the bottle. "Did I ever tell you how I started drinking?"